Velveeta Easy Red Beans & Rice

Velveeta Easy Red Beans & Rice (adapted from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 5-6, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 package Morningstar Farms Sausage Links, thawed, sliced

·         1 can  (15-1/2 oz.) kidney beans, drained, rinsed

·         1 can  (15-1/2 oz.) Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

·         2 tsp. chili powder

·         2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked

·         6 oz.  VELVEETA® 2%, cut up

Directions

1.      Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

2.      Add beans, tomatoes and chili powder; mix well.

3.      Stir in 2 cups water. Bring to boil.

4.      Stir in rice and VELVEETA; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 15 minutes or until water is almost absorbed. Stir until VELVEETA is completely melted.

A simple dish that provides a lot on flavor.  This is not spicy, so my husband likes it, but has a nice Mexican flavor from the green chilies and chili powder.  The beans cook through during the process, they are still firm, but not overly hard.  The recipe above doubles the cooking time for the rice because I have found that the original recipe’s time (5-7 minutes) gets nowhere close to absorbing the liquid or cooking the rice.  The Velveeta adds a creaminess to the dish, but you could also use Taco or Mexican shredded cheese.  A tasty dish that I will make again and again.

Gallucio’s (Wilmington, DE)

Gallucio’s

Gallucio’s is not far from our house and I pass it on most of my runs, so I’ve been wanting to try it for quite some time.  My husband and I ordered takeout one evening from the restaurant.  We shared an order of Sweet Potato Fries and I had the bar-size Vegetable Pizza.  Some of the fries were a little well-done, but overall they were done quite well.  The restaurant did not over-salt them and they were cooked through.  Overall, a good, crisp sweet potato fry.  The Vegetable pizza has a garlic & oil sauce, some seasonings (although I don’t know which ones), chopped broccoli, spinach, onion, tomato, and provolone.  The crust is pan – between a thin and thick crust.  I don’t think that it had enough seasoning, because I found it very bland.  I was pretty disappointed because I had heard how great the gourmet pizzas were at Gallucio’s.  I did add some crushed red pepper and that seemed to liven it up a bit.  There are other options, though, so stayed tuned for an update!

Distrito (Philadelphia, PA)

Distrito

My husband and I went to Distrito with two of our friends.  I originally planned on ordering a salad and maybe one tapas plate (or two), but everyone else at the table wanted to try one of the Tasting Menus.  We were told that everyone at the table had to order the same Tasting Menu, so I reluctantly agreed on the condition that they included some vegetarian options for me.  They more than came through on that promise!

We started with a pitcher of White Sangria (Chardonnay, Brandy, Orange Liqueur, Apples, and Strawberries), some Spiced Nuts, an order of Traditional Guacamole (with Cotija cheese) and an order of Salsa Mexicana.  The Sangria was OK, but I would definitely recommend the Red Sangria (Burgundy, Brandy, Orange Liqueur, Apple, Strawberries, and Spices – we had a pitcher of that as well and it was so good, the spices were a perfect mix in the sangria).  The nuts had a bit of a kick to them (they were peanuts and cashews) and very tasty.  The guacamole was homemade and was blended well (no large hunks of avocado), the Cotija cheese on top gave it just a touch of saltiness.  The Salsa Mexicana was OK – it was the type of salsa with chunks of tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.  Not my type of salsa, but OK.  They served both of these with chips that were lightly salted.

The second part of the meal included a Angelica’s Fresa salad – Strawberries, Spinach, Melon, Blue Cheese, Serrano-Balsamic Vinaigrette, and Poppy Seeds.  The vinaigrette and poppy seed dressing had a little kick to it and paired well with the fruit and spinach – I steered clear of the blue cheese that they added to the salad.  They also brought out a little samosa-like dish for me that included cheese and spinach – I don’t remember what it was called and cannot find it on the menu.  The dough was thick (but not too thick) and the filling was delicious, not spicy at all.  I also received a Tostada with black beans, charred red onion, rajas smoked tomato sofrito, and avocado which was good, but I was starting to get full, so I don’t remember the taste all that well.  An Enchilada de Verduras (which had spinach inside and was coated with a smoked tomato salsa ranchera) was delectable – the ranchera sauce was thick and makes my mouth water just thinking about it. My main meal ended with a side of Arroz Con Frijoles Negros (black beans and rice), although I don’t recommend it.  This dish seemed very bland as related to my other dishes. 

