fast dinner - gallo pinto 2

as you might remember, if you've been following along this blog from the beginning, i made a dish similar to this one way back when once before :) (click here)

husband spent 12 days in nicaragua in january of 2010, and came back from that trip filled with new experiences and learnings, as well as new favorite foods! including gallo pinto, a.k.a. black beans and rice, and fried plantains.

tonight for our fast breaking dinner i made the gallo pinto, fried plantains (that unfortunately must have been old, because they were hard and not so tasty..), grilled chicken breast, and just some sliced tomato and onion. muy bueno!

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gallo pinto:

rice

can of black beans (preferably spicy)

cook rice as usual. heat beans up separately. if you are using plain beans, this would be a good time to add tons of spices to them. once rice is done, combine the beans with it, and enjoy! super simple and tasty! :)

(is this really even a "recipe"? :D )

dinner - kale!

the other day i bought a HUGE bunch of kale from the grocery store, and i finally cooked with it tonight - we still have about 3/4 of the bunch left! i'm thinking about making some kale salad and kale chips........ but that's a story for another day.

i worked at a pretty fancy restaurant for awhile and the chef there made this delicious kale dish, which was my first introduction to one of my now favorite vegetables! the base of the dish is comprised of: blanched kale that has been cut into manageable pieces, great northern white beans, LOTS of fresh chopped garlic, and salt and pepper, all sauteed in a little olive oil. then there are the variables: you can add cooked bacon bits (YUM), cooked summer squash, grape tomatoes, or anything else you think might taste good. tonight i added the grape tomatoes. i can't praise this dish enough - i love it!!

i made some oven roasted sweet potatoes to go with it, as well as grilled chicken breast. all in all, it was a healthy and absolutely delicious meal!

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have you tried kale? what's your favorite way to enjoy it? :)

dinner - gallo pinto

we hosted a good friend of ours for dinner tonight (hi ally!!). the night was nicaraguan themed and we shared in a delicious meal of:

gallo pinto a.k.a. (black) beans and rice, with garlic-lemon grilled chicken breast, and a baby greens salad with grape tomatos, onion, goat cheese and slivered almonds, in a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.