Good morning!  I have a tendency to use the ingredients on hand and come up with some odd pairings, unique combination or just all out crazy dishes.  For this dish, I combined the fresh taste of mint and crunchy royal gala apples, green peas and some jasmine rice.  Interesting combination?  Tasty?  I would say yes to all of the above.

This would be a great side dish with roasted pork or even a blackened roasted chicken.  You could also serve this cold as a salad but I chose to eat it hot.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Jasmine Rice
• 1 Cups frozen Peas
• 2 Apples,  cubed
• 2 Sprigs of fresh mint
• 1 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tsp. fresh ginger, minced
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Cook the rice according directions an set aside.
2. In a large preheated skillet add the olive oil, garlic and ginger and begin to cook.  Toss in the apples, vinegar, and cook for a couple of minutes.  Toss in the peas and let cook through.
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. Add the mint at the last minute, stir in the rice and mix together.
5. Garnish with a touch more mint.
6. Enjoy!

Zesty Tip: You want the apples to still have a crunch so I started off with a hard apple versus a soft apple like MacIntosh.  I find the galas can hold up tot he heat and not break down.

I hope you have a great Monday.  The rain here is “raining on my parade” to say the least.  We have a lot of work to be done outside and nothing has started as of yet due to the weather.  I am trying to stay optimistic but if this continues I am sure to be cranky?

Do you find weather effects your mood? Let me know because I never used to think it had an impact on me but now I am second guessing.. ha!  I will talk to you on Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

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OK, before I begin let me apologize and explain for my whereabouts last Friday and my lack of post. Let’s just say that last week was a long week with a lot of traveling and a few wrinkles a long the way. On Thursday afternoon I left West Virginia and had a pit stop in Chicago before boarding to Toronto and doing an overnight before flying home on Friday morning.

The first flight from West Virginia started off about an hour late which started to have me worry a little bit because my time in O’Hare was tightening up and I am not familiar with that airport. After studying the map of the airport I knew my time was going to be tight. I started on foot and pretty much ran for the gate through the maze of people and boarded the plane as pretty much the last person but with time to spare. I am sweating by this time, so I get settled into my seat and crank on the cool air. Little did I know that I would be sitting in this seat on the runway for about 2 hrs and 15 minutes waiting to take off.  Grrrr but you know I have so much patience I just let it roll off my back and think positive.

All of a sudden, the captain comes over the air “Flight attendants, prepare for take off”. We are ready to go! A few minutes elapse, and we are not moving and all of a sudden I feel the plane doing a u turn and leaving the runway. I am slightly perplexed but assume everyone has everything under control. A minute later the captain comes over the air “Ladies and gentleman, at United air we are committed to offering superior service and safety to all our flights and at this point I cannot continue flying this plane. I just found out my Dad has passed away and I cannot fly. I will take you back to the gate and we will look at getting another captain”.  I say to myself… Holy shit – I cannot be mad – this is awful.  Meanwhile we are waiting for another captain but are soon to find out the flight is canceled. At this point there are about 300 people looking for a new flight and a hotel as there are no more flights to Toronto this late in the day.

Now the fun begins…. I am starving and cannot wait in the line, it is damn well huge. I wander around and get a snack and come back- all the while I call my travel agent and she works her magic as always (Thanks Christine) and I am booked on a flight in the am. But now I need a hotel. I am hot, sweaty, hungry and soon to be cranky but not there yet. Finally I get a hotel and take the shuttle back to the room and order a pizza. All is well but I am pretty tired at this time – since it is midnight and the flight was supposed to depart at 6:31pm.  Oh dear.

Zesty Meets Elvis

Well not literally, but I was in Tupelo, MS last week and was within 3 miles of Elvis’ birthplace so I thought I would take a visit before driving to Alabama.  There was a park, museum, his old homestead and a souvenir shop.  I snapped a few pictures on my smart phone ( apologize for the quality ) and picked up a couple of gifts for the family.

I am not a huge Elvis fan but being so close  – I just had to pop in for a visit.

Teriyaki Salmon

Saturday night, I was shopping at the grocery store and I was super hungry….. bad idea I know but look at what I found.  At the sushi section, I was poking my nose around when this little gourmet bowl looked up at me.

Teritaki salmon with a top some julienne carrots and sticky rice.  The salmon had a lite coating of teriyaki flavor as well as a variety of toasted sesame seeds and a sporadic green onion.  I was all over this in a heartbeat.  At $6.00 for a ready made meal, it was fair for sure considering all of the other fast food I could have picked.  As soon I got home, I ripped off the lid and popped this in the microwave for 2 minutes and I was a happy boy.

