Brazilian Beans and Rice, by Diane

Once again I apologize for having to use my cell phone to take this photo- it definitely doesn't look as tasty as it is!! Anyway- I got introduced to this amazing staple of Brazilian cooking a few months ago in the Hamptons and since then I've made it at least every 2-3 weeks. It's become my ultimate comfort food!! It's unbelievably delicious, cheap and easy to make, and super healthy. It also reheats really well so you can make a lot. I've had it for lunch AND dinner today and am already craving more just from writing this!! The recipe comes partly from the internet, partly from my Brazilian maids, and partly from my memory of the dish in the Hamptons. :) I also add rotisserie chicken in sometimes too, since it is almost always served with some kind of roasted chicken (the photo above has chicken in the bean mixture). It's good both ways! It took me about 7 attempts to make this before I could post it because it took a while to learn how to get the rice exactly right. But follow these directions and you should have it right on your first try :)

Ingredients:

2 cups white long grain rice (not instant!), pre-rinsed and drained (until water is clear)
5 tsp minced garlic
1 small sweet yellow onion/white onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4.5 cups water
5 tsp chicken stock powder
1 whole bay leaf
1/2 tsp oregano flakes
2 cans black beans, lightly drained

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, heat the oil and add 1/3-1/2 of the onion and 2 tsp. garlic. Cook for about 3-5 minutes until the onions are slightly soft, but don't let the garlic burn.

2. Add in the rice and cook until it turns golden.

3. Add 4 cups of water and 3 tsp chicken stock powder. Reduce heat to low and cover, stirring only once or twice across 20-25 minutes. The rice should be loose and not sticky (if you cook it too long it becomes sticky!!). Don't remove the cover until you are ready to eat.

4. While the rice cooks, combine the remaining ingredients (beans, 1/3-1/2 of the onion, 3 tsp garlic, 2 tsp chicken powder, bay leaf, oregano, and 1/2 cup water) and rotisserie chicken if desired (cut into small cubes- and add in one more bay leaf and 1/2 tsp. more of oregano) in a medium size pot over medium high heat. Using a mallet or large spoon, mash some of the mixture up so that some of the beans break down. Bring the mixture to a boil to get rid of any excess water. You want the mixture to be a thick, stew-like texture, and it should leave the bottom of the pot dry when you stir it.

5. You can adjust the seasonings as you like for the beans(sometimes I need to add more chicken stock powder or oregano). Removing the bay leaf before eating, serve the beans over the rice in a large bowl and enjoy!! If you are reheating it, I found it works best to mix the rice in with the beans and cover the bowl in the microwave so the rice doesn't dry out.

Root Soup, by Diane

This soup is my go-to when I am feeling under the weather because is extremely nutritious, healthy, and is like a wonder drug. It consists of several root vegetables that are first sauteed in olive oil and some seasonings, and then added to a pot with other nutritious veggies and broth. Root vegetables contain powerful nutrients and vitamins, and can not only provide good nutrition when you are sick and not eating too much but can also speed healing. The result= one of the most amazing soups I've ever eaten. I admit I was a little wary of the taste given that the main ingredients are roots, but not only did I crave this soup every night after I made it but so did my family and friends and everyone else who happened to try it. Not only that, but it made me feel SO much better within two days. I've since made this soup for other people who are sick with colds or the flu, and they have had the same results. I should warn that this soup is somewhat expensive, particularly if you don't have all of the seasonings on hand, and that it takes a serious amount of time because of all of the vegetables you need to cut up (unless you buy the pre-chopped ones like I do, because who wants to do more work when they're sick?). But it's completely worth it, and is incredibly comforting- especially if you are feeling bad in the wintertime! Bonus points if you use homemade bone broth for healing properties!

