Black Bean and Avocado Salad

This was a flavorful accompaniment to our cook-out a few days ago. We started our grill up as soon as the weather allowed! (And sometimes not.)

• 2 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of corn
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Extra virgin olive oi, enough to create a nice dressing with the lime juice, salt, cayenne, and sugar)
• Fresh lime juice (to your liking...I probably used 5 tablespoons or so).
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 avocados, diced

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Serve at room temperature.

St. Pat's and Spring!

 Sunflowers are just my favorite and we bought an exceptionally beautiful bunch for the kitchen.

Spring doesn't start for another few days, officially, though it has been in full swing in Chicago. Flowers are blooming, windows and doors are open, grills are being pulled out on to porches...it's lovely.
To top it all off, today is St. Patrick's Day, which is one of my favorite celebrations! Even though J and I are near Chicago this year, we will not be attending the craziness that is downtown. ;) We will be celebrating at the local, neighborhood pub, which is my favorite way. Today we will have tasty beverages, celebration, and even some March Madness basketball. Slainte!



As we that from winter, J and I have lots of fun plans and everyone else seems to have equally fun news. Some exciting updates:
Our great friends, Kelsie and Josh, are engaged. We are excited to return and celebrate! There is much happiness all around, and a rather large ring. ;)
Yay for you two...we love you! --------->
On the career front, it was announced a few weeks ago that Denver will be the next crew base later this year, some time during the fourth quarter. This means that J and I have the possibility of not commuting to Chicago to start our trips. While we are not sure if we will be able to transfer to the base right away, it still opens up possibilities for J and I, however it works out. The whole base announcement has led to some interesting discussions on what might happen with our plans in the future. Which is a perfect segue to...our plans in the future!
J and I will be cruising it up in April and spending a couple of weeks in June exploring north-central Italy. We are looking forward to both trips. :)

Spring!...Training!

Spring is here! No, really...it's been absolutely, fantastically gorgeous in Chicago and it appears that way in most of the U.S. in my travels. I can definitely say that spring, the blooming plants, and my allergies have arrived! This has been shown no more so than in Phoenix, AZ...specifically, Scottsdale.

Not only is spring here, but so is Spring Training.





Last year I wasn't able to journey down to Scottsdale for Spring Training when J went, but this year we were both able to attend. It was a great time (aforementioned allergies not included).

 

 J and I sampled a few places around Scottsdale for food, and we all know I like my food, so I have to mention my favorite: Scratch Pastries. The pastry in the picture is their Mogador pastry. Think an elegant raspberry and chocolate. This only came after our main meals of salmon burger with coconut cream, peppers, garlic, and coriander sauce (me) and savory salmon crepes (J).

Dex!

Ahh, Dexter Fowler. My favorite of the Colorado Rockies and also baseball in general. There's really nothing not to like about him. I was very glad he was playing in the game we attended.

Go Rockies!

 The Rockies ended up losing to the Royals, but it was a great, fun game...very low-key. My favorite was joking with all the people around us in the section. The people at spring training are really there for the love of the game...and in my instance, that chocolate drizzled fruit kabob in the photo above. ;)

Moroccan Mint Tea

A little taste of more Morocco. We had mint tea almost every night that we were there. The ingredients were very simple, sometimes just the mint, sugar, and hot water...but this is the way we best recreate what we had in our travels. It was minty sweetness. J bought a beautiful teapot and serving glasses while we were in Morocco but I don't have it at our current location for me to post a picture.

Ingredients:
Green tea (we like to drink it at night, so...decaf :P)
Fresh mint sprigs
Sugar!

Directions:
Boil water and brew tea according to the directions, adding gently crushed mint sprigs to the cup.
Remove the tea bag or infuser when tea has finished brewing, remove excess mint leaves after a few minutes as well. Add a generous amount of sugar. This drink is like dessert! :)

Also, enjoy some additional pictures from around the house. I thought the colors went will with my mint tea photo essay. ;)

Lu, basking in the warmth of the sunlight as it travels across the living room every day.

Fresh hyacinth...smells gorgeous.

Mint tea ingredients.

Brewing away...

...to tasty goodness. :)

Warm Quinoa Salad with Carrots

This recipe was paired with the fish stew from the previous post in the Food&Wine magazine from this month. It is published as accompanying chicken skewers, but I made it as a simple and tasty vegetarian side.

Here is the post from the magazine's website.

This is the recipe as I made it (as a veggie side dish)...

Ingredients:
1 cup red or black quinoa
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup slivered, toasted almonds
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise into half-moons
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons mint leaves, ribboned

1. Put the quinoa in a small saucepan and cover with 2 cups of water. Add a large pinch of salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet. Add the garlic and onion and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and cumin, cover and cook over low heat until the carrots are just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the quinoa and vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
3. Mound the quinoa salad on plates. Garnish with the toasted, slivered almonds and mint leaves. 

North African Fish Stew

This evening was the third time cooking with the tagine J purchased a few weeks ago and it came out fabulously. We used a recipe in this month's Food&Wine. The recipe is by Cat Cora. While we did a few things differently (J made his own vegetable stock, I made our own ras el hanout) we did follow the recipe relatively closely. It was fantastic! Cat Cora had a recipe for a warm quinoa salad with chicken skewers that we also made (just the quinoa salad part). Recipe to follow!

Cat Cora's original recipe posted here. :)

I have reposted it below.