The salmon was flavorful, juicy and the carrots were crunchy.  The sticky rice was just that.  I loved it.  It was such a hit that I went back to pick up a couple more.  One for Mrs. zesty and one for today’s lunch.

Well that was a long winded post but I felt I had to enlighten you with my “luck” while traveling and I just had to share both Elvis and the salmon.  Have a super Monday and I will share some more words with you on hump day.

Take care

zesty

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Ummmm Hi… I can’t really stay and chat for very long.  Ever feel like all you do is rush around to meet time lines and appointments?  Not only do the days fill up but now we are into the evenings, especially with summer finally here.  Soccer nights mean for a rushed dinner but you still have to eat!

Last night I went with a super easy menu that takes minutes to prepare.  The whole dish takes about 15 minutes to prepare and about 7 minutes to eat.  A simple turkey burger from frozen, grilled corn and some basmati rice ( cause I was craving it ).

Ingredients

• Basmati rice
• Fresh Corn
• Turkey Burgers
• BBQ Sauce
• Tzatkiki sauce
• English muffins

Method

1. Simple foods made easy.  Start your rice first as it will take the longest and then chuck the corn in the grill.  For the corn I rub some olive oil and salt and pepper all over then place it on the top rack of the grill.
2. I leave the corn on the top rack for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat rotating every few minutes
3. Add the turkey burger on the grill and let cook 7 minutes each side.  Adding your favorite bbq sauce after each side is cooked to prevent it from burning.  Make sure not to try and move the turkey burger too early as you will find it will stick to the grill and you will lose the crust.
4. Toast off your english muffins and then spoon on some tzatkiki sauce and call it a sandwich.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Move the corn down directly on the grill for the last 3-4 minutes.  This will get the nice golden brown color that everyone loves.

Alright, that is all I got today!  I have to get ready for work and I will see you all on Friday.  Special post coming up on Friday based on a special sample delivery I received.  I am pretty excited.  Oh and one more thing…. work is having a potluck on Friday – any ideas on what I should bring.  I have been hearing rumblings of the chocolate cream cheese cupcakes but I was also leaning towards the baked pasta casserole with bacon.  Let me know what you think.  I may make something totally different as well so spit out the ideas.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Monday!  It feels like I have been away for a long time which I guess is not that far from the truth.  Spinach and Mushroom Pasta was my last post since I had a special guest sit in on Friday with Sippity Sup.  This weekend was action packed and full of cooking.  A while back I used to cook on Sunday’s for the whole week including lunches ( for work ) and dinners in the evening.  I am not quite sure why I ever stopped doing that but I will chalk it up to being a bit too busy.

But I was talking to Mrs. Zesty earlier on the weekend and said” Let’s bring back cooking Sundays.  Sunday cooking was REBORN.  I will not get into great details as to what I prepared as you will see through the week and next but it was a ton of fun especially since Zesty Jr. was by my side for a couple of dishes.

This dish I want to share with you today is a simple dish combining a little Mexican and a small bit of India with the use of a few simple ingredients.

As I look back on my blogging career, I notice a pattern; everything I cook is super simple and quick.  I wonder if that means I am SIMPLE.  Anyway, let’s not go there.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Jasmine Rice
• 1 1/2 Cups Water
• 1 1/2 Cups Salsa ( I used store bought )
• 1 Tbsp. Cumin
• 1/2 lb. Extra Lean Ground Beef
• 1 Carrot ( chopped)
• 1 Cup Mushrooms ( chopped)
• 1 Celery stalk ( chopped)
• 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Prepare rice according to directions and set aside once cooked.





2. In a large preheated sauce pan over medium heat, combine olive oil, celery and carrots; cook for about 7 minutes



3. Add mushrooms and cook another 3 minutes



4. Next, toss in the ground beef, cumin, salt and pepper and cook until no longer pink







5. Add salsa and let simmer 5 minutes





6. Stir in cooked rice and mix thoroughly.



7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When using mushrooms with a meat dish, be sure to cook them prior to adding any meat as they will release a lot of water and will not allow the meat to brown.

This was a super fun weekend and I am looking forward to doing the Sunday cooking next week as well.  Holler at me if you have any suggestions/recommendations for the week’s dishes.  I am looking for dishes that reheat well and pack up in a resealable container well.  I would love to hear your ideas.

