Pasta puttanesca! (BEDA #17)

For those of you who don't read my personal blog, I'm doing Blog Every Day in April, aka BEDA! I don't have much to say about today so I thought I'd post a good recipe I've been making a lot recently :)

Soooo "A Series of Unfortunate Events" is probably the reason I ever tried puttanesca sauce. In the first book, the Baudelaire orphans are commanded to make dinner for Count Olaf and his gross theater troupe and they decided to make puttanesca! (By the way, I finally finished the entire series this year, and the ending sucked.)

But my point is, I decided to make puttanesca! It's full of really strong flavors but if you're feeling adventurous you should give it a shot! Nathan hates olives but he can mostly deal with the amount I put in :) I stole this recipe from a New York Times article I found online, and tweaked it a bit.

Pasta Puttanesca



Salt to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 or more cloves garlic, lightly smashed and peeled
3 or more anchovy fillets
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup pitted Greek/kalamata olives, chopped (I use way less)
2 tablespoons capers
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
~1/2 pound linguine or other long pasta (I use thin spaghetti; angel hair is a bad choice)
Chopped fresh parsley, oregano, marjoram or basil leaves for garnish, optional

1. Bring pot of water to boil and salt it. Warm 2 tablespoons oil with garlic and anchovies in skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is lightly golden.

2. Drain tomatoes and crush with fork or hands. Add to skillet, with some salt and pepper. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break down and mixture becomes saucy, about 10 minutes. Stir in olives, capers and red pepper flakes, and continue to simmer.

3. Cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until it is tender but not mushy. Drain quickly and toss with sauce and remaining tablespoon of oil. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary, garnish with herbs if you like, and serve.

I kept the directions the same but changed the ingredients a bit. I use a whole tin of anchovies but you can definitely use less, although do not skip them. If you say you don't like anchovy flavor, realize that it's a main ingredient in Caesar salad dressing and a lot of Asian food. The fish themselves kind of melt when they're heated with the garlic and oil anyway. Speaking of garlic, I just toss it in the pan willy-nilly. I like lots of garlic so I put a lot in there. Go easy on the red pepper flakes if you're not into super spicy. And when the sauce is done, I don't add any extra herbs or spices, it usually tastes BOMB.

Yum :) I hope someone tries this out. It's SUPER good! Be brave, dear readers. Also, sorry I haven't uploaded a recipe in forever.

Deutsches Abendessen! (or, German Dinner!)

Just a little refresher, in case you forgot: I LOVE GERMANY. I love the people, I love the language, and I love the food. I spent most of my time last summer in Baden-Württemberg, the most southwest state in Germany, which includes the region of Swabia. Swabian food was very, very good to me, and I finally found two great recipes (on About.com, go figure... pardon my copypasta) for my favorite meal: Maultaschen and Swabisch Kartoffelsalat! Or, German ravioli and potato salad!

Maultaschen

Noodle Dough:

• 2 2/3 c. all purpose flour (300 grams)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 T. oil
• 3 T. water

Meat Filling:

• 2-3 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 oz. (25 grams) day-old bread or rolls, cut into cubes and sprinkled with 2 T. water
• 5 oz. frozen spinach (1/2 package), thawed, squeezed dry and chopped
• 2 T. fresh or 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 T. spicy mustard
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
• 8 oz. ground beef, pork, or turkey
• 1 egg.
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Fresh ground pepper

For Cooking:

• 1-2 quarts broth (beef or other; I used chicken)

Dough:
Mix flour with salt, eggs, oil and just enough water to make a smooth dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes, until satin-y. Form dough into a ball, oil surface, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for at least an hour.

Filling:
Cook bacon and remove from pan. Sauté onions and garlic in bacon drippings until translucent. Cook the ground meat and drain. Mix all filling ingredients well. If you want a finer texture, put ingredients through a food processor for a few seconds, which I did.

Make the Maultaschen:
Roll out 1/2 dough to 1/8 inch thickness or thinner. You should have a sheet about 12 inches by 18 inches. (You may also use a noodle roller to make flat sheets with 1/5 of dough at at time.)
Score dough with a knife, one time through lengthwise and five perpendicular cuts to make 1 dozen rectangles.
Place one tablespoon dough on each rectangle.
Fold rectangle over and pinch sides to close.
Repeat with the other half of dough.
Bring broth to a simmer and place 1/3 of the Maultaschen in the broth. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove and drain. Keep warm if not serving immediately. Repeat with the rest of the Maultaschen.
Serve in bowl with some broth and sprinkled with chives and/or parsley.

