Arroz Chaufa (Fried Rice)

When you think of fried rice, you usually think of a side dish to some Asian saucy meat, or just something thrown in for the purpose of soaking up the sauce. But in my house, fried rice is the main dish, a complete meal on its own.
And when you see what all goes into making it, I think you’ll agree. It truly is a complete meal. It has fiber (rice), meats (ham, chicken, bacon), vegetables (green onion, mushroom) and egg.
Don’t be afraid to go crazy with your veggies either, this is the perfect dish for doing so. I also like to use julienned carrot, sweet peas, bean sprouts, snow peas, whole kernel corn, broccoli, and celery. This is a good way to use veggies that might go bad.
I didn’t use garlic in this particular recipe (amazing if you’ve read any of my other recipes) and although I missed it, I think it held its own with just the ginger. The nice thing about fried rice is that you can make it a dozen different ways and never get tired of it.
I’m not sure, but I think the term chaufa originated in Peru. It means Asian style food. Paired with the Spanish word for rice — arroz — the dish gets its name.
This recipe is a lot simpler to make if you own a wok. Without it, you’ll probably use several pans.

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked white rice
3 eggs, scrambled
1 cup chopped ham
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 to 1 cup shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, chopped
4 tbs thinly sliced and chopped ginger
1 tsp salt
1 cup cooked and shredded chicken breasts
4 large slices fried and crumbled bacon
3 tbs soy sauce

Preparation:
Cook the bacon to you liking, then put on paper towels to drain.
Drain the grease into a small container but leave a little in the pan to cook the scrambled eggs. Remove the scrambled eggs into a separate bowl. Add a little olive oil or bacon grease to the pan and saute all vegetables. Don’t overcook.
Add the rice and mix everything well. Add soy sauce, scrambled eggs, and shredded chicken. Mix well.

Prepared on 2011-06-08 (Tulsa, OK), Photographs by Michael Findley

Southwestern Black Bean, Sweet Corn and Roasted Potato Salad with Mandarin, Lime and Garlic Dressing

I often like to experiment with vegetables that I happen to have on hand. I don’t always have a specific recipe in mind, although I usually know the direction I want to go in. This time I started with the potatoes and the dressing and went from there.
You’ll notice that I’m using more and more potatoes lately. Like I’ve told you before, I find it fun, easy and cheap to cook with them.
I added the corn, beans and bell pepper until I got the right look and texture I’d envisioned. The spiciness of the potatoes contrasted with the sweet kernel corn and mandarin-lime dressing worked very well in this case.
Inventing this dish gave me a chance to use basil, cilantro and oregano growing in my herb garden.
The potatoes were done almost exactly like the crispy potato wedges, but instead of russet potatoes I used new red potatoes. Although I used a mandarin here, you could also use a tangerine instead.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds new red potatoes
1 cup whole kernel corn (or use frozen whole kernel corn)
1 1/2 cups black beans (or 1 15 oz can of low-sodium black beans, fully drained)
1/4 cup bell peppers, cut into small slices
1/4 cup green onions, diced
1/2 large avocado, diced

Mandarin-Lime and Garlic Dressing:
1 tbs fresh basil
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs fresh cilantro (optional)
4 whole cloves garlic, mashed
1 tbs fresh oregano
3 mandarin slices (mashed and strained)
Juice of 1 lime

Spicy potato marinade:
2 tbs canola oil (or any vegetable oil)
1 tbs chili powder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Preparation:
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the potato marinade and combine well with a fork. Make sure to whisk the marinade while adding each of the spices. to keep them from clumping up. Set aside to give the spices time to infuse into the oil.
In another mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients for the Mandarin-lime and garlic dressing. Do this at least 30 minutes before adding to the salad so that the spices and juices have time to blend.
Cut each potato into 4 parts (these are pretty small potatoes; if yours are larger cut even more) and place in a large ziploc bag. Pour the potato marinade into the ziploc bag and let out all the air, toss around with your hand until all the potatoes are covered in the marinade and set aside so that potatoes have time to absorb the marinade.
Preheat oven to 425 F. Spread foil on a large shallow baking pan and spray with non-stick spray.
Lay the potatoes on the pan in a single layer; spread them out evenly. Bake 20 minutes (or until crisp and tender) and turn halfway through. When done, set aside to cool.
In a large salad bowl, put the beans, corn, bell peppers, green onion and diced avocado. Once the potatoes are warm but not hot, add them to the bowl. Add salad dressing and toss.
Serve immediately.

