Week's Meals: Black Beans and Rice; Linguini "Prima-nara"; Sushi

Tuesday: BASIC SKILLET BLACK BEANS + BROWN RICE (w/ fixin's)

Exciting, no? Still, the beans turned out quite comforting, even though I made a dumb mistake with them. I used the "basic skillet bean" recipe in the Moosewood Collective Cookbook. I used orange juice as the liquid, so far so good. But this didn't have enough flavor for me, so I opened up a jar of Pace picante sauce and... SHOOK it over the pan.

The result was 3/4 of the jar in the beans; I dug out as much as I could, but the beans were beyond soupy. Ended up pouring out quite a bit of the liquid. However, the beans are more flavorful than they were with just OJ. Next time I try this, I'll do half salsa/half OJ. Beans and rice can be pretty boring, but I find them tasty, especially with a little dollop of sour cream or a sprinkling of cheese. And they're relatively healthful, if I can be judicious with the dairy toppings and the tortilla chips.

Also, please note: fiber is very important, since colon cancer is such a nasty way to go. This dish gives you plenty.

VERDICT: THIS RECIPE WORKS.

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Wednesday: LEFTOVERS

Black beans. A lot of tortilla chips. Mission Tortilla Strips are GREAT.

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Thursday: LINGUINI "PRIMA-NARA"

I made linguini "carbonara" with zucchini and an onion instead of bacon (plus some mint). This is a Bittman recipe that I'll definitely come back to. I'd like to call it "prima-nara"; that is, you get the spring-y taste of veggies with the zucchini and mint, but it's still creamy and cheesy (which is comforting on a frickin' cold winter's night). Oh, and a spinach salad with feta, red pepper, and olives.

VERDICT: THIS RECIPE WORKS (VERY WELL!!!).

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Weekend Preview: CALIFORNIA ROLLS, BEER, MAYHEM (and maybe, pictures?); BAKED OATMEAL; MORE MEAL PLANNING

I've got all the stuff for California rolls already (I think; it might require yet another run to King Soopers for sesame seeds, extra wasabi, more soy sauce, etc). Tonight's plan is to get some beer, eat a light dinner, then make some sushi rice and have a beer-and-sushi-rolling party. I'll take some pictures and maybe even post them someday! I hope it goes well. I loooooove sushi and can even get the ingredients (sushi-grad tuna, flying fish roe, etc.) to make it at home. The question is, can I roll with the big boys? We shall see...

I wish we had more counterspace...I'll just let Ben and Laura work on their sushi rolls together.

This weekend, I'll also try out a recipe for Baked Oatmeal that I got from RecipeSource. Baked oatmeal was the highlight of my church camp experience - almost coffee cake-like, but not too sweet and very delicious. This recipe claims to be from an old Mennonite cookbook, so I'm probably on the right track. If I don't care for it, I'm going to try tweaking it to get it right. I need more breakfast options. I've been having two eggs over-easy, toast, and grapefruit for awhile now and it's time for more ideas. Cold cereal just does not cut it when it's 2 degrees outside.