Potato Salad

• 4 medium potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 c. broth (beef, vegetable or chicken; again, I used chicken)
• 3 T. cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 2 T. cooking oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 T. prepared mustard
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Place whole potatoes in a pan, add cold water to almost cover, bring to a boil and cook until done, about 20-30 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and peel while they are still warm. Use a mandolin to slice thinly or slice with a knife 1/8 inch thick. Place in a bowl. Pour the broth over the warm potatoes and mix gently. Let sit 5 minutes.
In a second bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, sugar, mustard, finely chopped onion and pepper to make a vinaigrette. Pour over the potatoes and mix gently. Potatoes will crumble a bit, but that is expected.
Allow the potatoes to marinate for 20 minutes before serving. Serve lukewarm or room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers.
*I used Russet potatoes. Yukon Golds are the best for this particular salad, but if you happen to live in Idaho and the only potatoes you can afford are Russets (like me) you have to be extra vigilant about watching them while they're boiling. If they get too mushy it won't work. A trick is to poke the potato with a fork; if you can get it all the way in with a little bit of resistance, it's done. Remove and drain them now! Any mushier than that and you might need to start over.

Okay, seriously, this was awesome. It wasn't AS good as the stuff I had in Germany last year, but it's pretty darn close! I followed this recipe exactly and both dishes were awesome. This was Nathan's first experience with German food (well, almost... I attempted the potato salad last fall with terrible under-cooked results, sorry in-laws!) and he LOVED it. It's a bit labor intensive, so we decided to have German Night once a month. How about you guys? Any interest in trying this food? If you're lucky, I'll cook it for you when we're in Washington in August ;) If you're not in Washington... make it yourself! The hardest part is making the noodle dough and even that isn't too hard, it just takes time!

Bonus awesome: I got a job! I just got off the phone with the lady who OFFICIALLY offered me the job. Yesterday, I had an interview where I was told that I'd be offered the job tomorrow, and he wasn't lying! I'm going to be working on campus starting this fall as a transcriber for deaf and hard-of-hearing students! My online training starts on July 7, and it won't disrupt our plans to go home for a month!

Tom Kha Gai, or "How Rebekah is Ashamed for Never Posting"

Yeah yeah, don't rub it in. I could share a whole HOST of reasons why I haven't updated in forever, but basically I've just been rotating the recipes I've already shared and haven't cooked anything new! However, I am going to start EARNESTLY trying to post something new every week. If not a new recipe, then a features article about food or cooking! Please forgive me, loyal readers. If you have any specific foods that you'd like to see on this blog, leave me a comment and I will try my best to find a great recipe! Now, onto today's recipe...

A little background, I love Thai food. If you don't, you should, because Thai food is AMAZING. I love the bold flavors, and the fresh vegetables, and how light everything is. I'm not exactly a calorie-counting kinda lady, but even I am prone to feel guilty when I eat ridiculously greasy food, but Thai food never makes me feel bad. The two dishes I love best are Gai Pad King (ginger chicken) and Tom Kha Gai.

Tom Kha Gai is a chicken soup made with coconut milk. It's creamy and a bit sweet, but not too sweet. Not everyone's a big fan of soup as a filling dinner, but if you stir in some brown rice, it's as satisfying as anything else you could eat. You'll have to forgive my picture quality (taken on my cell phone, since we couldn't find the camera) and the not-exactness of the recipe... I took ideas from several recipes I found online but I pretty much made this up, and it turned out just as good as any restaurant's version! Since this is a bit touch-and-go, if you're not feeling brave enough to try out a brand new recipe without exact amounts, I'd suggest getting some at a Thai restaurant so you know what it's supposed to taste like. If you're in Marysville, Mae Phim has a great version of it (Mai's Thai, which is my favorite for all other things Thai, has a version that is a bit more sour than I care for) and if you're in Rexburg, Original Thai's recipe is spectacular! Give it a try!

