Black Bean and Corn Salad.

So, a while back, while searching for good Bean recipes, I happened upon this.

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/black-bean-salad.php

It sounded good, so I decided to give it a go! The results? Very damned nice.



This was fun to make, it tastes great, is a good light meal, salsa, side dish, or however you want to serve it, and is even nicer with some hot sauce lightly drizzled on it.

Healthy, refreshing, easy to make, and uses some fo my favorite vegetables!

Restaurant Review: Cedar Paradise.

As you can imagine, I was pretty excited about the prospect of a Lebanese place opening up right around the corner from my apartment. The fact that they DELIVER was even cooler.

Well, they're here, I've had food from them four times now, and they're pretty established as something I like.

Cedar Paradise is a small Lebanese joint, serving various Mezze, Kebabs, wraps, Shawerma, Lebanese Coffee, etc. The only unusual thing is that most meals come with fries, but no rice. I simply request they omit the fries since those do not work with me.



The Tabouleh Salad pictured above is pretty good. The Chicken Shawerma is, so far, my favorite item on the menu, hardly a surprise given my past affinity for it at other Lebanese restaurants.



The delivery option is one of the best things about the place, and I'm always thrilled when any sort of food other than pizza can be delivered, but that's just how it goes.

In the end, I'm damn pleased this place opened up, and I'll be happy to patronize it more in the future.

A few recent meals.

Well, relatively recent;


Stir fried Scallop Lo Mein with Mango slices.


Rice balls stuffed with Umeboshi. My first time making rice balls in years.


Cantonese style black bean squid, a recipe I got out of a Chinese cookbook I have. This was AWESOME!!!!


Himalayan Red Rice, a Chapati I made, some Takra Daal, Mango Chutney, and hot mixed pickles.


Stir fried curried baby vegetables with Forbidden rice, yogurt, chutney, and pickles

Berry Chart.

This is just something I made for fun; a vector chart done with Illustrator, listing health benefits, or propsed health benefits, of a few misc. berries;



So, that's it. A printed version is on display in my kitchen.

Fried scallop couscous.

This was a nice meal;



Kind of an experiment, making couscous the same way you make fried rice, adding scallops and vegetables to the mix, with some pine nuts and spices.




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Shrimp in back bean sauce.

No recipe this time. Just some photos of a shrimp stir fry in black bean sauce;









This was awesome, and it left the apartment spelling great for the rest of the evening!


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Chicken and birds eye fried rice.

Birds eye chilies, also known as thai chili peppers are small, usually green, and have a thin fruit surrounding darkish seeds, connected to their plants by long dark stems. At 50,000 to 100,000 on the Scoville Scale, they are among the hottest peppers in the world. I love them, and they went VERY well with this fried rice recipe, giving it quite the punch, especially when you bit down on one of them!

You will need;

1/2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in to strips.
1 and a half thai chilies, chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1/5 onion, chopped
generous 1 tbsp shredded ginger
1 tsp 5 spice powder
1 tsp corriander
1/4 yellow bell pepper, cut in to strips
About 10 snow peas/pods, as seen in the photo below.
1/3 cup raw cashews
1-2 tbsps seasame oil
1 cup cooked jasmine rice
2 garlic cloves, chopped.
1 tbsp fish sauce
1-2 tbsp soy sauce





1.First, heat the first tablespoon of oil in a wok over medium high heat. Fry the chicken quickly, and when done, remove and set aside.

2.Stir fry the Add the onion, garlic, and scallion. Sautee until cooked, and golden brown. Be careful not to let them burn. Keep stirring and moving them with whatever you use.

3.Add the bell, snow peas, ginger, and cashews, and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes, stirring quickly so they don't burn.

4.If you need more oil, add the next teaspoon now. After that, add the cooked rice, stiw well, then add the corriander and five spice powder. Return the chicken to the wok, stir it in, then add the fish sauce.

5.Finally, add the soy sauce, stir the rice well to make sure the sauces and spices all get mixed in well and the ingredients are stirred in with the rice.



6.Continue to stir and cook for a few minutes, and then remove from heat, still stirring.

7.Let cool and serve at once.



This is a great entree, and very spicy. It makes about 2-3 servings, 4 or 5 if you want it to be a small side to accompany something else.




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