grains

Quick Arroz con Mariscos with lime-pickled onions

Arroz con Mariscos
It just means rice with seafood and a whole lotta of cilantro and cumin!
Arroz con Mariscos is a popular dish of rice and seafood in Peru and also Portugal. This quick version is perfect with shrimp and/or scallops. The convenient thing about seafood is that it’s quick and simple to prepare and the juices that are released add a lot of flavor to the dish. Our local Sprouts has a ‘dealicious’ sale on both this week. Add frozen or fresh veggies to this recipe. This time I added extra cilantro (one large bunch) and some chopped spinach. The greener the better, right?!

Quick Arroz con Mariscos with lime-pickled onions

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Ingredients
  

  • 3 to 4 cups of cooked/steamed white rice long grain
  • 1 ½ to 2 lb of seafood I used defrost shrimp and scallops
  • 1 bunch of fresh cilantro chopped
  • 1 medium red/purple onion 1/2 chopped and ½ cut in thin slices
  • 3 garlic cloves chopped
  • 1 small lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp of oregano
  • ½ cup of chicken stock or chicken broth save another ½ cup in case rice looks dry after all ingredients are mixed
  • ½ cup of peas frozen it’s fine
  • ½ cup of diced carrots
  • ½ red yellow or green bell pepper diced
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • “To taste” ingredients
  • salt about 1 tbsp but it depends on how salty the chicken broth you are using is
  • cayenne pepper 1 tsp

Instructions
 

  • Before starting on the “Arroz con Mariscos” marinade the thin onion slices in the lime juice and set aside.
  • On a big pan sauté diced onions on the OOil. Add bell pepper+peas+carrots or any other veggies you like (green beans, corn, etc.) Saute for a couple of minutes and add the chicken stock, lemon juice and spices (including chopped cilantro). Add the seafood and cook it for 5 minutes (Note: if you’re using frozen seafood use less chicken broth. If seafood is still frozen cooked for 8 minutes or so).
  • Taste the broth before adding the rice. It should be on the salty side. Add more salt/pepper/cumin or anything your taste buds tell you. Add the cooked rice. Make sure you gently smash the rice clusters so it will absorb the broth evenly. Add more chicken broth if the rice looks dry. The rice should look pretty moist.
  • Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving allowing the rice to absorb all the juices.
  • Serve with the marinade onions on the side.

Notes

You can add any vegetable to this recipe (green beans, lima beans and even chopped kale will taste good). I added chopped spinach on this batch. Also there’s no rule for the amount of cilantro you can use here. If you are a cilantro lover this is the time to abuse it!

Raw Almond Butter Bites

Raw Almond Butter Bites

I love no bake treats because…well…I don’t like baking. This is another quick treat that doesn’t require baking and it’s a super healthy bite for those mid-day sweet cravings. Healthy enough for a snack and delicious enough for dessert. It goes really good with a cup of coffee. These bites are also the perfect boost for a pre-workout or a great pos-workout snack due to the natural sugars from the maple syrup, plus carbs from the oats and a dose of healthy fats from the almond butter and coconut oil. 

These recipe can also be made with raw almond butter or any kind of all natural nut butter. The oilier the butter the better. You can add more milk or more ground oats depending on how thick or thin the mixture turns out. Contrary to baking, it’ll be hard to screw this recipe up!

If you make them, please be sure to pop back and leave a comment with your thoughts!

Raw Almond Butter Bites

Dominique for dealiciouscooking.com
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Ingredients
  

  • 1½ cup oats ground slightly (measure before grinding)
  • ½ cup roasted almond butter
  • 3 tsp coconut oil melted
  • 3 tsp maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp almond milk

Instructions
 

  • Mix everything but the ground oats until smooth.
  • Stir in the ground oats until a thick batter forms.
  • Make small balls with the mixture (or any shape you like)
  • Place in the refrigerator and let it sit for at least one hour until the bites are somewhat hard to the touch.