1 lb boneless skinless chicken
Chicken broth
One can of coconut milk
Ginger (I used ginger paste, which worked out awesome)
Green onions
Fish sauce
One small can of mushrooms
One small can of baby corn
One lemon (for zest and juice)
Red pepper flakes
Dash of garlic powder

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and saute it with a little bit of vegetable oil until it's done. Set aside. About the chicken broth... I started off with two cups of it and added half a can of coconut milk, but then I decided I wanted to use ALL of the coconut milk, which you must DEFINITELY shake before adding, so I added two (or so; what did I say about not being exact?) more cups of broth. In this instance I would HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest picking up some Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base so you aren't constrained by cups or cans or boxes. It's really easy, you just boil water and add some of the paste until it tastes good to you, and it's not horribly salty like normal bouillon cubes or powder. Stir in some ginger paste (or fresh slices, or powder, I'm sure the overall effect will be the same but the paste was quite successful in my experience) until you can just taste the ginger without overpowering the other flavors. Of course, if you like ginger, feel free to add more, but there I go again. Wash and slice the white part of the green onions and add them to the mix. Chop up some of the green part of the onion and set it aside for garnish. Now onto the fish sauce. Fish sauce smells nasty, people. Try not to let it bother you, though, because its effect is astounding in this soup. Add a few tablespoons and prepare to be amazed, though I would suggest not inhaling it before you add it as it might deter you from doing so. Drain the mushrooms and the baby corn and add it into the mix. If you have a lemon zester tool, add some zest to the soup. If you don't, no worries. Whether or not you added the zest, cut the lemon in half and squeeze some juice into the soup, but not too much. If you want your soup with a bit of a kick, add some red pepper flakes. Stir in a dash of garlic powder, and season with a bit of salt and pepper if you wish, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Dish up some brown rice in your bowl and then add the soup itself. Put some of those sliced green onions on top to give it a little more color and yet another different flavor.

Verbose much? I'm going to work on this recipe, to see if I can make it a bit more specific, but even now this soup is awesome and completely worth the guesswork. I'm really proud of myself for how it turned out and I highly recommend it. Nathan loved it and couldn't stop eating it :) He had to eventually, though, because it was all gone. It was that good.


Like I said earlier in the post, if you have any suggestions of things you want me to cook or write an essay about, please leave them in the comments! If I get requests, I'll be more motivated to post regularly! Cheap move, I know, but cut me some slack.

Day Six: Crockpot Lasagna!

All credit for this recipe goes HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE

My friend Kayla linked me to it on another blog site, and I've made it twice so far! I really like it, but I used half of the ricotta cheese the recipe suggests and I still thought it was a little much. I'm going to post the recipe to the way I did it but make sure you check out the link :)

Crock Pot Lasagna

1 pound ground beef
1 whole onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar spaghetti sauce (THIS is really good, and cheap!)
1 small can tomato sauce
8 oz ricotta cheese
¼ cups milk
1 egg
16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (we only had 8 oz but it was good)
½ cups shredded parmesan/romano cheese
1 package (8 oz.) no-boil lasagna noodles (we used homemade noodles!)

Brown the beef, onion, and garlic in a frying pan. Drain off any grease. Add the spaghetti & tomato sauce into the browned meat mixture. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, milk, and egg. Beat until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Then mix in the mozzarella cheese and the grated cheese, so that all the cheeses are combined. Grease the crock pot with some Pam or shortening.

Put about 1/4 of the meat and sauce mixture in the bottom of the crock pot. Put a layer of noodles on top of that (break or cut them if needed). Put about 1/3 of the cheese mixture on top of that. Then repeat with sauce, noodles, cheese for another 2 layers. Top with meat sauce. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or until noodles are tender. (Since our noodles were homemade yesterday, we cooked it for three hours and it was great!)

We had my fake-son Gary over for a belated birthday dinner (he turned 19 on Wednesday) and I also made him a CAKE! It wasn't homemade, unfortunately, but it was pretty danged delicious. Triple chocolate fudge cake with cream cheese frosting. Soooo delicious.

 (Yes, those are matches instead of candles...)

Enjoy some classy cake-eating pictures after the cut!

(Late) Day Five: Things you can make with Cream of Mushroom soup!

I'm not even kidding right now.

