Chicken and Rice Casserole, a la Miranda

What's more homey sounding than chicken and rice casserole? It's the classic housewife, prepare ahead, easy to cook, low fuss, ready to eat when you get back from church meal. It's also my Gramma Vivian's specialty. This is NOT my gramma's casserole!

I did some research, found some recipes i liked to get the cooking time and temperature figured out, then did some serious 'flare' adding. I used ripe ingredients from the garden, and spices and herbs that suit our pallete. I served it his and hers style - his on a big plate with a breast of chicken and lots of rice, hers on a little plate with chicken and a little rice. Delicious! And even better, SO EASY! Which is a good thing when you have a new puppy laying around looking so freakin' cute you couldn't possibly spend too much time cooking.
The ingredients were chopped and prepped in about the time the oven took to preheat.

• 1 cup rice, i used saffron
• 3 medium sized chicken breasts
• 3 small hot peppers
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Sprig lemon thyme
• 2 bay laves
• Pinch dried basil and oregano
• 1 pint turkey stock (about 9 ounces of very rich stock/gelatin plus white wine and water to fill the pint or cup)
• 2 cups water
• Seasonings: allspice, salt, pepper, turmeric, smoked paprika

Place the rice in a casserole dish. Sprinkle chopped veggies evenly on top. Coat chicken on both sides with remaining seasonings, place on top of rice and cover all with the liquid. Cover well with foil and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes up to 1.5 hours, until it's all bubbly and the rice is cooked and chicken is up to temp: 180.

Serve with a side of something green for a more complete meal. Peas would be great, or green beans. My stupid green bean plants aren't giving me any fruit though, so this is all we got. Very tasty, and great leftover too.

Cheese added as a bonus :)
What's your favorite easy meal?

Black Bean Soup over Rice

Yummmmmm.
This recipe isn't completely specific as it was a soup i threw together throughout the course of the day. I'm trying my hand at sprouting some black beans to increase their nutrient absorption factor, and filled my sprouting jar a bit too full. The beans had soaked over night so i took out about half and plopped them in a pot with a little water and turkey stock. I started around 3 pm bringing the beans and liquid to a boil then reducing to simmer for the rest of the evening. Around 5 i added these ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• salt and pepper
• cumin
• chilli powder
• T or so chopped sorrel
• 1 diced habanero
• big spoonful diced garlic
• splash of vinegar (releases more nutrients in soups)

I simmered the soup covered for most of the day, but uncovered it to allow the liquid to reduce some around 6. The result was a nicely balanced soup that wasn't too thin or thick. Spicy for sure, and great served over some rice that i cooked with liquid from a can of Rotel and some veggie stock.

I served the soup topped with freshly diced cilantro, avocado, cheese, and the tomatoes from the Rotel. The entire dish, save the can of Rotel (spicy diced tomatoes) and shredded cheese was from scratch: dried beans, veg from the garden, and homemade stock.

What a great ending to a chilly day!