Sunday, June 27, 2010

Cooking, but not with Al Gore!

My life has been crazy busy the past few months, but I haven’t been experiencing the wackiness dominating Mr. Gore’s life. We share a passion for the environment that’s for sure, but I have never received a Noble Peace Prize for it. Although, if you had been to my house lately and witnessed some of the negotiations I have with my teenagers, I believe that I would be a strong candidate. My marriage is still intact, and I was sad to hear that his is ending. And well, I haven’t had a massage lately.

Cooking has taken a back burner to a cute grandbaby, summer fun, and unfortunately the dreaded need to work. One meal that I cook on a Sunday that makes up for all the skipped meals during the week is Café Rio’s sweet rice, black beans, and sweet pork. (I am not a big pork fan, so we do the other white meat at our house.) If you haven’t seen these recipes on line before, here they are, and your family will love you for them.


Café Rio Pork

1 cup medium Pace salsa
1 cup brown sugar
3-4 lb sirloin roast (I use 4-5 boneless chicken breasts)
Place meat in a crock pot. Mix salsa and brown sugar together, and pour over meat. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 cup uncooked rice
1 tsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp lime zest
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 1/4 cup water
2 T freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp sugar
3 T fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.

Black Beans

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 T fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, gook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stirring until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Hey Al, these recipes are so good that they could almost bring about world peace or at least save a marriage.