Ingredients:

Vegetables: *I try to use fresh, organic, or homegrown ones when I can*

1 large sweet onion

1 package celery (save the inside small pieces with the leaves attached for later)

1 package carrots
3 cloves garlic
1 package pre-cut butternut squash (you can buy a whole one but it's tough to cut and you've got enough to cut already!!)
1 large rutabaga
3 large turnips
1 package parsnips
2 sweet potatoes
2 cups of mushrooms (I like to use the mixed pre-cut package from Whole Foods of shitake, oyster, and baby bella- anything but button mushrooms is better)
5 leaves rainbow chard, chopped (spinach is a good sub here too)
2 cups of dried lentils, presoaked for at least an hour
1 inch ginger, sliced thinly

Seasonings/Herbs/Spices:

You can modify these according to your taste, these are the ones I use. The main seasonings (about 1/2 tablespoon of each) are curry, turmeric, thyme, and sage/poultry seasoning. Other seasonings (only a sprinkle of each) are dill, fresh pepper, and rosemary. Additionally add in 2 small or 1 large bay leaf. You will also need EVOO. Salt to taste only at the end, I usually find I don't need any.

Broth:

For the broth, use one large box of vegetable broth and two large boxes of chicken broth (low sodium preferable). Or, about 12 cups of homemade bone broth (chicken preferably).

Directions:

1. Chop up all vegetables.

2. In a large soup pot, heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom fully on medium.

3. Add in the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

4. Sautee for five minutes stirring often, then add in the seasonings.

5. Continue to sauté for five more minutes, making sure to stir so they cook evenly.

6. Add in the remaining ingredients (including the insides of the celery) and bring to a boil.

7. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

8. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally. The longer you cook this soup, the better it tastes- but you can start eating it in about an hour! If the soup is too thin, you can use an immersion blender on a portion of it, or leave it as is (I like it as is!).

Fried Wontons, by Diane

I love to cook healthy foods- but every once in a while a girl needs to be bad!! And when eating poorly, there is really nothing better than fried food. This week, we made the perfect thing for such an occasion- fried wontons. These are a creation of my family's that was born several years ago. These wontons have really cheap and simple ingredients, are really fun to make (we do it as a family), and while they take some effort to fry up since we don't have a deep fryer they are definitely worth it! They are amazing hot dipped in soy sauce or wonton soup broth, but for some inexplicable reason they are even better cold once refrigerated the following day. We eat way more of these cold the next day than we do the first night hot!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground pork or chicken
1 large bunch scallions, chopped
1 small package of baby shrimp
4 tbsp. soy sauce (I love to use more than this, but this is the amount my family uses)
1 package wonton skins
Vegetable oil
Water

Directions:

1. Mix together the meat, shrimp, scallions, and soy sauce.
2. Get ready to assemble the wontons- you will need the wonton skins, the mixture, a small bowl of water, and a baking sheet.
3. Take one wonton skin, dip a finger in the water, and "paint" the edges of right and bottom side of the wonton with the water.
4. Take a small amount of the mixture and place it in the center of the wonton.
5. Close the wonton by folding it diagonally to create a triangle so that the dry edges meet the wet edges. Press the seal tightly to close, making sure there are no holes. Here is a photo of the process:

6. In a large pot, heat the oil. It should not be so hot that it burns, but hot enough to cook the wontons through. Test the oil temperature by dropping pieces of wonton skin in- if it browns very quickly or burns the oil is too hot, if it doesn't bubble at all the oil is too cool. Test the oil with a tester wonton as well before cooking a whole batch- the meat should no longer be pink on the inside and the outside of the wonton should be a golden brown.
7. Loading the wontons on the baking sheet, drop them into the oil and fry until the meat is completely cooked through. Place on a baking tray lined with paper towels to let cool.
8. Eat, eat, eat- but make sure not to eat TOO many of these (I know it's hard!), the oil can really make you sick if you're not used to eating fried foods!!! Just know that you can always have more tomorrow :)