I looooove Cream of Mushroom soup. It's so good by itself, but the magic of this soup are the things you can do WITH it. This post is dedicated to my mom, who is the QUEEN of things made out of Cream of Mushroom soup. My parents have soooooo much of this soup in their basement, and they hardly ever make it as regular soup. I will preface the recipes by saying that the soup is NOT a pretty soup to look at. It's gray. All of the recipes I'm going to share are going to end up gray. They're not particularly aesthetically pleasing, but if you can get past the color palette, your taste buds will thank you. I have never been disappointed with any of the recipes I'm going to share.

I'll start with the weirdest recipe first, with the least appetizing name.

Tuna Sauce on Rice

1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can of tuna, drained
1/2 soup can of water
Cooked white (or brown, I guess) rice
Random seasonings... garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, black pepper, whatever

Dump the soup, tuna, and water in a saucepan. Stir it up until everything is uniform and the tuna chunks are all broken up. If you have a cat, leave the tuna can out for them to finish off. Turn the burner onto medium heat. Add some random seasonings. The ones I listed are the ones I prefer, although you can really go any which way. It's going to turn out good. When the sauce is bubbling, serve it on top of rice. SO good.


Really Really Really Good Roast Beef

This is probably the easiest recipe I've got for you today. You can make it in a crockpot or a regular roasting pan, and I'm not going to worry you with cooking times, since it all depends on the size of the roast, which method you use (oven or crockpot), and how well-done you like it. Google :)

1 envelope (Lipton) onion soup mix
1-2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup (depending on the size of the roast)
ROAST BEEF, unroasted
Vegetables that I like with roast beef: carrots, potatoes, and onions

If you're making this in the crockpot, put about a half cup of water in the bottom. If you're putting in carrots, put them on the bottom of the pot, since they take the longest to cook. Put the roast on top of the carrots (or on the bottom of the pot if no carrots are present) and assemble the potatoes and onion around it. Mix the onion soup mix with the Cream of Mushroom soup and spoon it on top of the roast as evenly as you can. You can season it with other stuff, but NOT SALT, since the onion soup mix is plenty salty. Figure out via the internet (or just... memory if you've been cooking roasts a lot) how long it needs to be in the crockpot! Here is a good chart of crockpot cooking times!

If you're making it in a roasting pan, there is no need to add water, but make sure the carrots are at the bottom of the pan, although they don't need to be underneath the roast this time. Same rules apply otherwise though! Cook it at 300 or 325 for however long... It's all really dependent on how big your roast is and how done you like it. Here is a good article about oven roasting.

If you have leftovers, you can chop them up and use them in the next recipe!


Beef Stroganoff

1 pound of ground beef
1 onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of water or milk
Extra sliced mushrooms, if you wish
Mrs. Dash (table blend is the best)
Sour cream

Cook the ground beef with the onion until both are fully cooked. Saute the mushrooms separately until they're soft. In a saucepan, combine the soup with the water and stir until fully mixed. Add the meat, onions, and mushrooms. Put it on over medium heat and season it according to your wishes. I would highly HIGHLY recommend Mrs. Dash for the stroganoff, but if you don't have it then salt, pepper, some onion powder, and just a BIT of garlic powder (I am quite liberal with it in the tuna sauce, but the stroganoff only needs a bit) will do you just fine. In the minute or so before you serve the stroganoff, add a healthy dollop of sour cream and mix in well. Serve it over noodles or rice.

Like I said, not that pretty, but mmmmmmm, delicious.

A note about noodles: it goes best, texture-wise, with something like penne, but I think that egg noodles like these ones are the BEST with stroganoff, although honestly, anything will do. Just don't do spaghetti, angel hair, linguine, fettucini or anything else along those long, skinny lines.


Day six will be up later this evening! We just have to make it first ;)

Day Four: Calzones!

Calzones are surprisingly easy, and very satisfying. Remember that the filling is just like a pizza, so anything that works as a pizza topping will also be delicious in a calzone, so be creative!

Calzone Dough

1 cup water
1 tbls oil
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast

If you have a bread machine, just use the dough setting. If not, then just mix everything manually until it starts to seem like dough, then knead it with your bare hands for 5 to 10 minutes. Cover it in a bowl and allow it to rise for 45-60 minutes.

While the dough is rising, you can start working on the filling. For ours, we cooked and seasoned a pound of ground beef, although you can really use anything. Sausage would be good! We also used cheese, olives, and canned diced tomatoes.

