Recipe for Fun Rice

While we were eating this, I was silently musing over what to call it.  Mr. ELEB solved the problem for me, calling it "fun rice".  I liked the name-it fit-so there you have it!


Yield: 6 servings
Time: 1 hour (depending on rice)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice mix (wild, brown, etc; or just wild rice or brown rice)
• 2 cups water or broth
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Cook rice mix per package directions (mine was 1 cup mix to 2 cups liquid, simmer for 50 minutes).
• When rice is cooked, stir in cranberries and cover for 5 minutes.
• Just prior to serving, stir in the pistachios, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired.

This is super easy and is also good reheated or served cold the following day (the pistachios get slightly soft but still taste great).

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Recipe for Inside Out Caprese Bison Burgers

From Mr. ELEB:  "that's another recipe you can make ANY time you like!"  In other words, I think he liked these caprese bison burgers.  If you don't have access to ground bison (buffalo), you can use ground turkey or ground beef (lean).  If you haven't tried bison, I highly recommend it.  You can read more about bison here (and order some really yummy meat).

Yield: 3 substantial burgers

Time: 15 minutes (plus time to heat the grill if grilling outdoors)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pound ground bison
• 2 TBSP finely diced mozzarella cheese
• 3  slices of mozzarella cheese, about 1/2 inch thick to fit the burgers
• 2 TBSP finely chopped fresh basil plus 8-10 more leaves
• Salt and pepper
• Thick slices of ripe tomatoes

Method:

• Preheat the grill if cooking outdoors.
• Mix the bison, diced mozzarella, and chopped basil together and form 6 balls.
• Flatten 3 of the balls and place a slice of mozzarella and a few basil leaves on each of the 3.
• Top with the remaining balls of bison and seal and press gently into a patty.
• Generously salt and pepper the patties.
• Cook over medium to medium high heat in a skillet (or outdoor grill) about 4 1/2-5 minutes per side.
• Top with a slice of tomato and serve (can serve with a bun or plain).

When you cut in to these, you get the nice surprise of gently melted mozzarella-yummy!  Do a search in the top right column on this blog for other inside out burger recipe ideas.  Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

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Recipe for Crispy Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi

Including fish each week on our menus is pretty easy here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  And now with the increasing prevalence of high quality, sustainable, flash frozen fish in most grocery stores, anyone anywhere can too.  Fish that is processed and frozen right on the boat after being caught retains practically the same nutrient value and flavor as fresh fish (maybe more depending on how "fresh" that fish really is at your grocery store!)

The addition of pistachios to the panko made for a fun change of pace.  The flavor was subtle but worth the extra steps.


I pan fried this mahi-mahi but I think you could spritz it with olive or other oil and bake with good results.

Time:  15 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 10 oz. mahi-mahi (or other firm white fish)
• 1/4 cup Italian panko breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup shelled pistachios, chopped very finely in food processor (reserve a few unprocessed for serving)
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• Finely chopped Italian parsley for serving

Method:

• Cut out any blood line from fish and pat very dry.
• Sprinkle each piece of fish lightly with olive oil.
• Mix panko and chopped pistachios together and sprinkle each piece of fish heavily with mixture; press mixture firmly to adhere.
• Heat a thin layer of olive oil over medium-high heat in a non-stick pan.
• Cook fish 5-6 minutes per side, until just beginning to flake when pressed with spatula (don't overcook!).
• Remove from pan and blot off any excess oil.
• Sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and parsley.

Are you seeing more good quality fish in the freezer section of your local store?  If not, speak to the manager!

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Recipe for Curried Chicken and Rice Casserole

We have a great Indian restaurant on Maui and enjoy getting together with a bunch of friends to go stuff ourselves on curries, naan, tandoori meat, lentil dishes.....   If it's just the two of us craving Indian flavors, I'll throw together an easy curry.  This recipe is an adaptation of a wild rice and chicken casserole I used to make when my kids were small.
It had a lot of sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, cheese...that kind of casserole! For this meal, I used coconut milk, fire roasted tomatoes, Indian spices, and raisins (probably would be good with some sauteed onion-next time!).  This was very satisfying and delicious.

Time: about an hour (I cooked the rice and chicken ahead of time, so for just combining and baking-25 minutes)
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 large chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
• 1 TBSP turmeric
• water (or broth/stock)
• 1 cup mixed rice (wild, brown, black mix or any wild rice mix) cooked according to package
• 1 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 TBSP garam masala
• 1 1/2 TBSP curry powder
• Few shakes crushed red peppers (more if you like it really spicy hot)
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Cook rice mixture according to package directions (mine said 50 minutes).
• Cook chicken in turmeric and water (or broth/stock) until done, about 12 minutes.  Let cool then chop/shred.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Mix chicken, rice, tomatoes, coconut milk, spices and raisins together.  Taste and add salt if needed.
• Spray casserole dish and pour mixture in.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until well heated through.

Serve with a veggie (ooh, next time I think I'll stir in some English peas) and enjoy!

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