Reeses Smores, by Diane

So recently we acquired a fire pit, and have been spending lots of time outside in the evenings making smores. One night my cousin and I were sitting by the fire thinking about what we could do to make our smores even better, and she suggested adding peanut butter. I went into our pantry to find the peanut butter, but saw something better instead- a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup!!! These are my favorites, and I could not imagine how amazing they would taste on a smore. The result- Smores squared. The chocolate melted just as it would using a Hershey bar, but the melty peanut butter inside really made this thing insanely delicious!!! From now on, we are going to experiment with different candy bars- Snickers is next!- rather than just a plain old Hershey bar. :)

Ingredients:

1 sheet of graham cracker, broken in half
1 large marshmallow
1 Reeses Peanut Butter Cup

Directions:

You can either make this in the fire the old fashioned way, or in the microwave!!! Enjoy!!!!

Elvis Sandwich, by Diane

My dad's favorite sandwich growing up was an odd one- peanut butter and bacon- and over the years my sister and I learned to love it too. One night, years ago, we were watching the food network and saw an Elvis sandwich featured at a diner somewhere. This sandwich is actually famous because Elvis loved it, and requested it where he went. My dad, sister, and I got such a craving for it that we ran out to the grocery store and raced back home to make and eat it. It sounds extremely weird, but the ingredients combine so well together and satisfy both salty and sweet tastes. And it takes my dad's fave childhood sandwich up a notch, even better. Despite the uncommon ingredients, I promise you will crave this sandwich late at night from time to time!! It's definitely better grilled, particularly on a panini maker, but you can fry it in a pan if you don't have a panini maker (we cheat and use the forman!). If you do fry it in the pan, make sure to squeeze it down while you cook it. The powdered sugar at the end was a Gilman addition, you can take it or leave it (but we think it makes the sandwich just a little more amazing!). Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 slices country white bread
4 strips of crispy bacon (you can use turkey bacon too, but real bacon tastes better)
1/2 banana, cut lengthwise in strips
Smooth peanut butter
Honey
Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Assemble the sandwich: spread peanut butter on both sides of the bread, layer bacon on one side and bananas on the other. Drizzle both sides with honey. Close the sandwich. Here is a photo of what it should look like before you close it:


2. Grill the sandwich on a panini maker or foreman grill, or fry in pan with cooking spray (pressing while it cooks).
3. Remove from the grill and place on a plate. Drizzle honey on the sandwich, then sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.
4. Get messy and enjoy!!!

Italian Pasta Salad, by Diane

This week I wanted to make something healthy that would fill me up, and had a bunch of random things in my pantry/fridge. I also have a basil plant that I bought literally months ago and I've been trying to find ways to use it. I decided to whip up a chilled pasta salad because it was such a warm day, and it was so simple and easy to make- but so delicious! BTW- the photo makes this dish look really liquidy and way less appealing than it actually was- it's because I ate nearly the whole bowl before I remembered to take a photo, so this is actually the bottom of the bowl!!! It was so good I forgot to use the camera sitting right next to me!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 package Barilla Dry Three Cheese Tortellini, cooked
1 can large black olives, drained
2 sticks light Polly-O string cheese, sliced into 1/2 pieces
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, lightly drained
6 green onions, chopped (use green and white parts)
1 handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions.
2. While the pasta cooks, chop the cheese, onions, and basil. Combine in a medium sized bowl with the olives and tomatoes.
3. Drain and cool the pasta, then add into bowl.
4. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.
5. Mix and chill for 30 minutes. Enjoy!!!

Breakfast Burrito, by Cheryl

While reading my Runner's World magazine I came across this recipe. I was drawn to it because this burrito is great to have after a hard workout. There's a lot of protein in it, along with carbs in order to replenish what you lost in your workout. And they're not just for breakfast... these are satisfying for any meal! I make at least two per week!

All of the ingredients except the tortilla and egg are estimated amounts. Put in as much or as little as you want. Also, since I'm usually ravenous when I make the burrito I try to save time while making it... I use the microwave and quick heating products like Uncle Ben's 90 second microwavable rice.