Divide the dough into 6 to 8 pieces. Flatten one into a circle, and put all the prepared fillings on one half. Fold the empty over the everything, and seal the calzone shut by pressing the dough together with your fingers. You can season the top with Italian seasoning or parmesan cheese. Repeat this process until all are done.

Let them rise for about 10-20 minutes, depending on how hungry you are. Put them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15, or until light brown.

 

Check out that green koolaid! Blue raspberry lemonade + lemon lime! Sooooo good.

Day Three: Chicken Pot Pie

Last week, I signed up to make a meal for a family that had just had a baby and decided to do chicken pot pie! The family cookbook has a great (and easy) recipe for pot pie, but when I went to get the cans of chicken--I know, I'm a cheater, but canned chicken is GOOD--we only had one can of chicken. Disaster. There wasn't enough filling! So I came up with an idea to add some minute rice (and ran it past my mother-in-law, just in case) and went with it. Success! Here is the recipe I came up with:

Chicken Pot Pie

1 8oz bag frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, carrots)
2 pie crusts (store-bought or homemade)
1-10 3/4 oz can of Cream of Chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
1 can of cooked chicken (or 2)
1 cup of Minute rice, uncooked
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Mrs. Dash (the wonder spice! I prefer the "Table Blend")
1 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out the pie crusts. Defrost vegetables in microwave for about 3 minutes. Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray and cover the bottom with one of the pie crusts. In large bowl, mix the soup and milk, and then add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Evenly spread the mix in the pan and cover it with the remaining pie crust. Cut vents on top, and put it in the oven for 35-45 minutes. SO GOOD.

Day One: Mexican Lasagna

I know, I know, I've been MIA with this blog. I don't really have a good reason, but to make up for it, I am going to be posting a recipe every day this week, starting with this:

Mexican Lasagna

6-8 flour tortillas
1-16oz can of refried beans
1 lbs ground beef
1-16oz can of diced tomatoes
Taco seasoning
1 cup salsa
1 cup shredded cheese (colby jack, mexican blend, cheddar, etc)

 

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9x13 pan with Pam or something. Put down 3 or 4 (depending on the size) tortillas on the pan. Spread refried beans evenly over the tortillas (you don't have to use the whole can). Cook the ground beef with the can of tomatoes (don't drain ALL of the juice away) and the taco seasoning--the kind we have says to use 1/4 cup for every pound of meat, but it varies between brands. When the beef is all cooked, spread the meat/tomatoes mixture evenly on top of the refried beans. Put 3 or 4 tortillas on top of that. Spread the salsa evenly on top of the new layer of tortillas. Put the shredded cheese on top. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until it's bubbly. Serve with sour cream.

SO GOOD.

Zuppa Toscana

Hey! Sorry for my absence. I really have no excuse except to say we've been making a lot of spaghetti and macaroni and cheese due to not-feeling-well and general laziness. But I'm back with one of my favorites: Zuppa Toscana! I mentioned it in my last post and will now be sharing the goodness with you! I stole was given the recipe by my mother-in-law and has since been a hit with my siblings and my fake son Gary, who we have over for dinner as often as he wants to walk the half an hour to our apartment from his dorm. More fans are forthcoming, I guarantee it.


Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage

1/2 lb. smoked bacon - chopped

1 qt. water 

Two 14.5 oz. cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth*

2 (or more!) lg. russet potatoes - scrubbed clean, cubed

2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed

1 med. onion - peeled, chopped

2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard

1 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half

salt and pepper - to taste

-In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside.

-In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon; drain, set aside.

-Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.

-Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.

-Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through.

 

I could eat this every day. Soooo delicious. It tastes BETTER than Olive Garden's version.

* A note about chicken broth: Getting the actual cans (or box) of broth is EXCEEDINGLY preferable to using chicken bouillon cubes or powder to make the broth. I learned from experience that bouillon makes it extremely salty. There are other options for broth (such as the "Better than Bouillon" paste) that I haven't tried yet, but canned or boxed chicken broth hasn't failed me yet!

Homemade Alfredo!

