In The Cucina With Seamas

The other day I had a craving for fried rice so I went searching for recipes. The one common ingredient from the results was day old rice. This gave me the idea to cook one cup of rice when making my Spicy Rice which inspired me to try something new when making black beans and spicy rice. When I next made Spicy Rice, and the rice was finished cooking I scooped a cups worth into the skillet with the cooked black beans. Then I added a 1/2 cup of salsa, mixed everything together until the rice absorbed the salsa. This way got more of the liquid out of the salsa.

In The Cucina With Seamas

On my last grocery trip I got Dr. Praeger’s Kale Veggie Burgers. They're delicious but mushy and fell apart as I tried to eat them with roasted red pepper as a topping. However it gave me the idea to try them mixed into brown rice or pasta.

Which I tried for tonight's dinner using small shell pasta, 2 tablespoons of vegan butter and a dash of garlic. After draining the water from the pasta, I mixed in the butter while it was still steamy so it would melt then added the garlic. The burgers were placed on top of the pasta and another spoon mix and dinner was ready.

It was delicious, and next time I'm in the mood for it I'll try rice.

In The Cucina With Seamas Life Hack

 To get that little bit of tomato sauce out of your jar, pour 2 tablespoons of water, close the lid, shake it up.

To thicken that tomato sauce, add a quarter cup of instant potato mix once its heated up.

In The Cucina With Seamas

Seamas's Quick Mexican Rice

3 tablespoons avocado oil
1/2 cup of uncooked rice
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup of salsa

1. Pour oil into saucepan, heat over medium flame
2. Add uncooked rice, stir for 2 minutes
3. CAREFULLY add vegetable broth
4. Bring to a boil, cover saucepan, simmer over low heat for 10 minutes
5. Add salsa, cover and simmer for 5 minutes

In The Cucina With Seamas

If you've never made quinoa with vegetable broth instead of water, I highly recommend it. I used Trader Joe's low-sodium version with their white quinoa, and coconut oil instead of butter.

In The Cucina With Seamas

At the Pleasantville Farmers Market, I’ve been buying sun dried tomatoes, and peppadews from the Pickle Licious stand. They are pricier than the store bought versions but a lot tastier.

I use to cut the sun dried tomatoes but pureeing makes them easier to add to meals.

One night I made English Muffin pizzas for dinner and used the sun dried tomato puree on two of them, tomato sauce on the other two. Then I topped one of each with goat cheese, the other with shredded mozzarella. Into the oven at 350 degrees and 10 minutes later I had a tasty dinner.

Another idea I had was to add the sun dried tomatoes to refried beans. A ¼ cup of them is a good amount to add if you use canned beans.

In The Cucina With Seamas

Another post about making hummus.

Same ingredients as before but this time I added 4 tablespoons of Trader Joe's Olive Oil & Red Wine salad dressing. Gives it a nice kick.

In The Cucina With Seamas

Last night I wanted nachos but couldn't decide if I wanted to go to Tomatillo in Dobbs Ferry or Blue Moon Mexican Cafe in Mount Vernon. Both make excellent versions but I was debating the fact that just because I had forty dollars remaining after food shopping didn't mean I had to spend it.

It didn't help that each place serves Captain Lawrence beer which would bring my bill up to twenty dollars. I have to treat myself to a great beer with nachos.

If I was going to spend twenty dollars then I would buy the ingredients and make my own. So a second trip to Trader Joe's and I bought tortilla chips, cheese, refried beans, soy "beef", salsa and roasted peppers (wanted to try something new). I already had guacamole and beer from earlier trips.

The total for the fixings, sixteen dollars and I can make more meals later.

Only problem with my nachos is that they're so delicious I eat them too fast.

In The Cucina With Seamas

With the warmer weather approaching I like to make lunches that don't require cooking at home, and are cool to eat.

I decided to make my own chickpea/garbanzo bean salad. For the mobile users (and OCD web browsers) the ingredients are;

2  15oz cans of chickpea/garbanzo beans
1 15oz can of corn niblets
1 red pepper - chop as you like
1 yellow pepper - chop as you like
2-3 handful of cherry tomatoes - I cut mine in half

Mix all of the above into a bigger boat 
After the quinoa is cooked, you can add all of it or leave it out as I do since I like to use it in other dishes.

2 tablespoons of dressing*
1/4 cup of quinoa

*I don't put the dressing in the final mix because it tends to make everything soggy.

In The Cucina With Seamas

I've posted before about finding a hummus recipe that's tahini free. Tonight's post is about using my new food processor to make it.

1 can garbanzo beans
1 lemon
1 dash of black pepper, cumin, garlic, salt
3 tablespoons of canola oil

I cut the lemon into wedges, remove the seeds, peel the rind off, and put the pulp into the food processor.

Blend for about 5 minutes or longer if you like it creamier.

In The Cucina With Seamas

I've been making almond butter since it's the second healthiest nut, walnuts are number one but I can only eat so much before not liking them.

I'll have to try making walnut butter the way I made the almond today.

2 cups of roasted almonds
2 tablespoons of coconut oil - add more if you like it creamier
1 teaspoon of cinammon
1 tablespoon of honey

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and mix

In The Cucina With Seamas

Nothing like changing an ingredient when making hummus that works out great. Instead of cutting up the lemons and putting them with the other ingredients, I peeled the skin off and put them in the food processor. After a few seconds, it was a lot easier to pick the seeds out with a spoon.

Then I added in the chickpeas, spices, and canola oil for another spin of the blades and got a much creamier mix.

Last night was the Westchester Geeks Halloween Party, I brought the hummus dip and my world famous guacamole (using the new process of the lemon). People liked it so much, it's been demanded at all future WG events.

In The Cucina With Seamas

I recently went to an Irish Brunch and made Irish Soda Bread to bring. One of my friends doesn’t like raisins, so I made two loaves. To compensate for the lack of raisins in the one loaf, I added cranberries as well for the second loaf.

My friends who attended are excellent cooks themselves, so I limited myself to two slices of my contribution. Sadly I forgot to bring those leftovers home with me, but I did take a blueberry muffin, chocolate muffin, and a ginger cookie.

Now the diet begins.