Cilantro Lime Rice

I love this side dish with black beans or it also goes great for a taco/tostada night (Shrimp tostadas with avocado salsa recipe with picture soon to come). It's really quick and easy to throw together with a few simple ingredients. If you want to add some spice to it, you can always throw in a few fresh peppers in for a big kick.

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 cups of white medium grain rice
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 lime
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of salt

Cooking your rice is really going to depend on if you use a rice cooker or not. Either way, EVERYONE should know how to cook rice, hopefully I don't need to explain that. Instructions will be on the box for you special people, or you can use instant rice for a cop out. Once your rice is fully cooked, mince top bunch of cilantro (the leafy good part) and ass to rice. Add juice from lime and seasonings. That was easy, wasn't it? Serve and munch happily!

Steamed Artichoke with Dipping Sauce

Gotta love artichokes. They make for a great dip with certain cheeses, or they hold their own just as a quick snack/appetizer.
Sometime this week I'll make sure to post a recipe for my spinach artichoke dip. Nom nom nom.

Sauce
3 Large spoonfuls of melted butter
1 large spoonful of dijon mustard
1/2 small shallot minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of garlic minced
sprinkle of adobo or seasoning of choice
dash of tabasco sauce

To prepare the artichoke, cut the bottom stalk off and cut about an inch off the top of the artichoke (this helps to remove the prickly leaves at the top and opens the artichoke up to allow for better steaming). Using scissors, trim the pointy tops of the leaves on so that the top of each leaf has a flat edge. Trimming these is important so you don’t prick your self when removing and eating the leaves. Place the whole artichoke(s) on top of steamer in a pot of boiling water (water should come up just over steamer). Place lid on pot allowing for some steam to get out and let steam for about 45 minutes. Using a pair of tongs, try removing a leaf from the out side and inside of the artichoke. If both come off easily, the artichoke is ready.

Baked Asparagus

Most people like to sauté or steam their asparagus, but I personally love the texture they have when they are baked. Slightly crisp and very soft and tender on the inside. It doesn't take long, and it's a great side dish for just about any meal.

Baked Asparagus
1 bundle of asparagus
3 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 half of a lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange asparagus on baking sheet and add slices of butter on top of them, Add salt and pepper and squeeze lemon juice evenly over it. Put in the oven for about 10 minutes, half way through you want to make sure to move the pan around a bit to get them to cook evenly. Serve immediately.

Baked Soy Sauce Chicken

This is one of my quick and easy dishes I can make during the week that is actually relatively cheap. It was one of the only recipes I've made that actually didn't take too much trail and error. (I hate the oven as we all know.) You can pretty much make any side dish with this, rice, baked veggies, you name it.

Baked Soy Sauce Chicken
8 pieces of chicken thighs (bone in)
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of seasoning salt
2 tablespoon of soy sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry chicken after you remove from the packaging. Season each side liberally with all of the seasonings. Place skin side up on baking pan and pour a small amount of soy sauce on each piece. After you do this scatter garlic on skins surface over each thigh. Once oven is ready place inside and let them baked for about 35 minutes (check a peice to make sure juices are running clear, each oven is different). Let cool for about 10 minutes, then mow down!

Simple Homemade Brownies

To be perfectly honest, I blow at baking. I'm not sure what it is, but I always struggle with all kinds of cakes, pies, cookies or anything else that requires approximate measurements. I like making most of my recipes by eye, meaning, I make things over and over until I get the amount of this and that just right. I'm sure this is why baking hates me. I actually modified this recipe off of one that I got off of food gawker, but as I said before, it took me about 3 trial and error brownie batches to get this right. They are quick, easy, and delicious. Trust me, if I can make them, you can. Don't forget the milk!

Simple Brownies
4 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate
1 stick of softened butter
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare your baking pan (9x13) by using non-stick cooking spray, or preferably butter around the pan to unsure a non stick surface for your tasty treats. Melt chocolate and butter of stove top at a very low heat while stirring continuously until melted and creamy. Take off heat and let sit until the ingredients cool off so you can add your eggs. Once this bad boy cools off, go ahead and GRADUALLY beat in eggs and salt until blended thoroughly. Slowly mix in sugar and vanilla. Slowly sprinkle in flour by folding it in about three parts. Once everything looks well blended pour mixture into prepped baking pan and pop into the oven for about 24 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes. Serve with a cold class of milk. MMM!

Garlic Lemon Salmon with Mashed Potatoes and Sautéed Green Beans

This is actually one of my favorite comfort food dishes. As much as I love having rice, I am a die hard mashed potato fan. Most salmon dishes always seem to have some sort of rice and or vegetable pilaf, so this is a bit outside of the norm. Obviously, any other meat can be used in this dish, but fish really makes this a bit more spontaneous. I wouldn't call it a quick meal, but you can throw it together in about an hour so with all the prepping. Nom Nom Nom!

Mashed Potatoes
5 to 6 large russet potatoes (peeled)\
3 tablespoons of sweet cream butter
3 tablespoons of sour cream
2 tablespoons of whole milk
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper

Peel and cut potatoes and cut into 1/3 inch pieces and bring to a boil on stove top. Make sure to watch the pot, sometimes starch has a tendency of over boiling. Turn to med-high and leave it on a low boil for about 10 minutes or until you can stick on of the pieces without sticking to a fork. Drain potatoes and return to pan. Add butter, salt, pepper, and sour cream with milk. Mash lightly (you can mash or whip depending on how chunky you like the texture.) Serve immediately.


Garlic Lemon Salmon
2 large salmon fillets (bones removed, fish washed and dried)
1 tablespoon of garlic minced
1 lemon
2 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 springs of rosemary

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. While this is heating you can dress your salmon on a large cooking sheet. Usually you want to use aluminum foil to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, but you can also use spray if you don't having anything lying around. Use half of the lemon for the juice, spread evenly over prepped salmon fillets. Use garlic, butter, salt, and pepper over the fish evenly. After this is done, cut remaining lemon into thin slices and put over salmon fillets. Wash and use both sprigs of rosemary onto the face of the fish. Bake in oven for about 20-30 minutes depending on how flakey you like the texture, Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Sauted Green Beans
Green Beans (Washed with ends removed)
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch of salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of butter

Bring pan to a med-high heat and add olive oil to the pan, once oil is hot add the green beans and sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over the. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the outside of the bean is slightly softer, while the inside still has a nice crunch. Remove from head and add butter onto green beans. Serve immediately.
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