Barbara's kitchen open for business again!

The title refers to the fact that we moved recently, still in the Portland area though. And yesterday was the first time I had unpacked enough to be able to really cook.

Today I was getting food ready for work tomorrow. I still have to make smashed potatoes. But I did make an awesome veggie chili and a black bean, corn and red pepper salad.

For the salad, I used one can of black beans, rinsed, 1/4 of a huge red pepper, chopped and about 3/4 cup of frozen corn. Before I did that, I put in some red wine vinegar, and some dijon mustard from Trader Joe. Whisked that together with some dried thyme, salt and pepper. Whisked in just a little bit of olive oil. Put the veggies in, added a little more salt and pepper and some garlic and onion powder. Tastes great and it should be even better tomorrow.

The veggie chili was white and red kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, corn, onions, garlic, fresh cilantro. Put in some cumin and chili powder. Can't find my smoky paprika yet or would have used it. Put in a dash of cayenne, a little sugar, and some pepper. Made up some water with masa flour and put that in after letting it cook down for about a half hour. Thickened it up nicely. Very tasty as well. Going to put that over my smashed potatoes.

I've got steel cut oats cooking in the rice cooker and the dishwasher running. I'm in good shape for tomorrow.

Barbara

Zojirushi NS-LAC05

The title of this post is the name of my rice cooker. It's a 3 cup one, kinda small but perfect for me and my partner.

I wanted to post for my reference and others how to cook things other than rice in the cooker. These have all been tested several times by me and they work well. When I say 1 cup or whatever, it refers to the cup that comes with the rice cooker, not a standard cup.

Steel cut oats
1 cup steel cut oats
2.5 cups water
use the porridge setting

I usually set this up the night before on the timer. Hot oatmeal for breakfast, yum!

Polenta (aka grits)
1 cup of polenta
water up to the 2 cup brown rice level
use the white rice setting

I put some butter and cheese in this and it's a great breakfast.

Quinoa
1 cup quinoa
1.75 cups water
Use white rice setting

The cooker will keep things warm up to 8 hours. I would suggest not waiting too long to take the quinoa out. You need to fluff it with the rice paddle then remove it. It's a bit more delicate, I feel.

Give these whole grains a try!

Barbara