Brown Rice, Tomatoes and Basil

Made this last night with big cherry tomatoes. Yum! Lots of fresh flavor, good way to use up basil and would be an easy entertaining side since it is served at room temp.

Brown Rice, Tomatoes and Basil
1 cup Texmati brown rice (I used Uncle Ben's brown rice)
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/4 cup Champagne or rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon good olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ripe tomatoes, large-diced
1 cup packed basil leaves (1 large bunch), chopped

Bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil and add the rice and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Return to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed. Transfer the rice to a bowl.

Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, remaining teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour over the rice. Add the tomatoes and basil. Mix well and check the seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

Herb Cooking in the Summertime?

Ladies-anyone out here!? We have a much beefed up herb garden this summer and I'm in need of some recipes. We've got:

• Basil
• Dill
• Lavender
• Thyme
• Parsley
• Chives
• Rosemary
• Spearmint
• Sage

I have plenty of uses for dill and basil (though I can always use more). Any awesome recipes or simple things to throw together using any of these?

Cold Drip Iced Coffee

I know this method was all in the news last year, but I just got around to trying it this weekend. This makes two weeks worth of concentrate and is significantly less bitter than hot brewed coffee poured over ice. And, its easy.

3/4 lb (1 12 oz bag) of good quality beans, coarsely ground

8 C cold water

Soak grounds in filtered or distilled water overnight in the fridge. Strain grounds through sieve or cheesecloth and store concentrate in a pitcher. To serve, pour into a tall glass filled with ice and top with water or milk.

A few notes from the InStyle article:

• Use micro-lot organic premium beans, grown in the shade for the best quality brew. I used beans from Cameron's.
• Using filtered water makes the coffee smooth and more flavorful, same goes for ice cubes.
• This type of coffee is much sweeter and less acidic

I'm buzzing from my cup this morning, the concentrate is much more concentrated than I realized. I could have added a lot more ice cubes! I added some mint leaves from our garden and used the grounds as mulch around our tomato and pepper plants.

Dilled Potato and Pickled Cucumber Salad

Found this recipe via Smitten Kitchen, but its originally from Bon Appetit. Yum! So good. Two things I did different: only had white wine vinegar on hand, used one regular cucumber instead of two hothouses.

Dilled Potato and Pickled Cucumber Salad
6 T distilled white vinegar
4 t coarse kosher salt
2 1-pound English hothouse cucumbers, very thinly sliced
1/2 C plus 3 T chopped fresh dill
3 1/4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 10 medium), unpeeled
Additional coarse kosher salt
1 C very thinly sliced white onion
8 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced
3/4 C mayonnaise
Small radishes with green tops

Stir vinegar and 4 teaspoons coarse salt in small bowl until salt dissolves. Place cucumbers and 1/2 cup dill in heavy 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add vinegar mixture; seal bag. Turn several times to coat. Refrigerate overnight, turning bag occasionally.

Pour cucumber mixture into large sieve set over bowl. Drain at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours. Discard brine.

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain. Cool potatoes completely. Peel potatoes; quarter lengthwise. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place potatoes in large bowl; sprinkle generously with coarse salt and pepper. Add drained cucumbers, onion, sliced radishes, and remaining 3 tablespoons dill; toss to blend. Let stand 1 hour. Stir mayonnaise into salad. Season generously with salt and pepper, if desired. (Salad can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Mound salad in bowl; garnish with whole radishes. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Asian Pear Mojito

Anthony and I ate at PF Chang's on Friday night and since we were trying to make a movie, we ate at the bar. I had the Asian Pear Mojito, which was excellent. Not too sweet, not too overpowering, just right. When I told the bartender how much I liked it, she offered to give me the recipe. Uh, yeah!

Asian Pear Mojito
1.5 oz Bacardi Limon
1 oz Apple Pucker
mint leaves
3 lime slices
Splash of pineapple juice
Soda water

Pour Bacardi and Apple pucker into glass, add mint and lime slices. Muddle together at bottom of glass. Add ice, pineapple juice and soda water. Enjoy.

Hashbrown Cakes

Some of my favorite recipes from cooking magazines are the little side bar ideas with just a few ingredients or an article about how to use an everyday ingredient. This recipe is from the April issue of Cooking Light.

Hashbrown Cakes
1 1/2 C shredded ham
1/2 C chopped green onions
2 1/2 T all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt
1 20 oz bag hashbrowns*
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Combine ham, onions, flour, salt and potatoes. Add eggs and mix well. Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat with 1 T canola oil. Scoop mixture by 1/4 C spoonfuls into skillet, flatten slightly and cook 5 minutes on each side until browned.

This recipe made enough for two meals. I cooked up a couple of cakes as part of our breakfast, then froze the rest in patties for use another time.

*I hate buying bags of stuff like that when I can just as easily prepare the potatoes myself. I boiled 6 russet potatoes (of varying sizes, not the big huge ones) until they were cooked through. I let them cool a little (I was pressed on time and would have rather they cooled completely, but hey) then shredded them skin on into the bowl.

Budget Recipes: Feed 4 for $10 - CookingLight.com

I think we had thrown around meals for $10 before..here's a new link for just that on Cooking Light:

Budget Recipes: Feed 4 for $10 - Photos - CookingLight.com