Ingredients, Fish Stew:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons golden raisins (J added a bit more as we really love the sweetness of the fruit with the dish - just like we had in Morocco!)
1/4 cup salted roasted cashews
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 medium tomatoes—peeled, seeded and sliced crosswise 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend, we made our own...follow link for post)
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (J made his own - so flavorful!)
1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Couscous:
2 cups couscous
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 scallions, thinly sliced 

1. In a large, deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add half of the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until browned, 8 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate. Add the raisins and cashews to the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to the plate.
2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet along with the remaining onion and both peppers. Cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ras el hanout and stock, cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Season the fish with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Cook over moderately high heat until the fish is cooked, 5 minutes.
3. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and toss with the cinnamon and cumin. Pour the boiling water over the couscous, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the couscous into bowls and top with the fish stew. Garnish with the onion, raisins, cashews and scallions.

Onion, raisin, and cashew garnish. Beautifully balances the spice.

Ta da!

The spread.

Plated.

Singapore Fried Rice Noodles

This is adapted from a Pinterest recipe that was circulating around a while back. J decided to take it and make it his own.


Ingredients (Veggies and Noodles):
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2" piece ginger, minced
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 carrot, peeled (we carrot peeled the whole thing into tasty, thin strips)
Handful shitake mushrooms, sliced thin
1 green pepper, sliced thin
Handful bean sprouts
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 packet fine dry rice vermicelli (usually about 12 oz)
1 tsp canola oil

Ingredients (Sauce):
2 tbsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1" piece ginger, minced
1 cup vegetable stock
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp hot chilli paste
1 tsp canola oil

Directions:
Cook the noodles in boiling water. Keep covered for about eight minutes (until soft). Drain and set aside.
Prepare the sauce. Heat the oil and saute the ginger, garlic and curry powder. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it just come to a boil. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok or large pan. Add ginger and garlic and stir fry till the garlic becomes golden. Add the onions and the other vegetables and stir fry on high heat. Add the noodles to it and mix well. Add sauce, stir well and switch off the heat. Serve hot.
NOTE: We served it with the sauce separate, just so that people could serve it to taste.

Champagne and Digestif Cocktails

J and I not only made lots of crafty things at the Pinterest Party we attended, but we also tried a few great recipes as well as experimented with some cocktails. I didn't see either of these on Pinterest but they were both something I wanted to try. The first is a champagne cocktail and the second is a recreation of a mixed drink "digestif" that J and I enjoyed at a restaurant in New Orleans after our main course.

Champagne Cocktail
Place one sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne flute.
Add 2-3 dashes Angostura bitters to saturate the sugar.
Fill with champagne, garnish with lemon twist.

We didn't have small drinking glasses. :P
Digestif Cocktail
1 tablespoon simple syrup
2 ounces ginger ale
2 ounces rum
A splash of lime
3 dashes Angostura bitters

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sauteed Pear, Spinach, Onions and Garlic

This is a quick dinner that J and I have made twice "on the go." We don't have Trader Joe's out in Colorado but here in Illinois we do...and I've been wanting to try their Butternut Squash Ravioli for some time.  This is how we prepared it.

Ingredients:
2 packages of butternut squash ravioli
2 pears, diced
1-2 cups spinach
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 large garlic clove, chopped finely
olive oil (we used rosemary-infused olive oil)

The butternut squash ravioli are the really easy part of this already easy recipe. They only require a large pot of boiling water and a few minutes to cook. You'll want to have the sauteed fruit and veggies ready for them.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil. Add the pears, onion, shallot, and garlic. Saute until the fruit and veggies have become aromatic and begin to cook. Add the spinach; it will wilt down. Combine this with the drained ravioli and ta-da!

Chicken Tagine with Vegetables, Raisins, Lemons, and Olives

During our trip in Morocco, J and I enjoyed meals cooked in a tagine often. Each dish was always so tender and so full of flavors and scents. The other day J surprised everyone and bought a really high-quality tagine online and it was delivered yesterday. Of course, we had to try it (and it was absolutely fantastic!)
The recipe we used is modeled off of a recipe of Emeril Lagasse's found on the Food Network here. We used a little less salt, a little more veggies, and substituted allspice and nutmeg for the cardamom and lemon juice and zest the preserved lemons.
I kept saying that I hoped I could capture all the smells from the kitchen just as we were gathering and chopping all the ingredients. Seriously just amazing...I so wish I could share them with you all! I do have pictures to share, though (and had many more I originally wanted to add because the dish was just so beautiful). I tried to pick the best...enjoy!

Ingredients:

For tagine:

• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice 
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) roasting chicken, cut into 8 pieces (we bought drumsticks and breasts)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion 
• 2 carrots peeled and sliced thin
• 1 small bell pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 cups chicken stock 
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup rough chopped green olives
• 1/4 cup toasted almond slivers
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint 

For couscous:

• 2 cups couscous
• 2 cups vegetable broth (low sodium)
• 1 tablespoon butter 

Directions:

Combine the saffron threads and water in a small bowl and allow to steep. In another small bowl, combine the kosher salt, black pepper, cumin, allspice, and nutmeg. Mix well, and season the chicken pieces on both sides with the spice blend.

Set the tagine over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add half of the chicken pieces, skin side down, and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside while you cook the remaining chicken pieces. Remove and set aside.
Add the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves to the tagine and cook, stirring, for 20 seconds. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized, 4 minutes. Add the carrots, bell pepper, and garlic to the pan and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the stock, saffron, raisins, lemon zest and juice, and olives to the pan and bring to a boil. Return the chicken to the pan, skin side down. Return the sauce to a boil, cover the tagine, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces to the other side and add the almonds. Continue to cook, covered, until the meat is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Start the couscous. Boil 2 cups vegetable broth with butter. When the vegetable broth comes to a full boil remove from heat and add the couscous.  Stir, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes. Fluff the couscous before serving.
Display the chicken in the tagine, garnished with the mint. Serve over warm couscous.