The meal ended with two desserts: Churros (served with Spicy Valrhona Chocolate Sauce and Coconut Crema) and Futas Con Crema (Coconut & Lime Panna Cottas, Tropical Fruit, Wedding Cookies).  I am surprised that the second had coconut in it because I loved the top layer of this dessert (it was the coconut layered on top of the lime) – it was very creamy and rich.  I did not like the lime portion and did not eat it.  The wedding cookies were crunchy with just a hint of cinnamon.  I did not like the churros – the texture was a little too crisp for me and there was a bit too much cinnamon.  The chocolate and coconut cream were good though.  When eating the chocolate with the churro, you cannot taste the spiciness; however, when you taste it on its own, there is quite a kick.  It’s the same way with the cream – you cannot taste the coconut until you try it on its own.

All in all, I definitely recommend Distrito for a vegetarian meal – maybe skip the Tasting Menu, I’m not completely sure that I, as the only vegetarian, got my money’s worth.

Turkey-less Turkey Roast, Creamed Corn, and Mashed Cauliflower

Turkey-less Turkey Roast, Creamed Corn, and Mashed Cauliflower (Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes, Servings: 6+)

I decided to make a Thanksgiving meal in January.  I bought a Turkey-less Turkey Roast at Trader Joe’s (which comes stuffed with vegan stuffing and a side of gravy) and cooked it according to package directions with a bunch of baby carrots and one pre-trimmed leek.  I coated the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper.  To go along with my Turkey-less Turkey, I made Creamed Corn and Mashed Cauliflower.  I have heard a lot of positive things about Mashed Cauliflower, so I was really excited to try it.  Well, I had a major letdown with the recipe I used – both my husband and I found it extremely bland and thought it tasted way too much like cauliflower (even with the gravy from the Roast).  I ended up throwing over half of it in the trash.  The Creamed Corn, on the other hand, was delicious! I used fat-free half and half to cut down on the calories and actually used more corn than I was supposed to.  It was still really creamy and had big, bold flavors from the “cream”, milk, and margarine.  Below are the recipes for the Creamed Corn and Mashed Cauliflower with some additional notes.  Even though I did not enjoy my first experience with Mashed Cauliflower, I do plan on trying a different recipe sometime in the future.

Cream Corn Like No Other (adapted from AllRecipes, Servings: 4-5, Total Time: 15 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 (16 oz.) packages frozen corn kernels, thawed

·         ½ cup fat-free half and half

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

·         1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

·         1 Tbsp. margarine

·         ½ cup skim milk

·         1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

·         1/8 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1.      In a skillet, over medium heat, combine the corn, half and half, salt, sugar, pepper and margarine.

2.      Whisk together the milk and flour, and stir into the corn mixture.

3.      Cook stirring over medium heat until the mixture is thickened, and corn is cooked through. Remove from heat, and stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted. Serve hot.

I wanted to half the recipe, but just decided to use the whole package of corn – it still turned out creamy.  Both my husband and I really enjoyed this dish and I look forward to making it again.

Ruby Tuesdays Creamy Mashed Cauliflower (slightly adapted from Food.com, Servings: 6+, Total Time: 50 minutes)

Ingredients:

·         1 head cauliflower

·         ¾ cup water

·         1 Tbsp. cornstarch

·         1/3 cup fat free half and half

·         1 tsp. granulated sugar

·         ¾ tsp. salt

·         ¼ tsp. white pepper

·         1/8 tsp. garlic powder

·         1/8 tsp. onion powder

Directions:

1.      Divide head of cauliflower into florets that are roughly the same size.

2.      Steam cauliflower pieces over boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes or until cauliflower is tender. (I used my electric steamer.)

3.      Drain the cauliflower and toss it in a bowl of ice water to end the cooking process.

4.      When the cauliflower has cooled, put the florets in a food processor along with ¼ cup water.

5.      Puree the cauliflower on high speed until smooth, but with some very small pieces of cauliflower remaining for just a bit of texture.

6.      Pour all of the pureed cauliflower into a medium saucepan.

7.      Dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining ½ cup of water and add the solution to the cauliflower.

8.      Add the half and half, sugar and remaining spices and stir.

9.      Set the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring often for 5-10 minutes or until thick.

My cauliflower mash was a little runny and, as I said previously, bland.  Maybe more garlic and/or onion powder would give it a better taste.  I’ll try another recipe in the future.