Presentation:
Garnish with chopped basil.

Prepared on 2011-06-07 (Tulsa, OK), Photograph by Michael Findley

Crispy, Spicy Baked Potato Wedges

I love to cook with potatoes and I plan to use them a lot in the coming months. They can be used in so many ways, and with the price of food going through the roof these days, a potato is one of the cheapest foods you can buy.
These potato wedges are simple to make and they can be a side dish to just about any food you can imagine. It takes a lot of self control on my part to keep from eating them before I put them on the table for everyone else.
I can even serve these to my vegetarian/vegan friends. I like to leave the skin on the potatoes; it adds a lot of texture to the wedges and since the potato skins have a lot of vitamins, they’re also healthier. Double the amount of cayenne pepper if you want these wedges really really spicy (my sister would probably want me to triple the amount).

Ingredients: ( 3 servings)
3 large russet potatoes (1 per person)

Spicy Marinade:
2 1/2 tbs canola oil (vegetable oil)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp crushed cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried crushed oregano
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Preparation:
In a small mixing bowl, combine the oil and all the spices. Whisk constantly with a fork while adding each spice, to keep them from forming clumps in the marinade.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F while you scrub and rinse potatoes, until all the dirt is washed away (they will get several shades lighter when you’re done).
Cut the potatoes lengthwise in as many wedges as you want (if you cut them into 4 wedges try to do the same with all the potatoes; different sized wedges will not cook evenly).
Place the raw potato wedges into a large ziploc bag, then pour the marinade in. Seal, removing as much of the air as possible and work the marinade into all the potatoes with your hands. Keep the potatoes in the bag until just before cooking.
Place all the potato wedges onto a greased shallow baking pan.
Bake 25 to 35 minutes, turning once halfway through. You can test the potatoes with a sharp knife while in the oven to see if they are cooked all the way.

Prepared on 2011-06-05 (Tulsa, OK), Photograph by Michael Findley

Creamy Ranch Cucumber Pasta Salad

While I was growing up in South America, I spent many summers at my grandparents’ house in South Carolina. They had a huge field of vegetables growing behind their house. (I don’t call it a vegetable garden, because to me, at that time, it seemed as large as a farm). The great thing was that we ate fresh, right-out-of-the-ground vegetables every day. Although I remember many of the dishes my grandma used to cook, this cucumber pasta salad was the only one I ever asked her to show me how to make. I truly regret that now. My grandparents passed away several years ago, but one of these days I’ll ask my aunt and my dad to share some of her other recipes with me. Its a refreshing, cold pasta salad for those hot summer days.

Ingredients:
2 cups diced cucumbers (keep a few large pieces)
1/2 cup diced onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup celery, sliced
1/2 diced bell peppers (green, yellow, or red)
1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
1/2 cup cucumber ranch dressing
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 lime
1 large clove garlic, smashed
6 oz large shell pasta
6 oz rotini pasta

Preparation:
In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, ranch dressing, lime juice and the spices until everything is well combined, then set in the fridge while you chop vegetables. Add vegetables to the bowl, stir thoroughly and put back in the fridge.
In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. When the water starts to boil, add pasta, cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or follow the directions in the pasta package, then strain under cold water until it has cooled completely. Set aside to drain, then add to the vegetables and dressing. Toss well.
Store in an airtight container for a few hours before serving.

Presentation:
Garnish with chopped cilantro and/or basil

Prepared on 2011-05-17 (Tulsa, OK), Photograph by Michael Findley

Fresh Salsa with roasted garlic and green chilies (Pico De Gallo)

