Costa Rican Breakfast... At Home

It's been awhile since I've posted.  I have to be honest, I have been feeling overwhelmed with my promise to post pictures with my recipes more often!  While I generally take plenty of pics, I am reallllly lazy about uploading them, for some reason.  Anyhoo, what better way to start off than with a recipe that I will be making until I run out of Lizano sauce. 

At the beginning of January, Ryan and I whisked ourselves off for our long overdue Costa Rican adventure.  I'd been promising myself a trip sine I first graduated with my Bachelor's way back in 2005.  At the time, I was single (and much more financially unstable).  The thought of traveling alone royally freaked me out!  When I received my Master's in 2010, I was in a long term relationship and made the decision (for us both) to take that trip!  Look how pretty:

Waterfall near Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Me and the boy climbing around the lava rocks at the Arenal Volcano

Waterfall near Monteverde Cloud Reserve

Sunset in Manuel Antonio

See?  I told you!  Anyhow... about 2 weeks after we got back, I decided to make Gallo Pinto from scratch.  Gallo Pinto is what Costa Ricans typically eat for breakfast, often with eggs, and it is really simply beans & rice sauteed together with onions, cilantro, and spices/sauce.  I bought a bag of black beans and made a whole batch of it in my new 7 qt crock pot:

My new crock pot in action!

Steamy black beans, finished product

Now I have a few ziplocs full of plain black beans just waiting for me in the freezer!  No salt added!  Anyways, here's the recipe I used, from a random website I found by searching google... I think you could potentially use worcestershire sauce in place of the Lizano, though their flavors are a bit different.

Gallo Pinto (4 servings, 165 Cal per serving)
Ingredients
1 cup of rice, cooked in chicken stock instead of water (we stuck with good ol' white, since that's what they used in CR)
1 cup of cooked beans with a bit of the bean liquid for color and flavor (it was ALWAYS black beans in CR)
1 chopped onion (small)
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 bunch chopped cilantro
4 Tbsp Salsa Lizano (can useWorcestershire sauce but don’t expect the same taste!)
Pinch of black pepper

How to prepare
1. Fry onion, garlic, and cilantro in the oil for about 3 minutes.
2. Pour in the beans and add the Lizano sauce and black pepper. Let it cook for a few minutes, but don’t let it dry out.
3. Pour in the cooked rice and mix it with the beans.

We served ours alongside scrambled eggs and a sliced papaya (I know, I know... it was from Chile, but it really added to the Costa Rican ambiance!):

My version at home in Cali

Gallo Pinto and scrambled egg breakfast in Monteverde

It was served with coffee, juice, pineapple, watermelon, and papaya

          

Easy Chicken Dinner

The time for our Costa Rica trip is finally upon us!  Weee!  I'm so excited!  We leave tonight and fly overnight.  I can't wait!  I feel like I'm only half-way present at my job today, but it doesn't seem as though anyone minds.  I got most of my work done yesterday, anyhow.  I spent a little time (finally) compiling my blogged recipes into an easy list.  The link is up on the main page (Master Recipe List) and I will try and remember to keep it updated!  I'm also hoping to start adding photos of my recipes more often.  I'm giving you this recipe sans photo since I'll be whipping it up tonight before we head out to SFO and thus won't have time for uploading any pics. 

I received this Rachael Ray recipe in an email awhile back and we have made it a bunch of times.  We recently acquired Spicy Curry Powder (thank you, 50% off bin at Safeway!), which I love in this recipe.  Admittedly, it was a little bland before that.  If you like a little bit of heat and only have regular Curry Powder, we have also thrown in a minced jalapeno with half of the seeds removed.  This is so easy, and we tend to have all the items needed in our pantry (or freezer, since chicken in the pantry just sounds yucky), making it an easy go-to dinner.  It definitely makes plenty of sauce, so plan on eating this with whole wheat couscous, brown basmati rice, or some sort of veggie (we've had it over roasted cauliflower as well as some simple sauteed green beans with much success - I highly recommend trying it with roasted cauliflower, try this recipe if you need a starting point).

Coconut Curry Chicken (2 svgs: 317 Cal; 17 g fat; 3 g Carbs; 33.5 g protein)

Ingredients:
3 teaspoons canola oil, separated
1 teaspoon curry powder (I use spicy curry powder)
1/2 can lite coconut milk (6.25 oz; I freeze the other half until needed)
12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breasts (~2 breasts), cut into strips
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium heat. Stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and cook until reduced by half, about 7 minutes.
2. Toss together the chicken, five-spice powder, and salt and pepper.
3. In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Increase the heat to high and stir-fry the chicken until just cooked through, about 6 minutes. Stir in the coconut curry sauce.