Cilantro Lime Rice (Cafe Rio style)

1 cup uncooked rice
1 TBS oil
1 tsp minced garlic (I use the jarred kind)
1 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice
2 cups water (or chicken broth – leave out bouillon)
2 tsp chicken bouillon granules (or 2 bouillon cubes)
1 TBS fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tsp sugar
3 TBS fresh chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a bowl combine lime juice, sugar and chopped cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

(For a party of 10, we doubled pork, rice, and dressing. We had plenty of everything except the rice - so triple the rice next time, and way too much dressing - one recipe is plenty! So for a party of 10 - double pork, triple rice, single dressing.)

Green Beans with Balsamic Butter

(From Our Best Bites)

2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup salted butter
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 green onions, chopped (whites and greens)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine the onions, garlic, and vinegar in a small saucepan. Cook on medium, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes - until most of the vinegar is reduced into a thick syrup and has been absorbed by the green onions. Remove from heat and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add butter to the vinegar mixture - combine and set aside.

When water boils, add green beans. Cook for 3-5 minutes - until beans are crisp-tender. Drain and toss with the balsamic butter sauce. Serve immediately.

Serves 8.

Garlic Rosemary Roasted Baby Potatoes

1 1/2 lb fingerling or baby potatoes, washed (try to pick bite-sized potatoes)
2 1/2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 TBS coarse-grain or Dijon mustard
2 1/2 TBS chopped fresh rosemary (no stem)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
black pepper
salt

In a large pot of salted, boiling water, boil potatoes for 10 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork. Preheat oven to 425

While potatoes are boiling, combine olive oil, mustard, rosemary, and garlic. When potatoes are done, drain and then toss with mustard mixture. Spread out on a foil lined sheet pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes - until the skins are browning and sizzling. Be sure to scrape all the seasoning bits off the pan and pour over potatoes when serving.

(May prepare ahead up to the baking - refrigerate covered for up to 6 hours. When ready, preheat oven to 425 and bake.)

Avocado Edamame Tomato Salad

1 medium avocado
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
3/4 cup shelled edamame
1/4 cup finely diced red onion or shallot (I prefer shallots - they're more mild and I go easy on them)
1 TBS fresh lime juice

Dressing:
2 TBS fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp Spike! seasoning (I had never heard of this before, but had no problem finding it in the spice aisle and it really is good.)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

Dice avocado into bite size pieces and immediately toss with 1 TBS lime juice. Halve or quarter cherry tomatoes into bite size pieces. If using frozen edamame, thaw. Finely dice onion or shallot. Combine all ingredients.

For the dressing: combine lime juice and seasonings and then slowly whisk in the olive oil. pour over salad and gently toss. Serve immediately.

The World's Best Guacamole

3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, diced

juice of 1 lime

1 medium rip tomato, diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

couple dashes of Tabasco sauce

Mash the avocados in a bowl with a fork until slightly lumpy. (I used a pastry cutter - it worked really well!) Stir in the lime juice, tomato, cilantro, red onion and garlic. Add the Tabasco, cumin, salt and sugar (anywhere from 1/2 to 1 tsp of salt.) Mix well. Sample and adjust seasonings. Cover the bowl and chill for 1 hour to allow flavors to blend. Enjoy!

Savory Onion Rice

1 1/4 cup regular rice

1 (10 1/2 oz) can condensed beef consomme

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine (if doubling, still just use 1 stick)

1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed onion soup

1 (2 oz) can mushrooms, drained

Put rice into quart casserole dish. Pour soup and consomme over rice. Add mushrooms and margarine. Cover casserole dish; bake in oven at 350 for 1 hour, stirring rice after first half hour.

Spring Citrus Salad

Sugared Pecans:

1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup pecan halves

Citrus Dressing:

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup lime juice

2 TBS orange juice

2 TBS sugar

1 tsp grated lime zest

1 tsp grated orange zest

Salad:

8 cups torn leaf lettuce

8 cups torn Romaine lettuce

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 large orange, peeled, sliced (or a can of mandarin oranges)

1 pint strawberries, sliced

2 avocados, thinly sliced

For the pecans, mix the sugar with the pecan halves in a small skillet. Cook over low heat until the sugar melts, stirring to coat the pecans well. Spread on foil and cool; break pecans apart.

For the dressing, combine ingredients in an airtight jar and shake well. Chill until serving time.

For the salad, combine all ingredients except avocados and toss gently. Chill until serving time. Add the avocados just before serving and drizzle with the dressing. Toss gently. Top with pecans.

4-6 servings

From "Always in Season"

Herbed Orzo

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook 1 cup orzo until al dente. Drain orzo and transfer to a bowl. Add 3 TBS chopped fresh herbs (dill, chives, cilantro or parsley) and 2 tsps fresh lemon juice. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper and toss to combine. We also like to add chopped tomatoes.

Fish 'n' Chips

1 1/2 pounds boiling or yellow fleshed potatoes, cut into wedges

1/4 cup plus 3 TBS extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

6 cloves garlic, smashed (minced) and peeled

2 TBS finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (we used dried)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

juice and grated peel of 1 lemon (optional: 1 lemon cut in wedges for serving)

four 6-8 oz red snapper fillets (we used Tilapia)

4 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

4 scallions

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and toss with 3 TBS olive oil, the garlic, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. Roast until the potatoes are tender and golden at the edges, 20-25 minutes.

While the potatoes are working, in a large skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, over medium-high heat. Combine the cornmeal, flour, cheese and lemon peel on a plate. Season the fish with salt and pepper, then coat evenly with cornmeal mixture. Fry in the skillet, turning once, until golden brown, about 7 minutes total.

In a medium bowl, toss together the tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

Top the fish with the sauce and serve with the potatoes.

From Every Day with Rachael Ray June/July 2007

***The recipe called for red snapper, but we couldn't find any. I thought the Tilapia worked well. I also think this recipe would work with halibut or cod. Fresh herbs can be expensive, so we just used dried rosemary - but I forgot to chop it! I will definitely remember that next time. I also forgot to drizzle the tomato sauce with olive oil and it was delicious without. I'm not sure if I'll try it with next time or not. We had some tartar sauce on hand - I couldn't imagine fish 'n' chips without tartar sauce! I really liked combining a bit of tartar sauce with the tomato sauce on the fish. There is lemon juice in the tomato sauce, which I found worked well, but Mom really liked having a few extra lemon wedges for her fish.***