A one pot meal is always a good thing in my book.

Things have been shaping up nicely around here and my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party preparations are in full swing.  I still have the cake and a few last minute things to handle, but I'm started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I really enjoyed working on all the decorations, especially the cake stand; a tire rim in honor of my dad the car guy.  I have to keep all the party talk hush-hush around my dad because he was scoffing about us not doing too much.  As if I would do such a thing, crazy talk I tell you.

Between work, trying to get in some exercise, and working on the party decorations I haven't had much time for anything else, especially cooking complicated meals.  Several nights last week I was lucky if I had a hot meal at all.  So tonight I went with a perennial favorite; the one pot meal.

This was so quick and easy to make it actually left me with a few minutes left to write the recipe down.

2 teaspoons olive or canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled, and finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

1 teaspoon ground cumin (use 1/2 teaspoon if you don't like a lot of spice)

2-4 pork chops (depending on how many you want to feed)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup basmati rice

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved

3 baby bok choy bunches, cut in large pieces

2 1/2 - 3 cups vegetable stock

In a large deep-sided skillet add the olive oil, onion, carrots, and celery and cook on medium heat for a few minutes until the veggies are starting to become translucent.  Add the garlic and stir for a few minutes.  Add the cumin and stir.  Push the veggies to the sides of the pan and add the pork chops. Salt and pepper the chops and add more salt and pepper to the pan.  Add the rice to the sides of the chops.  Place the tomatoes and bok choy on top of the rice and pork chops, cover the whole thing with vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil and then turn heat down to medium and cook with the lid on for 25-30 minutes, until the rice is tender.

You could easily sub out chicken or whatever protein you'd like.  I like how spicy the cumin makes the rice, if you don't like spice at all; sub in some Italian seasoning.  

Enjoy,

Gina

Carrot-Leek Baked Appetizers and 50 years to deal with...

I loathe Daylight Saving Time, yesterday was a complete blur.  I really needed to curl up in a ball and crash out somewhere about 5, but instead downed excess caffeine and stayed up till after midnight working on my parents 50+ year photo hoard.  When my head finally hit the pillow I yearned to pass out into a coma like state, but of course why would anything happen the way I want it to?  Hot Dog Dude came to bed at the same time as me and started talking and then just lapsed into a snore induced coma with no warning, leaving me lying there wide awake.  (For the love of God I have no idea how my parents' stayed married 50 years sleeping in the same room?)  Then again I'm still unsure if I actually fell asleep when I was awoken by a dream of me trying to help deliver Azmina's baby in a Target store.  

In my dream I told her I had done this plenty of times before and that everything would be fine, they had all the supplies we needed for the job in the baby isle and that she needed to make herself comfy on a blow-up mattress in the camping isle.  Just to clarify here Azmina I have absolutely zero baby delivery skills and if you are in my company and you suddenly feel compelled to give birth, for goodness sakes call 911.  CALL 911!  Also, I think we should stay at least 100 feet from any Target until we know the coast is clear.

Much less stressful than dream delivering a baby in Target was making these tasty carrot, leek, and goat cheese appetizers the other day.  I was thinking back to Christmas when the lovely Lisa invited a group of us to her home for a cookie swap.  I made a carrot, leek, and goat cheese tart to share with the group and while I was craving another one, I decided to lighten the recipe.  Looking over all those old photos was incentive enough to never eat again, but I have a better chance of actually delivering a baby than that happening.  

Carrot, Leek, and Goat Cheese Baked Appetizers

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces 

2 teaspoons olive oil 

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

Salt

Pepper 

2 ounces leek, white part only 

2 teaspoons olive oil 

1 clove finely minced garlic 

3 tablespoons water 

1/4 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped 

2 ounces soft chevre goat cheese 

1 package square won-ton wrappers 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

Combine carrots, olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to combine. Spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment and cook for 25-30 minutes until carrots are tender. 

Add leeks, oil, and garlic to a pan and sauté on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until limp. Add water and cover and cook on low for 10 minutes until the leeks are soft. Set aside.

In a bowl combine, cooked carrots, leeks, and olives and toss to combine. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Spray a mini-muffin pan with olive-oil spray or brush it with olive oil. Fill cups with won-ton wrappers and fill with the carrot mixture.  Top each one with a little crumbled goat cheese.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Serve warm or room temperature.

I almost forgot to give you the update on my brother's Volkswagen Bus; he wasn't able to make a deal with Rick.  I'm sure he will find the right buyer for the car eventually.  I am also leaving the offer on the table to broker the deal with you myself for a small commission.

Hope your week goes much better than my feeble attempt at sleep did.

Gina