This side dish is oh so yummy. Perfect to pair with a nice grilled steak. Eaten outside on a glorious warm evening. With a big glass of wine. Some smart funny friends. Where there are no bugs. Or whining children.

I guess you can say that if there was going to be a perfect, albeit imaginary, evening this side dish could be there.

You might notice something different about this post. “Where are the photos, Chris?” you might be asking.

They were lost in an unfortunate delete all images slip of thumb from the SD card. I had thought I could remake the dish and rephotograph it in all its glory. But this morning I was staring at my Blackberry, all the ingredients laid out before me on the counter. I scrolled past the rest of the week and weekend: 6 baseball practices, 5 baseball games, one art lesson, one afternoon of kayaking, tickets to a play, a doctor appointment, horse back riding lessons times three, a desperately needed hair appointment, tile that has to be ordered and picked up by tomorrow, a bathroom that needs to be painted before the tile is picked up but after the paint is bought, and well, I realized that it just was not going to happen.

Instead I will give you the recipe, just in case the stars align and you can have the perfect evening and need this dish.

You will need:

[Insert photo of artfully arrange ingredients on the kitchen table. Make sure breakfast dishes are strategically placed out of the view of the camera.]

1/2 cup dried mango
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup basmati rice (any kind will really do, but I love the way this one tastes with fruit)
14oz chicken broth, either from a can or if you saved some when making soup last week
3/4 cup water
1tsp basil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

This is the part I like, because it is SOOOOOOO easy.

Cut up the dried mango into 1/4 inch pieces.

[Insert obligatory photo of knife wielding child.]

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan that has a well fitting lid.

[Insert photo of pan. WITH a lid.]

Bring to a boil. Give it a quick stir.

[Insert photo of spoon inside of a pan. For really artsy fartsy look capture steam rising from pan.]

Cover. Turn the heat down as low as it can go.

[Insert photo of low flame on the stove. Make note to photoshop out spills on burners]

And let it cook until the rice is done. Just as if you were cooking rice regularly. If you have some toasted pine nuts, throw them on top. I never do so I just skip this. I bet it would make it even more delicious though.

[Insert photo of beautiful rice on a plate, smiling child with fork poised to eat it]

And that is the end. Really. That is it.

[Insert on least photo of rice with a half empty glass of wine in the background]

Enjoy!

I love home made soup. The stuff from the can just does not compare. It is so easy to make, just requires a chunk of time that you are home watching the pot boil. If you don’t have time immediately following the eating of a roasted chicken or turkey, you can wrap it up and stick it into the freezer. Read the rest of this entry »

I used to think that making a whole roaster chicken or turkey was difficult. I am not sure why. Maybe too many Thanksgiving dinners eating dried out meat?

Over the past couple years I have discovered that roaster chickens and turkeys are easy, tasty, and economical meals. The trifecta of a good recipe, in my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

I have had a number of requests lately for side dishes.

Why is it that they always seem the most difficult to come up with? Maybe because we will happily eat the same baked chicken, grilled steak, pan seared pork chops over and over again and yet we long for some variety with our side dishes. Something that moves us beyond rice and steamed veggies. Something that livens up the meal.

I am on an eternal quest for new side dishes. This is a recent recipe I have experimented with subjected my family to added to the rotation.

Why yes, it does kind of look like a white brain. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever noticed how quiche is always a staple at brunch? All it really is is scrambled eggs baked in a pie crust. And yet it seems so much more fancy schmancy, like you went through a lot of trouble for your guests.

But why does quiche have to be a breakfasty food? We are going to be eating ours tonight for dinner with a large green salad and a crusty baguette. I will also be at the baseball field (I KNOW, what a surprise! because I haven’t been there every other night this week!) until 7:00pm and this is perfect for staggered meal times. And will require nothing of me to get it on the table. Everything will be done in advance.

I used to love quiche. Back before I found out I was allergic to everything that is not cardboard. So technically I probably still do love quiche, I just love living more. Read the rest of this entry »

I am almost embarrassed to post this recipe. Almost. But in an effort to keep it real I am going to anyway. Because I realize that there are just some days and nights that are so busy, cooking entirely from scratch is a near impossibility.

Right now we have entered baseball season at our house. To give you an idea of what this means, I had to get a dedicated baseball calendar because my regular calendar DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH ROOM.

Oh sorry, was I shouting?

On the practical side this means that night after night I have to come up with meals that are quick. I try to limit cold cuts to once a week.

Also, my children told me I should post this recipe because they love it. And I maintain that it has to be better for you than fast food. Read the rest of this entry »

Now that Spring is here it means one thing in my family– baseball, baseball, and more baseball. Which in turn means I have less time to prepare dinner, often we arrive home at 8:30 at night and still have not eaten. I hate resorting to fast food, but sometimes I feel like I have no choice.

I have discovered that with a little advanced preparation I can have food ready that is quick to eat and to clean-up. At 9:00 at night who feels like eating a 3 course meal and then cleaning up after it? Not me.

Read the rest of this entry »

My children love this. LOVE. There really isn’t much not to love about it as long as you like peanut butter. I have several different versions of this recipe, but this one is my children’s favorite and it is the simplest to prepare. A win-win situation of you ask me. Read the rest of this entry »

Aren’t these so yummy looking?

I call these cream cheese and jelly turnovers for the lazy among us who are feeling wracked with guilt and trying to buy their children’s love via their stomachs. But that seems a little long for the name of the recipe so I will just call them cream cheese and jelly turnovers for short.

This is actually the first time that I am away from my kids for something that is solely work related, with no fun factor built in. No catching up with friends. No drunk karaoke. No sightseeing. No subtext of I deserve a break from my children.

I was also just away last week and when I returned home Sunday evening my daughter gave me a drawing she made. It was of her crying because I was away. It would have been less painful had she reached into my chest and torn my heart out.

So when my kids requested this yesterday morning as I was tossing random crap into my suitcase packing, I couldn’t refuse.

This recipe is fun for kids to do themselves. It uses premade pie crust (I know. But let’s just all get over it.) You certainly can make your own pie crust if you are so inclined, but then it becomes a much more involved recipe that might not be accessible to the 6, 7, 8 year old set. It also would take much longer. The entire recipe from taking the ingredients out of the refrigerator to putting it on a plate to eat is under 30 minutes.

It is a nice addition to brunch or even just as an afternoon snack. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you ever think to yourself, “Man, I have an awful lot of vodka, what can I do with it other than drink it?” No? Well, now you will.

This recipe reminds me of my sister in law who died a few years ago. She loved vodka sauce. In fact when I was pregnant with my oldest child the restaurant where the shower was held served penne with vodka sauce as the first course and my sister-in-law loved it so much we had to return to that restaurant for every family occasion over the next couple of years until finally I asked, “Can’t we just make this at home and skip the two hour drive to the restaurant?”

Turns out we could and we did. It is an easy recipe that I love to pull out when I want to make something that seems a bit more fancy but have zero time or ambition. Also, I promise she did not die from my cooking.

Read the rest of this entry »