Black beans and rice salad with orange chili vinaigrette

This is kind of a recipe in progress. The first recipe below is the original recipe. Listed after that is what I did today. I essentially cut the recipe in half, messing around some with proportions. I started with leftover cooked brown rice. I also used orange juice concentrate since I didn't have any OJ ready to go. Extra strong orange flavor can't hurt. And, I cut the oil in half (well, technically 1/4) because I like less oily vinaigrettes. You can serve this as a main dish lunch or as a side dish with grilled chicken. I served mine on a bed of spinach with grape tomatoes and a side of jack cheese. This is a good way to use leftover rice or rice you froze for a time when you needed a quick meal. See my oven baked brown rice recipe. When I come up with a more standard way of making this salad, I'll update.

BLACK BEAN AND RICE SALAD

INGREDIENTS

2 14oz cans chicken broth

½ cup water

1 1 LB package long-grain rice

2 bay leaves

2 15oz cans black beans, drained, rinsed

2 red bell peppers, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 medium red onion, diced

1 medium bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

½ c olive oil

3 T orange juice

2 T red wine vinegar

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

Bring chicken broth and water to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. Add rice and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Transfer rice to a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Mix in remaining ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate. Can be prepared 1 day ahead.

MY VERSION

2 1/2 c cooked brown rice

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 green pepper, chopped (3/4 c)

1/3 c red onion, chopped

1/4 C fresh cilantro, chopped

Vinaigrette:

1 T orange juice concentrate

1 T water

1 T red wine vinegar

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

2 T olive oil

Whisk the vinaigrette together. Mix in remaining salad ingredients. Stir in vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate. Can be prepared 1 day ahead.

Lora's Weird Wheat Berry Salad

This salad sound weird and looks weird, but tastes good. I think the fresh dill is what makes it so good. The original recipe was called perfect protein salad. It called for soy beans instead of white beans. With the soy beans and the tofu I guess it was quite the protein bomb for vegetarians. I didn't like the name "Perfect Protein Salad" so I changed it. I only made this recipe the first time because I happened to have cooked soybeans and cooked wheat berries on hand. (first and only time that happened). Glad I did, because I would never have made this based on reading the recipe. I make it using cottage cheese. Wheat berries freeze well after they are cooked, so go ahead and make extra wheat berries. See also the Wheat Berry Pilaf for breakfast and my whole grain nutrition entry. This recipe is from the Moosewood Cookbook.

WEIRD WHEAT BERRY SALAD

INGREDIENTS

1 can or 1 1/2 c white beans

3/4 c dry wheat or rye berries, soaked overnight (1 ½ c cooked)

1/4 to 1/3 c cider vinegar (to taste)

1 tsp salt

fresh black pepper, to taste

1/4 c minced fresh dill (or 2 tsp dried)

1/4 to 1/3 c mayonnaise

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

½ c finely minced parsley

1 c cottage cheese or mashed tofu

3 scallions, finely minced

1 medium carrot, minced

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and minced

a little bit of bell pepper (I used 1/4 a green pepper)

optional: minced red onion or celery, fresh alfalfa sprouts, sliced radish, tomato slices for garnish

Soak: Soak the wheat or rye berries for at least 30 minutes. (Soaking them overnight is also fine)

1. Place the soaked wheat or rye berries in another saucepan and add at least 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, partially cover, and simmer until tender. This will take between 1 and 1 1/4 hours. When the wheat berries are cooked, (chewy but not burst open, some will still crack open , that's O.K.) drain well. Transfer to a medium sized bowl.

2. Combine everything and mix well. Serve garnished with ripe tomato slices.

Wheat Berry Pilaf

I like to eat this as an alternative to oatmeal. Ya know, you have to mix things up. Wheat berries have satisfyingly chewy texture and wheaty flavor. Wheat berries are a great whole grain. The larger and less processed a grain is, the healthier it is for you. The more work your digestive system is doing, the better. For example the descending order of healthiness would be Whole oats, Irish oats, rolled oats, and instant oats. Wheat berries are what they call the whole kernels of wheat in a health food store. If you're a farmer or like me and have a farmer friend, you don't even have to go to the store. They just show up at your house. Thanks Steve and Karen. If you use wheat berries for other things, Like Lora's Weird Wheat berry Salad, wheat berries, like all (or at least most) whole gains will freeze well after they are cooked. I added a Tablespoon of brown sugar to Kristy's original recipe. She likes this with a little warm milk. I think milk is kind of disgusting, especially warm. So, I just eat mine plain. By the way, it's a cinnamon stick in the picture if you were wondering.

