A lot more to these bowls than just rice

One of my favorite casual eateries, Sacramento’s Tako Korean BBQ, makes a great rice bowl packed with tons of meat (spicy chicken’s my favorite), rice, slaw and all kinds of other goodies. This recipe is inspired by the meal I’ve devoured quite a few times!

Chicken and Brown Rice Bowls
Serves 2

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
¾ pound chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 cups cooked brown rice, divided
2 cups shredded green cabbage, divided
2 cups bean sprouts, divided
½ cup diced red bell pepper, divided

Garnishes: Sriracha, peanut sauce, cilantro, sliced green onion, toasted peanuts

Combine first four ingredients in bowl and whisk to blend. Cook chicken in frying pan (lightly coated with a teaspoon or two of oil if you’re not going the non-stick route) over medium-high heat until meat is done, which should only take a few minutes. Add sauce to pan and stir until meat is evenly coated before removing from heat. Build each bowl with one cup each of rice, cabbage and sprouts. Add half the chicken and top with ¼ cup diced red bell pepper. Customize your bowl with desired garnishes and dig in.

Feeding colleagues a family favorite

“Family Favorites” was the theme of a recent work potluck. Some of my mom’s top dishes are of the casserole variety, including the deliciously filling bake I recreated for my colleagues using my mom’s recipe.

Green Chile and Cheese Rice Bake
8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups light sour cream
8 ounces canned diced green chiles
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4-5 cups cooked white rice (this dish works best when using day-old, cold rice)
1/2 cup grated cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in a bowl until blended. Alternate layers of rice and chile-cheese mixture in a greased 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish, starting and ending with rice. Top dish with grated cheddar and bake for 30 minutes.

Short shopping list for snappy salad

Looking for a fast, fresh, fantastic, flavorful salad idea? Here’s one with plenty of crunch.

Sesame Broccoli Slaw
6 ounces sugar snap peas, rinsed
3-ounce package top ramen noodles
12-ounce bag Trader Joe’s Organic Broccoli Slaw (or make your own mix of shredded broccoli stalks and carrots)
1 bottle Trader Joe’s Fat Free Sesame Soy Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Crunch up dry noodles and combine in large bowl with peas and slaw mix. Add dressing to taste (I ended up using about half the bottle), toss mixture until coated with dressing, and sprinkle salad with sesame seeds before serving.

Putting whatever I want on a pizza

When I was a kid, I always wanted to try taco pizza. Mom and dad, in an attempt to get everyone to eat their dinner, went the classic route when ordering pizza, opting for more family-friendly toppings like pepperoni and mushrooms. Tough times, I know.

Recently seeing a friend’s Instagram photo of a black-bean pizza reignited my interest in this combination of two of my favorite foods, and here’s what I came up with. Not necessarily original, but quite delicious!

Taco Pizza 
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ pound ground chicken
1 cup red enchilada sauce
White pizza dough (I buy it at Trader Joe’s)
1 cup refried beans (I used black refried beans)
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1 cup medium black olives
1 red bell pepper, diced
Green onion and cilantro

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Warm olive oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, stirring occasionally, for a minute or two before adding ground chicken. Once the ground chicken is thoroughly cooked, stir in enchilada sauce and remove from heat.

Evenly coat pizza pan with a little kitchen spray so the dough won’t stick. Roll out dough to desired thickness and place on pizza pan. Bake dough on its own for 8-10 minutes (I like to do this to help crisp up the crust). Spread refried beans all over the dough before adding meat and sauce. Top with grated cheese, olives and bell pepper, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until cheese is nice and melty. Garnish with green onion and cilantro.

Baking outside of the box

There’s no shame in baking brownies from a box. We’re not big on sweets around here, so when I actually do get the bug to make dessert, the base tends to come from our good friends at Pilsbury or Duncan Hines. However, I do like to tweak boxed mixes so the end result has a fancier feel to it. I did four things to make these delectable brownies:

1. Started with a box of Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix 
2. Added brewed coffee to the mix instead of water
3. Smeared the baked, cooled brownies with a hefty serving of Nutella
4. Topped the brownies with lots of crushed, roasted hazelnuts

White chili recipe a trusty fave

I’ve been rocking this chili recipe for years but have yet to share it on this blog … until now! If you like a spicier chili, swap out the cheddar for more pepper jack.

Turkey White Bean Chili 
1 large white onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
8 ounces diced green chiles
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
Salt and pepper, to taste

 In a large pot over medium heat, combine onion, garlic and ground turkey, stirring occasionally and sautéeing for roughly 10 minutes, or until the turkey is brown. Add the chiles, cumin, oregano and cinnamon and sauté for five more minutes.

Puree two cans of the beans with three cups of the chicken broth in a food processor. Pour the puree in the pot along with the remaining beans and broth. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese and simmer for another five minutes before serving. Possible garnishes include green onions, chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Food fun in wintry Wisconsin

Anyone else out there miss the holidays?

I had a great Christmas vacation with Chris and his family out in wintry white Wisconsin. Lots of fun, lots of relaxing, LOTS of delicious food and beverages.

I want to share a few of my favorite flavors from the trip, with some fun photos by Chris (who, if you didn’t already know, takes and posts all kinds of great pics here).

The Badger State busts out some serious brews, and we enjoyed quite a few during our recent visit. I like everything I’ve tried from New Glarus Brewing Company, and wish they distributed out to California just like Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company does. My new favorite, discovered out on this trip, is O’So Brewing Company’s Hopdinger, a pale ale with a great hoppy flavor.

We were equally impressed with the beers and the appetizers at Hinterland Brewing Co. in Green Bay. Seriously, who doesn’t love a ginormous bowl of sweet potato fries?

The Packers’ hometown is also home to Kavarna Coffeehouse, where they make a mean white mocha. While visiting Milwaukee we got our morning caffeine fix from Alterra Coffee. We liked it so much we bought a couple pounds of their coffee beans to bring home.

If you ever visit Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, definitely hit Cafe Benelux. Their Bier Book is ri-di-culous. And if you’re interested in some better-loosen-the-belt German food, definitely give Karl Ratzsch’s a try. Schnitzel, schnitzel everywhere, and you won’t want to put down your fork and knife.