So Nathan and I eat a lot of pasta. It's cheap, quick, and easy, and a few well-chosen additions to the tomato sauce (not to mention Nathan's yummy homemade noodles) lead to a pretty tasty and satisfying meal. I've had bottled alfredo sauce before and I never really liked it, but I thought I'd give homemade a shot. I found a recipe at allrecipes.com that got great reviews and looked pretty easy. I changed it up a bit due to the ingredients we had available.

Here's what I did:

3 tablespoons butter

8 fluid ounces (1 cup) half and half

1/2 cup Italian 4-cheese blend (we got it at G's Dairy Delights)
1.5 tsp sauteed chopped garlic

1 egg yolk (beaten with a bit of half and half)

A shake or two of Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter over medium heat. Add half and half, stirring constantly. Stir in cheese and garlic. Stir constantly until the cheese is melted, then mix in egg yolk slowly. Add the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Simmer until it reaches the desired consistency. Ta-da!

(I also added some canned chicken so Nathan could get some protein from somewhere besides peanut butter--I would've put in fresh chicken, but I didn't think to defrost it before it was too late. It tasted great but the canned chicken overpowered the sauce a bit. Next time I'll just let the sauce stand on its own, maybe with some homemade noodles!)

 

Also: you can find the best thing ever after the cut!

Black Beans and Rice (plus bonus Tortillas)

Okay. I loooooove the Zatarain's version of Black Beans and Rice. It's great when you add canned chicken to it! I'd never had it from scratch before a few months ago at my in-laws house (and before you have to ask, YES, I hardly ever ate dinner at my own house for the entire time I was dating and engaged to Nathan... sorry Mom). It was a Sunday evening dinner, and we sat down to eat around 4:30. When I heard it was black beans and rice, I was really excited because I was thinking of something like the above picture.

But homemade black beans and rice is sooooo different. I wasn't prepared for the subtle tastiness that ensued, and when I called my mother-in-law for the recipe after the move to Idaho, I was taken aback at the sheer lack of ingredients and the sort of touch-and-go mentality of preparing it. I added a couple things to change it up a bit so she can't sue me for recipe infringement, plus I like throwing cheese into everything.

Black Beans and Rice

1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of black beans, mashed
1 lb ground beef (or whatever)
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp (or so) chopped garlic
1 (or 2) dried bay leaf (or 1 tsp or so if all you have is crushed)
Generous handful of cheese--I use Mexican blend
Red pepper flakes

Simple, right? Well the preparation is equally so. I have a fancy hand blender that I got as a wedding present that I used twice for this meal. I used it to mash up the can of beans, but that can be done just as easily with a fork. I also used the food chopper to chop up the onion, but again, that can be done with a knife and cutting board.
Mash one can of beans and mix it with the other (drained) beans in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook up the ground beef (or sausage) with the onion. When it's done, drain the grease and add it to the beans. Add the garlic, bay leaf, cheese, and red pepper flakes. Heat through. Make sure you taste it. If you think it needs more garlic, red pepper, or maybe some salt, go ahead and add it. Delicious!

[If you think bay leaves are poisonous, please read this. I wasn't sure myself, so I checked it out.]

After exhaustive testing, I've found that this amount of the black beans, proportion-wise, goes best with cooking 1.5 cups of white rice. (1.5 cups rice + 3 cups water)

The simplicity of cooking rice eludes most people (my husband, for one), but you can ALWAYS follow this formula: 1 part rice, 2 parts water. Boil the water, add the rice, cover, reduce to low temperature and simmer for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Fluff with a fork when it's done. Voila!

Once I made the black beans I didn't make rice. However, Nathan made tortillas! The next time we had black beans, I mixed the rice with the black beans and we put them in delicious homemade tortillas! It was fantastic. Nathan usually makes the tortillas, but I gave it a shot this last time and they definitely tasted great, but they weren't as pretty as his.

Definitely try out this great recipe for tortillas, which Nathan got from a YouTube video!

Bonus Tortillas!

3.5 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
7 tbls shortening or vegetable oil
1 cup very hot water

Knead dough for 3 minutes, cover with a clean cloth, let sit for 15 minutes, separate into approximately 1.5 oz. balls, roll dough out until it's flat and round, place on hot pan (medium heat, maybe even less), flip when air bubbles form. Ta daaaa! It should make about 18 tortillas, but we've been averaging about 12 or so. They're really tasty!

The Youtube video, if you'd like to see it done.