When I lived in Colorado, I had a hiking and camping buddy who created gourmet meals for us to eat after a long day’s hike. He wanted us to start a tour guide business. We would take tourists on a tour of the San Juan Mountains (part of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado) and show them all the interesting sites. He wanted to set us apart from all the other tour guides in the area by providing the tourists with a custom shot video of their adventures and a gourmet meal.
He was a great cook and had some pretty awesome ideas for different meals to prepare. Among his creations were an excellent potato salad, various cold sandwiches, and garden-fresh salsa served with tortilla chips.
The tour guide business never really took off, but out of it came one of my favorite vegetables recipes — his garden-fresh salsa. I love to eat it with tortilla chips, on top of toasted garlic bread and in quick nachos. It’s also great on turkey sandwiches; I like to spread it between turkey slices. This salsa should keep for about 4 to 5 days (although its so delicious I really doubt you’ll have to worry about it lasting that long). In Mexico this salsa is also known as “Pico De Gallo”. Feel free to experiment with any vegetables you like. Use this recipe as a base and add diced bell peppers, cucumbers, celery, or any others you like. Add finely diced jalapeno and/or habanero peppers to make it spicy. Please leave me a comment on what variations you've tried.

Ingredients:
3 cups diced white onion
4 cups diced tomatoes
4 tbs roasted garlic, mashed
1 large jalapeno, seeded, deveined and finely diced (optional)
1 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 2 lemons
1 4 oz can of chopped green chilies
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
salt to taste

Preparation:
Add onions, tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro and green chilies to a large bowl.
In a separate small bowl, mash the roasted garlic with a fork, then add the lime juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk this dressing while slowly pouring in the olive oil. Dump the dressing onto the bowl of vegetables and mix until everything is well combined.
Pour the salsa mixture into an airtight container and set in the refrigerator overnight. Every now and then, stir it a bit since the juices tend to settle in the bottom of the container.

Prepared on 2011-05-14 (Tulsa, OK), Photographs by Michael Findley

Crispy Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic

While surfing for good recipes online, I came across this recipe for Hasselback Potatoes. They looked not only different and interesting, but crispy too. And when I read the recipe, it mentioned that sliced garlic was stuffed in each of the potato slits. This did it for me, and I had to try these. I’m glad I did, they turned out very good and were in fact crispy, but not as crispy as a potato chip.
I will definitely make these again, but I have some ideas for how I might change them a bit — stay tuned.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 large cloves of garlic (depends on how many potato slits you end up with)
2 large russet potatoes
olive oil
around 1/4 stick of butter
salt and pepper

Preparation:
Slice your potatoes crossways from one end to the other, but make sure you don’t cut all the way through, so the slices are held together at the bottom. Make your slices about ⅛ inch thick.
Slice the cloves of garlic as thin as you can, and put a slice between each of the potato slits.
Place potatoes into an oven baking dish.
Drizzle some olive oil over the potatoes, making sure oil works its way in between each of the potato slices.
Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper and sea salt over the potatoes.
Cut eight ⅛-inch-thick slices of butter, and spread four on top of each potato.
Cover the baking dish with foil, and place in a 425 degree F oven.
Bake for about 30 minutes, covered. Remove the foil, and brush some of the oil and butter in the bottom of the dish back on the potatoes. Bake another 30 minutes. (If you don’t have much butter and oil dripping in the bottom of the baking dish, add 2 or 3 more butter slices on top of each potato.)

Prepared on 2011-05-15 (Tulsa, OK), Photograph by Michael Findley

Torrejas de Espinaca (Spinach Fritters)

Torrejas are a very Peruvian dish.
You can throw in just about any vegetable you have in your fridge, as long as you include a larger proportion of spinach. In fact, spinach here is not really optional; it helps hold the torreja together while frying, and later while eating. In this particular recipe I used lettuce, parsley, onions and tomatoes because that’s what I had in the refrigerator at the time.
I love to just eat these with my hands; they’re so crunchy and full of flavor. They can also be used as sides to most of the dishes in this blog.

Ingredients:
1 cup spinach
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 medium habanero, seeded, deveined and diced
1 cup lettuce, only the greener parts of leaves
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 cup finely diced tomatoes
1/3 cup parsley, chopped (no stems)

Preparation:
Steam the spinach for about 5 minutes.
Finely chop all the vegetables, including the steamed spinach, and place in a bowl.
In a separate bowl mix the water, flour and eggs; use a fork to blend well.
Add the flour-egg-water mixture to the chopped vegetables and mix well.
Use a large serving spoon to scoop a dollop of the mix onto a hot frying pan that was sprayed with nonstick oil. Fry, pancake-style. When the bottom has golden-brown spots, turn and fry on the other side.

Prepared on 2011-04-06 (Tulsa, OK), Pictures by Michael Findley