Crock pot black Beans and Cilantro Lime Rice

Ever since we had Black Beans and Rice at a Brazilian Restaurant in

Salt Lake I have been looking for recipes that sound like they would be

close to the same! After reading lots of reviews of different recipes I

realized that I may just have to figure this out for myself! So, I did!!!

Here is the result:

Black Beans:

I bought a bag of dried black beans from the store and rinsed and soaked them overnight. Then I drained and rinsed them again and added them to my crock pot. I then added 2 cans of chicken stock(vegetable stock would work, as would water) and 2 cups of Water.

I then chopped up fine :

1/2 sweet onion

2 celery stocks

and saute'd them in

1 T. butter

I added:

5 cloves of minced garlic at the very end just as the onions were getting soft

and tossed it in the crock pot with the beans.

I Added some salt and pepper at this point to taste. You may need to add more later.

I cooked 6 hours on High and it didn't feel like it was done to me so I put it back on High and waited another few hours!

At about the 8 hour mark I put my rice in the rice cooker it made about 5 cups.

To this I added 2 T. of rough chopped cilantro and a mixture of

juice of one lime or lemon

1 T. sugar

1 T. rice vinegar.

This gives it a slightly sweet, sour flavor that marries well with the savory black beans. You can easily just use plain rice, brown rice etc!

(this is a variation on the recipe Pat gave me for her rice, I just didn't take the time to look that one up and get the proportions but it worked!)

Just before scooping up the black beans to pour over the rice I tossed in about 1/4 C. Chopped Cilantro and stirred it in.

Next time I try this I want to add some roasted Anaheim Pepper to the veggie part of the mix. I wanted to this time but never had time to run all the way to Safeway to get one!

Notes from my family:

Kent-needs Pork.....lots of pork!(this would of course make it NOT vegetarian)

Kevin-chomp chomp...it's good

Melannie-it's ok

Kat-ew I'm not trying that

Emma & Avril-Plain rice please....

Me....loved it!!!

9 Layer Salad

This is my own take on the layered Salad. The nice thing about this one is you actually need to make it a day ahead of time!

1 C. Thinly sliced Celery (or diced if you prefer)
1 Lg. Bell pepper any color diced
1 sm onion chopped-I like red but green onions or a yellow onion work too
1 pkg frozen peas
1 head of lettuce Washed, Dried and chopped (make sure it's well dried!) Iceburg tastes the best to me but has no nutritional value so use whichever is best for your family.
1 C. Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 C. Crumbled Crispy cooked bacon
(Just before serving dice on large or 2 med/small ripe tomatoes)

Dressing:
1 C. Mayo
1 C. Sour Cream
1/2 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 T. sugar
2 t. Lemon Juice

Layer as follows
1-Lettuce
2-Celery
3-Bell Pepper
4-Onion
5-Peas
6-Dressing
7-Cheese
8-Bacon
9-Tomatoes (just before serving)

Mom's Stuffing

I'm Sorry Alton, but I just LOVE stuffing and it's the best right from inside the bird! Here is the recipe I grew up eating and now it's the one that I make!

Bread Stuffing

First prepare coarse or fine crumbs or cubes 12 cups

Add:

2 tbsp. salt, 1 tbsp dried sage. Add poultry
seasoning (to taste). Toss to distribute evenly with the bread.

Melt in large heavy skillet, Unsalted Butter 1 cup

Add and cook until yellow (stirring occas.) ¾ c
minced onion and chopped Celery 1 1/2 C.

Add the butter and veg mixture to the bread crumbs and combine.

Stuff the bird.

For the stuffing that is left after you stuff the
turkey, Mix 1 Cup of Chicken Broth with a beaten egg and stir into the bread crumbs. Add more chicken broth if it's not moist enough. Bake for 30 min at 350. 

Funeral Potatoes

My husband hates the name of these, but.... it's a good old Mormon tradition to serve this delightful potato Casserole at funerals.

2 C. grated cheddar cheese

2 lbs. frozen O'brien potatoes (or your preferred form of hash brown frozen potatoes)

(I like to thaw mine in the fridge over night before I make this)

¾ C. melted butter

salt and pepper to taste

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pt. sour cream

Topping:

2-3 Tbsp. butter

3 C. crushed cornflakes (or ritz crackers, or bread crumbs, or whatever you have on hand that would work.

Mix potatoes with melted butter and salt and pepper , Mix together the soup, sour cream and half the cheese. Mix into the potatoes. 

Put everything in 9x13 pan. Add rest of the cheese on top. 

For topping, mix 2-3 Tbsp. butter with crushed cornflakes. Put on top of ingredients and bake at 350° for 45 min. to 1 hour.