KRISTY’S WHEAT BERRY PILAF

INGREDIENTS

1 c wheat berries

3 c water

pinch sea salt

1 cinnamon stick

1 T dark brown sugar

1/3 c golden raisins

1/3 c dried cranberries

½ c chopped almonds, toasted

½ T butter or olive oil

Soak wheat berries 8 hours or over night. Drain. Place in heavy-bottomed pot with water, sea salt, brown sugar,and cinnamon stick. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 ½ hours until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and let sit 10 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid and remove cinnamon stick.

Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal

If you have a crock pot from the 70's in avocado or harvest orange you can make this recipe. If you own a newfangled model, no creamy oatmeal for you. The newer models were built to run at higher temperatures. Unless you like the smell of burnt oats and scraping, don’t try it (ask Kristy). Steel cut (Irish or Scottish) oats are even better for you then regular oatmeal. Sometimes supermarkets keep them with the oatmeal, sometimes they are in the health food section. They are usually in a bag like Bob’s Red Mill products come in. They are also sometimes in the bulk section. People like me who hate, hate, hate the mushy texture of regular oatmeal like steel cut oats for their chewy, but still creamy texture. My two year old niece Eva says I make good oatmeal. You may be interested in my whole grain nutrition entry.

Use any mixture of dried fruit you like. I suggest at least ½ cup dried cranberries. The dried cranberries make it sweet enough that you don’t need extra sugar. Dates help make the oatmeal sweet too. This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown on the Food Network.

Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal

serves 8 (or less)

INGREDIENTS

1 C steel cut oats

1 C dried fruit

½ C buttermilk or milk, or half-n-half

4 C water

Before you go to bed, put all ingredient into your mid-century crock pot. Cover and cook on low overnight, eight to nine hours. Stir. Add brown sugar, honey, or cinnamon to taste in the morning. The sugar will burn if you add it at night. Leftovers reheat nicely in the microwave.

Oven baked brown rice

This is an easy fool proof way to make brown rice, and none is stuck to the bottom. See my whole grain nutrition entry. This reicpe is from America's Test Kitchen.

Oven Baked Brown Rice

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ c brown rice

2 1/3 c Water, broth or mixture (I add enough water to a can of broth to make 2 1/3 c)

2 tsp butter or oil

½ tsp salt

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread rice in 8-inch-square glass baking dish.

2. Bring water and butter or oil to boil, covered, in medium saucepan over high heat; once boiling, immediately stir in salt and pour water over rice. Cover baking dish tightly with doubled layer of foil. Bake rice 1 hour, until tender.

3. Remove baking dish from oven and uncover. Fluff rice with dinner fork, then cover dish with clean kitchen towel; let rice stand 5 minutes. Uncover and let rice stand 5 minutes longer; serve immediately.

Granola

Granola

This is my somewhat healthier version of granola. I cut down the sugar, syrup, and cut out the oil from the original recipe. But I left in all the coconut ‘cause I love *the coconut*love love* the coconut. Astute observers may notice that I accidental added the dried fruit to the granola before I put in the oven in the picture. The dried fruit got a little dark and quite chewy. Oh well.

*This isn't granola with granola clusters. See the comments.

INGREDIENTS

3 c oats

½ c wheat germ

1 c nuts (any combination you like)

3/4 c coconut

1/4 c brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 C maple syrup (I like the kind that comes from trees, not fields in Iowa.)

1 c dried fruit

Preheat oven to 250. Mix together oats, wheat germ, nuts, coconut, brown sugar and salt.

Mix the maple syrup with the oat mixture. Bake on an oiled or sprayed with pam baking sheet (0r two oiled pizza pans) for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and place in a large bowl. Stir in fruit.