Coconut Rice with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Is it getting chilly where you are? Need something to add a little heat to your life? This is the perfect vegetarian dish to fill you up and warm you up.








I cut this recipe by 1/3. Lets gather some ingredients.




For the spicy tomato sauce you will need some brown sugar, diced tomatoes, chiles or sambal, lime and some garlic. You will also need shallots, but they were not able to make the photo, they were busy being a pain in the butt to peel.




For the rice you need rice and coconut milk. Doesn't get easier than that.




Lets get cooking. get the rice and the coconut milk in a pan over high heat. Now we can concentrate on the sauce.




mince up some garlic.




Here are our shallots all peeled and quartered.




Add some peanut oil to a pan and get it going over medium-high heat.




I used Sambal Oelek instead of regular chiles. This stuff is spiiicy, so be careful if you are not used to spicy foods.




Stir it in the pan with the shallots and garlic. The recipe wants you to add it later but I put it in first to really infuse the flavor in the shallots.




After 3-4 minutes zest the lime into the pan.




Add the tomatoes, lime juice and brown sugar to the pan and give it a stir. Cover and reduce heat to low, simmer for about 20 minutes. Your rice should be boiling too so drop that down to a simmer and pour yourself a TALL glass of water for this meal.




See you guys in 20!




This was spicy and so flavorful. I loved the subtle flavor of the rice with the bold and spicy flavor of the tomato sauce. This sauce would be delicious over chicken as well, but this vegetarian dish is filling enough as it is.

Cocoa-Roasted Chicken with Peanut Rice

I have recently discovered a love for Mole sauce. I have not yet attempted to make my own but I really want to. (if you have a recipe you like, please leave a comment or email me) Mole refers to a lot of things in Spanish and Mexican cooking, but I am talking about Mole Sauce, or Mole Poblano. To make a very long story short, the Mole sauce I love has a delicious subtle chocolate flavor to it that I adore. When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. (except for the bananas part, that is pretty much the only food I do not like!)




Do not be alarmed that I am rubbing chocolate all over some chicken. The recipe calls for unsweetened cocoa and I bet you that if I put a bite of this in your mouth and asked you what you tasted you would not even think cocoa or chocolate. It is just this subtle delicious flavor that is almost smoky, yet you can't quite place it. Now that I have you interested, lets get cooking! Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and lets start gathering some ingredients.




Cocoa, pepper and coriander.




Rice.




My chicken just waiting for a rub down. The recipe calls for turkey, but I used chicken thighs because I love them.




Here is the seasoning, so simple. Cocoa and salt!




Get the chicken coated with the oil and seasoning and pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes. Use a pan that you can then heat on the stove top to make your sauce later.

While the chicken roasts, we need to prepare our rice.




You need some peanuts.




Some green pepper.




and some crushed up coriander.




Cook up the coriander and green pepper in some butter for about 2 minutes.




Add in the rice and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, pop on a lid, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it hang out for another 10 minutes.




Once the time is up, stir in your peanuts and that side is ready to go.




Look at that! When the chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the oven and place it on the stove.




Put the chicken in some foil and keep it nice and warm. Take your pan and put it over medium heat.




Add some water or chicken broth to the pan and scrape up all the yummy brown bits from the bottom. When this reduces you are ready to serve.




This was absolutely delicious and I cannot stress enough that this is not a chocolatey or sweet dish. It is savory and complex, but so easy to make.

Buttermilk Chicken with Sesame Lime Rice from Everyday Food

I told you I would provide some more recipes to use up that buttermilk from the chicken tenders recipe, so I am making Buttermilk Chicken with some of the leftover Lime Rice.




I just used Panko crumbs instead of making my own breadcrumbs.







the ingredients! preheat your oven while gathering your ingredients.



breadcrumbs, cheese, thyme and salt and pepper



the buttermilk and some of the Frank's Red Hot you might have leftover from the Buffalo chicken tenders



add the red hot to the buttermilk



give it a stir to combine.



spray a baking sheet with some oil



I love chicken thighs, you have probably realized this by now.



dip them in the buttermilk and then coat them with the breadcrumbs.



throw them on the baking sheet and bake them for about 30-35 minutes.



yum yum YUM!



The coating crisped up so nice and the chicken stayed very moist. I served it with the extra lime rice I made.

More uses for the buttermilk in the next post!

Grilled Tilapia with Sesame Lime Rice

I don't do many side dishes on the blog so I thought I would put one up this weekend. I promise the next recipe will give you something to do with the rest of that buttermilk and use some of the rice in this post. This is a low fat side dish that is super easy and flavorful.




This is also from Food Everyday.



I always have sesame seeds in the pantry, I love the taste of toasted sesame seeds. If you don't have these you could also just drizzle a little bit of sesame oil over the rice before you serve it.



Toasting them is really easy and fast, keep an eye on them because they will burn in no time.



Get them off the heat as soon as they get fragrant and start to brown.



I know I use a lot of instant rice, but do yourself a flavor and use the real deal for this recipe.







grab a nice sized lime. One tip to get more juice out of your lime, throw it in the microwave for 20 seconds before you cut it.



get the rice in the water and turn on the heat.



zest your lime. You can use a zester or a grater. Don't get the white part of the lime skin, it is bitter.



while your rice cooks grab some seasoning for your fish. I like lemon salt and lemon pepper. You can use whatever you like!



get your fish covered in the seasonings and get it grilling.



as your fish grills finish the rice.



I got this great lime juicer at Target, it works great!



you just drop in the lime and squeeze the top shut.



add the juice to your rice and give it a stir.



get your fish off the grill and serve with a lemon wedge and some of the lime zest.



the toasted sesame seeds get tossed on top of the rice with the rest of the lime zest. This is a tasty and easy side dish that will complement any meal.

I hope you are all having a great weekend!