Take care

zesty

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SORRY for the last 13 hours of NO Zesty.  My hosting account was suspended due to excessive usage!!!  GRRR anyway we are backup and running and I have a post for you.

Happy Wednesday to you!

Before we get on to the most exciting part of your day ( I mean you reading this post) let me mention that Blake from Blake Makes is doing something really cool today.  He is hosting a giveaway but guess what, the giveaway is for a chance to win Zesty’s Blog makeover.  How cool is that?  So everyone that votes enters over at Blake makes will also be entered into the blog makeover contest.  As i write this post, we are so close to getting 200 comments – not too mention all the blog mentions and tweets.  When all is said and done we will be well over 300 entries… so exciting.

On to the Food

What do you get when you have one piece of boneless chicken left, a cup of Jasmine rice, a head of broccoli on it’s last leg, a carrot and one can of Wolfgang Puck’s Organic Vegetable soup on hand?

I give you Zesty’s All in the Pot Goulash.  It tasted quite good actually.  It was not something I h ave ever whipped up before I can honestly admit that.  I used the soup as a sauce almost and added it early after the carrot and chicken sauteed so that it would reduce and thicken without the lid.  It worked like a charm.  I cooked the rice separately to avoid to much complication with measurements and liquid balance ratios.

In the end you have something that looks like this…

Ingredients

• 1 Carrot ( chopped)
• 1 Chicken Breast
• 1 Cup rice
• 1 Head of broccoli
• 1 Can of Wolfgang Puck’s Organic Vegetable soup
• 1/2 can of water
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 Tsp. red pepper flakes
• Dash of chili powder

Method

1. Preheat pot to medium heat; add olive oil.
2. Toss in carrot, garlic and chicken and let brown about 5-7 minutes
3. Cook rice in a separate pot according to directions
4. Add soup, water, chili powder and red pepper flakes; let simmer for 10 minutes while rice cooks.
5. Toss in broccoli for final 3 minutes; add salt and pepper
6. Once rice is cooked, add rice to the mixture and stir.
7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Keep the heat up to medium when you add the soup and the lid off.  This will allow the soup to thicken.  Add your seasonings once the soup has been added.  Do note, add whatever flavors you like…. curry would work well in here as well.

Again – sorry for the delay in posting and all the hiccups I have caused.  Hopefully the issue is solved and we can move on as per usual.  Have a great Wednesday and don’t forget to enter in the makeover.  The final day is Friday.

Take care

zesty

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Let’s chalk up yesterday to just a crazy day that I do not want repeated.  Work was absolutely insane with people upset, deadlines approaching, phones a ringin’ and software not working.  But hey – It’s not the end of the world so just keep smiling and plug away.  Now onto something that automatically makes me smile.  Risotto!

Well do I have a post for you today!  I mean totally sink your teeth in recipe.  Comfort screaming out loud!  You are going to love this post.  If you don’t love this post – then you either do not like Maple, Butternut Squash and Risotto or you may simply not like me rambling on about it.

Regardless of the answer here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 Cups chicken broth
• ¼ Cup sherry
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Small onion finely chopped
• ½ Butternut squash diced
• 2 Cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 Tsp. rosemary
• 3 Tbsp. wine vinegar
• 1 ½ Cups Arborio rice
• ½ Cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Coarse salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Method

1. Heat broth and sherry until simmering.
2. Cook squash and onion, until onions soft, about 7 minutes seasoning with salt and pepper.
3. Add garlic, maple syrup  rosemary,  and vinegar and cook 2-3 min further till all well blended.
4. Squash should be soft but intact.
5. Add rice and stir to coat and then add first cup of broth mixture, stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed.



6. The broth must be hot when adding to the rice. As broth dissolves add more until rice done, about 30 minutes.
7. Stir in parmesan cheese at the very end.





8. Rice will be plump and slightly firm to the bite.



9. ENJOY

Zesty Tip: Don’t sweat the risotto – it is not as hard as you think.  Just follow these simple instructions and you can pull it off.

Last night was a bit of a hodge podge night with just a bit of lazing around and some TV watching.  Does anybody watch American Idol? I tuned in for a bit last night for a little laugh.  I feel I could be doing so much around the house getting it set up but for some reason the couch continues to call my name.

Hope you have a great Wednesday.  The kitchen people and carpenters are coming this morning to do some fixes and the flooring guys are coming back on Friday to take a look at some blemishes.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Wednesday!

