Burritos with Rice, Peppers, and Pinto Beans

This recipe was born out of last night's demise of my plans to make my friend Jill's recipe for tacos.  Those of you who live in the Boston area probably know this, but Thursday is the worst day to try to go grocery shopping at the Foodmaster chain of grocery stores.  They get their supplies on Friday, so those who shop on Thursday are doomed to frustration if they try to find the simplest of things.  (The simplest of things in this case is heretofore defined as Morningstar Farms "fake hamburger".)  Luckily,  they are not Market Basket and their vegetable selection is usually halfway decent, so I made this instead.    

2-4 lavash wraps / tortillas

Olive oil

rice

1 diced bell pepper of each color: red / orange / yellow / green

1 small onion

Pepper to taste

1 can pinto beans

Habenero or pepper jack cheese (or, if you’d like, the regular cheese you have sitting around with a good dose of hot sauce sloshed onto it)

Cook rice according to the directions on the packet. 

Dice the onion and sauté it in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil heated in a large frying pan until the pieces are just starting to brown.  Add the peppers and let them cook down until they’re soft.  Drain the water out of the can of pinto beans, but do not rinse them.  (The salt in them will be the only salt you use to flavor this.)  Slowly stir the pinto beans into the  pan.  Fry this mixture for another two minutes or so.

Combine rice and the pepper mixture in the lavash / tortilla shells.  Top with cheese.  

Broken Jasmine Risotto

I've been developing this recipe for a couple of weeks -- hence my relative lack of recipe posts.  Hope you like it. If we were being technical, I'd have to admit this is technically just a rice dish because I didn't use proper risotto rice, but it's prepared risotto-style, so whatevs. Blasphemy!


Part I:  Garlic Broth

Boil an entire chopped bulb of garlic in 1 gallon of water.  Add pepper, chili pepper, and cilantro to taste.
Afterwards, portion out into containers filled with servings of 2-3 cups each.  This is a good replacement for chicken stock.

Part II:  Broken Jasmine Risotto

4 cups of Broken Jasmine rice
2 cups olive oil
2-3 cups garlic broth
2 glasses wine
1 chopped green or red bell pepper
1 cup Romano cheese
1-2 cups water (vary the amount according to how creamy or toasted you would like the risotto to be)

Toast the Jasmine rice in the olive oil until the rice starts to puff out slightly, then carefully add the garlic broth. Let simmer until it looks dry, and then add the wine and water.  Stir until the water has mostly evaporated, and then add the romano cheese.

Serve with tomato sauce, fresh chopped tomatoes, Winter Pesto, or fried cubanelle peppers.

Spring Picnic Sandwiches

My blogging activities have been temporarily pushed aside by a social life, however the fast pace and lack of time to cook during said social life got me to thinking.  I've been cooking, and posting, a lot of heavy, wintery type food lately.  I want it to be spring.  You know what people do in the spring?  They go on picnics and eat sandwiches.

Here are three of my favorite sandwiches.  Mayo free, so you won't get poisoned from your picnic.

The TBM

"TBM" stands for "tomato, basil, mozzarella", and is basically exactly what it sounds like: a slightly exotic vegetarian answer to the BLT.  

2 thick carved slices of mozzarella

several leaves of carefully washed basil, or a spoonful of pesto used as spread

1/2 tomato

wheat bread

Assembly should be self evident.  Grills superbly. 

Havarti and Tomato on a French Roll

The beauty of this baby is the texture: somehow the Havarti combines with the French roll to create a blissful, smooth compliment to the tomatoes. Possibly my favorite sandwich in the world. 

1 crusty French roll

2-4 tomatoes, cut into thin slices

1/4th pound sliced Havarti cheese

Cut the French Roll open and stuff it with cheese and tomatoes until it looks like it's going to explode.  

Serve with iced tea, and pickles, if you like them.  

Another variation on this theme is Brie and Tomato, which is also good.  Brie is quite buttery in taste, so if you're not a fan of butter you should stick with Havarti or cheddar.  

Mushroom Cap Burger

1 portobello mushroom, cleaned and skinned

1 tsp olive oil

1-2 garlic cloves

hamburger buns

Various Fixin's:  brown mustard, soy sauce, black bean paste, chili paste, cheddar cheese, pesto sauce

Fry the mushroom in a skillet until brown and wilted.  Make sure you repeatedly press down on the mushroom with the flat of the spatula so that all the water in the mushroom is forced out.  

Serve on hamburger bun with your choice of fixin's.*  Potato chips are good with this dish.  

Can be served either hot or cold.  

*Does anyone else think of Niles Crane when they hear the word "fixin's"? Hee.