At my office we have a "Lunch Club" that gets together about once a week. There are currently 7 people in the group ranging from a recent college grad, to a father of 2 tweens and even the boss woman (who is a great French/Canadian cook)! Each member agrees to cook 1 lunch over the 7 week period, so you are enjoying several homemade meals and only cooking once! It's a brialliant plan really, one that I'm quite proud to be part of!
This past week was my turn to cook and that meant the most difficult part of all...chosing a recipe from the hundreds floating around my house in magazines and cookbooks. Trying to be quick and decisive, I grabbed the current issue of Natural Health I was reading and committed to making something from inside, as long as it looked good and didn't call for excessively priced ingredients. The April 2009 issue included a focus on Latin Cooking with Ingrid Hoffmann, host of "Delicioso" (airs on The Food Network, too bad we can't afford real cable, so I haven't seen her show). In the article, she talks about her healthy eating philosophies: eat serveral times a day, eat whole fresh foods and eat what you like, just in moderation. I totally agree!
The recipes I chose were Arroz con Pollo for the main dish and Black Beans as a side. Now, I am sure the recipe only takes her an hour to make, but I was cooking for three (totally worth it in the end)! I had the butcher (thanks Whole Foods!) cut me a whole chicken and I actually made the ketchup from scratch with another of her recipes. By cooking the chicken in broth first and then using that well seasoned stock to cook the rice, the flavors are really deap and flavorful. I also didn't hold back on the ingredients; even though I'm not fond of Pimiento Olives, I put them in and I think their salty/vinegar flavor was a very important addition.
I made her "Dad's Black Beans". They don't have pork in them (which is traditional?), but instead are cooked with onions and garlic, in Sherry and Paprika. Not just you're average black beans, but more of a tangy sweet flavor...they were great as a "topping" on the chicken.
I will definitely make this one again! Everyone loved it and although it took forever, it fed 9 people! So, I could make a huge pot and freeze leftovers very easily. hmm... this might be dinner for tomorrow night!? I still have about 2 cups of homemade ketchup to use, which tastes different than the Heintz variety we're used to, but probably has a better flavor for use in cooking. I may use some for a meatloaf topping, a classic I haven't made in far too long!
The link below will take you to the recipe. The version I followed was a little bit different...homemade ketchup and brown rice for added health benefits, although with all the flavor, I don't think you'd miss the white rice.
http://www.delicioso.com/node/91
Cheers...or rather, Salud!
-l.v.
This past week was my turn to cook and that meant the most difficult part of all...chosing a recipe from the hundreds floating around my house in magazines and cookbooks. Trying to be quick and decisive, I grabbed the current issue of Natural Health I was reading and committed to making something from inside, as long as it looked good and didn't call for excessively priced ingredients. The April 2009 issue included a focus on Latin Cooking with Ingrid Hoffmann, host of "Delicioso" (airs on The Food Network, too bad we can't afford real cable, so I haven't seen her show). In the article, she talks about her healthy eating philosophies: eat serveral times a day, eat whole fresh foods and eat what you like, just in moderation. I totally agree!
The recipes I chose were Arroz con Pollo for the main dish and Black Beans as a side. Now, I am sure the recipe only takes her an hour to make, but I was cooking for three (totally worth it in the end)! I had the butcher (thanks Whole Foods!) cut me a whole chicken and I actually made the ketchup from scratch with another of her recipes. By cooking the chicken in broth first and then using that well seasoned stock to cook the rice, the flavors are really deap and flavorful. I also didn't hold back on the ingredients; even though I'm not fond of Pimiento Olives, I put them in and I think their salty/vinegar flavor was a very important addition.
I made her "Dad's Black Beans". They don't have pork in them (which is traditional?), but instead are cooked with onions and garlic, in Sherry and Paprika. Not just you're average black beans, but more of a tangy sweet flavor...they were great as a "topping" on the chicken.
I will definitely make this one again! Everyone loved it and although it took forever, it fed 9 people! So, I could make a huge pot and freeze leftovers very easily. hmm... this might be dinner for tomorrow night!? I still have about 2 cups of homemade ketchup to use, which tastes different than the Heintz variety we're used to, but probably has a better flavor for use in cooking. I may use some for a meatloaf topping, a classic I haven't made in far too long!
The link below will take you to the recipe. The version I followed was a little bit different...homemade ketchup and brown rice for added health benefits, although with all the flavor, I don't think you'd miss the white rice.
http://www.delicioso.com/node/91
Cheers...or rather, Salud!
-l.v.
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