What a Tuesday we had -  I am so tired I am pretty sure I could sleep standing up.

So as promised, I told you I would share with you some traditional Lebanese dishes this week.  This first one is very simple and great tasting if you like cabbage.  Now there are a million ways to make cabbage rolls but I thought it would be fun for me to share the way my family makes them.  The more common way you would see a cabbage roll would be with a tomato sauce, however today’s post will be slightly different.

The cabbage rolls below are much smaller in size than what you would consider a “traditional” cabbage roll.  And with the omittance of the tomato sauce – you may ask yourself…. what in the world does zesty have here.  Well here it goes:

Ingredients

• 1 Lb. Lean Ground Beef
• 1/2 Cup Short Grain Rice
• 4 Large Cabbage Heads
• 1 Head Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1. Combine raw lean beef, rice, salt and pepper together;  mix well.



2. Bring water to a boil and place whole cabbage into the pot to scold cabbage for about 4 minutes. ( Be sure to save liquid )
3. Once the leaves start falling off remove from pot.
4. Take one leaf off with tongs and place on a work surface.
5. Check for hard core like surface on the back of the cabbage leaf and skim it off with a knife.
6. Place cabbage open on the work surface and fill with a  tablespoon  of filling in a horizontal line.
7. tuck both sides of the cabbage leaf in and roll .
8. Place in a large pot and repeat procedure.



9. Put garlic cloves throughout the pot on different layers.



10. Once all the cabbage rolls are made fill pot about 2/3 full with reserve liquid and cook for 60-75 minutes.



11. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Be sure to cut the core of the cabbage out before starting the rolling procedure if it is present.

So there you have it.  Now what I like to do with my cabbage rolls is have a little tomato juice that has been boiled to make a little dipping sauce.  Mom also likes to cook a couple of small lamb chops by adding them to the pot for flavoring…. oh so good!

Hope you have a great Wednesday and please if you have not done so – be sure to enter the POM giveaway contest before Friday.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Tuesday!  I want to share with you my first A la carte experience at the Grand Palladium.  First off it is very hot in Jamaica as you can imagine and for some reason men are required to wear long pants and closed toed shoes at the restaurants.  Well let me tell you, wearing the extra clothing is uncomfortable in warm Jamaica.  Once I got over the initial shock I was good to go and excited to order.

Now let me apologize in advance for the pictures.  The atmosphere was very dark and difficult to get good pictures of all the food.

Food Line -Up

• Warm Garlic Naan Bread
• Lamb Kebabs
• Tandoori Chicken
• Onion Rice
• Spiced Beef with Vegetables
• Butter Chicken
• Vegetarian Samosa

So below I added the snapshots that I was able to salvage from the Indian meal.  Now before you think I am a real pig – the server basically came up to us and said “ Hey mon, welcome to the best Indian experience you will ever have.  Do you like Indian food? “  – We said “yes” , so he took the menus and said “I will take care of you” and then basically took samples of dishes all over the menu.  It was amazing.  I wish I took more pictures that were usable but hopefully you still like it.

Inside the restaurant as the doors opened.

A shot at the salad bar… such a wide variety of choices

Freshly prepared Naan Bread.

A delicious Basmati rice with onions…

I hope you enjoyed the recap of my night at the Indian Restaurant (Bhogali).  I had an enjoyable time and the service was second to none.  I look forward to sharing with you more great eats tomorrow.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

The week is almost over.. well not really but I still find that this week has flown by. Have you ever had a 3 mile long to-do-list and it feels like you’ll never see the end of it? That is exactly how I feel!  But no need to fret, or that’s at least what I keep telling myself.  To help with our busy lives, I decided to share with you an excellent quick meal that was actually very YUMMY.

This quick but tasty meal consisted of left over brown rice,  left over carrots, thin sirloin beef (on sale) and BEET GREENS (a new ingredient for me).  This was super fast to make and was packed with flavor. I loved it.  In addition to all the flavor, it is fairly healthy at the same time.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Cup cooked brown rice
• 3/4 Cup mushrooms (chopped)
• 3 Cups beet greens
• 2 Small sirloin beef pieces
• 3/4 Cup chopped carrots (cooked)
• 2 Tbsp. barbecue sauce
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat saute pan, then add olive oil.
2. Prepare beef (trim fat and flavor with salt and pepper).
3. Sear beef on both sides; cook until desired done-ness and remove from pan.
4. Add mushrooms, cooked carrots and rice and begin to stir fry; 4 minutes.
5. Cut beef into smaller pieces and add back into pan.
6. Add barbecue sauce and beet greens; continue cooking for 3 minutes (until beet greens wilt).
7. Remove from heat and plate.
8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When working with cheaper cuts of beef, I like to keep them in bigger pieces.  From there, I usually cook them very quickly on high heat and always cut them against the grain to ensure tenderness.  Another trick is to slightly under cook the meat as well.