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat tortilla
1 egg
drop of milk (optional)
some shredded cheese
1/4 cup of canned black beans
1/4 cup of brown rice
2 teaspoons of salsa
1/4 avocado

1) Warm the tortilla in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes.
2) In a bowl scramble the egg with milk and cheese. Heat in the microwave for 90 seconds with the microwavable rice (not mixed together).
3) Heat the black beans for 30 seconds.
4) Assemble the egg, brown rice, black beans, salsa, and avocado on the tortilla, fold the sides over, and wrap it.

Healthy Spring Rolls with Plum Sauce, by Cheryl

As soon as I saw this recipe on the Ellen Degeneres show over the summer I wanted to make it, and being that she is vegan I knew it would be healthy and includes lots of veggies. Her personal chef made it look so easy I had to try it. I couldn't find rice paper or bean thread noodles in any store so I ordered them off of amazon.com (from importfood.com). When they arrived a week later, I was ready to start! One thing that I had some trouble with was rolling the papers tight enough so that the insides didn't fall out. The paper is really thin so some kept ripping if I pulled tighter... I guess it just takes practice! Next time, I will also use a little less mint. The taste of mint was pretty prominent in the spring roll. One more piece of advice... since I had baby carrots I decided to grate those instead of buying bigger ones; definitely buy bigger carrots to grate since you might grate your own finger :) I will definitely be making these again either as an appetizer or as a main course.

Ingredients:

2 oz dry black bean spaghetti or buckwheat soba noodles cooked according to package. Drained and reserved.
1/2 cucumber thinly sliced
3 carrots, grated
1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
some cilantro, roughly chopped
some basil, minced
some mint, minced
cooked shrimp (optional)
1/2 avocado
rice paper

Directions:

1) Toss first eight or nine ingredients together and set aside.

2) Fill a shallow bowl (I used a pan) with warm water and put a sheet of rice paper in it for about 15 seconds or until the sheet is soft.

3) Place the sheet onto a wooden cutting board. Place about one ounce of filling onto the rice paper, off-center, closest to you. Slice some avocado and set it onto the filling.

4) Roll the bottom of the rice paper over the top of the filling then fold both sides over the center, like a burrito. Gently pulling toward you, roll the spring roll toward the top.

5) Cut spring rolls in half and serve with plum sauce (recipe below).

Plum Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 garlic clove, minced
1 green onion, minced
1/4 cup cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve with spring rolls.

Black Bean Soup, by Cheryl

So I went to the grocery store and bought about 6 cans of black beans. I've been using them in a breakfast burrito that I've been making (post to follow) and thought they'd also be perfect to use in a soup. I looked up several recipes and found two on foodgawker that fit what I was looking for. I combined the two recipes and was pretty pleased with what I saw. When I make the soup again I will make the following adjustments: 4 cups of beef broth (I used chicken) was too much and made the soup thinner than I wanted. 3 cups would work just fine. It only called for 2 cans of black beans, but I added a third can because again, it was thin from the broth. I think if there's an equal amount of broth and cans of beans it would work out just fine! This recipe would also be a lot easier if you use an immersion blender. I don't have one so I had to ladle the soup into the blender in batches, causing a very big mess! A dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of shredded cheese made this dish complete! The adjusted recipe is below.

Ingredients:

Olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 medium carrots, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
3 cans black beans
3 cups low sodium beef broth
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 28-ounce can of tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

1) Combine beans, stock, tomatoes, paprika, onion powder, garlic, sea salt and tomato paste in large pot. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover.

2) While waiting for the pot to boil, saute the carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in a pan with olive oil over medium high heat, about 5 minutes. Put contents of pan into the pot with the beans. Simmer for 45 min -1 hour.

3) Use an immersion blender in the pot, or ladle the soup into a blender in batches in order to puree it so it's completely smooth. Remember to remove the stopper in the lid in order to let the heat escape. Put a paper towel over the hole.

4) Ladle into bowls and top with toppings of your choice.