 

Black Rice with Kale, Mushrooms, Marsala Wine and Feta Cheese

Heirloom Forbidden Rice Package

This ‘black rice’ came in my Easter basket and to tell you the truth I thought it was just wild rice. I was not excited. Disappointed even.  As I put the bag in the pantry, I briefly read the package description…which led to Google search…that proved I live under a rock. As it turns out this Heirloom forbidden rice is NOT wild rice and it’s the healthiest rice in the world.  How haven’t I heard of it?

Down to the facts. Heirloom forbidden rice (aka black rice) has high level of minerals, antioxidants, is rich in a class of flavonoid antioxidants called anthocyanins, which are potent anti-inflammatories and have specifically been linked to a decreased risk of heart disease and cancer as well as improvements in memory.

Best of all, black rice taste a zillion times better than white or brown rice. It’s nutty, slightly sweet and it looks way sexier than any other rice.

This rice is not cheap so if you want to make it ‘dealicious’ keep checking the Whole Foods bulk section (it goes on sale sometimes) or try Cost Plus World Market where the one I got seems to come from.

There are good recipes out there for black rice but I had to use the kale and mushrooms in the fridge, so I came up with this recipe. It was the perfect side for our baked salmon.  Any type of kale would work for this recipe, but I used Earthbound Organic Baby Kale from Costco. Broccoli rabe (Rapini) or spinach would work too.

Black Rice, Kale, Mushroom with Marsala rice and Feta

 

Black Rice with Kale, Mushrooms, Marsala Wine and Feta Cheese

Dominique for DealiciousCooking
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup uncooked heirloom forbidden rice
  • ½ medium purple onion chopped
  • 2 cups crimini or white mushrooms sliced
  • 4 cups of raw baby kale
  • 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp Marsala wine
  • 1/4 cup of crumbed goat cheese or feta cheese
  • 2 3/4 cups of beef broth or water to cook the rice
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Start by cooking the rice with the beef broth in the rice cook. If you don’t have a rice cook, simply follow the directions in the package replacing the water with beef broth. If you don’t have directions (bought it in bulk) bring beef broth to a boil and add the rice. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes in medium heat. Remove from heat and let stand covered. Reserve.
  • On a separate pan, sauté the onion in the olive oil until it becomes translucent. Add mushrooms and Marsala wine. Cook for about 3 minutes and add kale, salt and some pepper. Cook until kale reduces its size and looks fully steamed. Turn heat off. Add the cooked black rice mixing it well. Taste and adjust with more salt and/or pepper. Cover and let it stand for a few minutes, allowing the rice to absorb the kale/mushrooms/Marsala wine juice. Sprinkle the cheese over the rice before serving.

 

Quick sometimes is not easy

I’m still trying to find a balance between my new job and my old job as a stay-at-home Mom. Keeping up with the house chores, homework, kids schedules, food shopping and meal preparation is not easy when you have to work. I figured out that grocery shopping and cooking do not go with the adjectives QUICK or EASY.

I went to the 99c Store to find birthday paraphernalia for my son’s party and I was surprised to find beautiful Pasilla chiles from Mexico. They were probably full of unpronounceable  pesticides, but I overlooked the cons and turned them into filling for delicious 20-minute tamales.

Along with the chiles came Organic Earthbound spring mix salad, Brazilian Bauducco cookies I grew up eating and some Valentine’s decorations. Each only 99 dealicious cents!

Last week I tried my new ceramic fondue pot from Crate and Barrel. It’s beautiful and it works! It was the first time the kids had fondue – what’s not to like about dipping little bites of food in cheese sauce?

On the ‘trying new things’ note, I made Farro for the first time last Friday. After overcooking it, I decided to make Farro risotto instead of salad and it turned out ok. Added roasted apples, fennel, Gruyere cheese and plain greek yogurt. Far from fabulous, but definitely good. Served with orange glazed pork chops and blood orange tequila sauce.