Question of the day: What is your favorite green vegetable?

I hope you have a great Thursday and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Wednesday!  No new design yet… what a story that is.  We have run into some trouble moving the plug-ins over to the new theme so it looks like we have to wait a couple of more days until we figure out what is going on.  I am sorry for all the hype and no delivery but it is out of my control.

As for some good news…. yesterday was pretty exciting.  I was contacted by the folks at FoodDoneRight.com. They have been working really hard on an online cooking school  and they are looking to add more value to the customers who join.  With that said, they asked me to do an on air interview and chat a bit on how I got started cooking, some of the challenges I faced, and some tips that helped me realize my recipe independence.  I was very willing to help as I love cooking and love helping other people do the same.  I will be sure to let you know when the interview gets published as well.

On to the food!  I had a lot of people asking about the apple bacon chutney recipe and ” What they would eat with it”.  So last night I put together what I call a “HELLABALOO“.  It is a total mish-mash of ingredients in the fridge such as left over rice, left over apple bacon chutney and some spinach that was close to expiry.  The flavors blended flawlessly and everything turned out great!

Here is a quick snapshot of what I did …

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Apple Bacon Chutney
• 2 Cups Baby Spinach
• 2 Cups cooked Jasmine Rice
• Splash of Lemon Juice
• Parmesan Cheese Shavings

Method

1. Preheat pan to medium high heat.
2. Add Chutney and warm through.
3. Add spinach and lemon juice stirring until spinach begins to wilt.
4. Add rice, stir together until hot.
5. Plate and top with fresh Parmesan cheese
6. ENJOY!

On to some exciting news…. I was asked to be a judge at the Latest Peanut Butter Exhibition.  Here is the low-down on the contest.  It can also be found at PeanutButterboy.com

THE GREAT PEANUT BUTTER EXHIBITION

Congratulations! You are cordially invited to participate in the next Great Peanut Butter Exhibition! In conjunction with Peanut Butter Boy, Fake Food Free, For The Love of Peanut Butter we are proud to bring this roundup/competition right to your doorstep. This time the theme is “Sandwich”, chosen because of my surprise at not receiving one sandwich recipe for the previous “no-bake” peanut butter exhibition. The real prizes here are the wonderful recipes we gather but we also have a prize for the winner!

What classifies a peanut butter sandwich? Traditionally it’s a slab of peanut butter between two slices of bread, but let’s see some creativity here. How about some peanut butter lettuce wraps or Peanut Butter Sushi? Any method of eating peanut butter that is all-inclusive and portable as to make for a nutritious lunch should do. To enter, submit your best peanut butter sandwich recipe below, following the guidelines. The deadline is March 15th @ Noon (PST) which gives you a full 3 weeks to brainstorm, develop and create the ultimate peanut butter sandwich! Stock up on peanut butter and get ready, read on for details.

Judging Criteria:

Peanut Butter Weight, Creativity, Portability and Preparation Time.

Rules:

One entry per person so choose wisely! Pictures are highly recommended but not required. Due to peanut allergies, you may use any nut butter in your recipe since nut butters are easily interchangeable. Also, please link back to this page to indicate that you are entering the recipe into this contest and to spread the word. Feel free to use any of the logos, including the following, to do so:

Blogless? Don’t worry if you don’t have a blog, you can still submit your winning recipe. Fill out the same form but provide the “Recipe” instead of a “Recipe Permalink” and feel free to email a picture to “pbe@peanutbutterboy.com” to go along with the recipe!
Submission:

Click hereto submit your recipe online. Alternatively, email “pbe@peanutbutterboy.com” with “PBE #5? as the subject and the following information:

Name
Email
Recipe Title
Recipe or Recipe Permalink
Prize:

All recipes will be listed but the judges will vote for the Top 3. All 3 winners will receive a winning badge to place on their site but the first place winner will receive the Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook. Good luck to all!

Wow that was a super long post… sorry to make you read so much.  But if you made it all the way down here, I would like to thank you and also look forward to hearing your comments about just one way to use up that chutney. Have a great Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty