Spicy Cilantro Rice
PIN IT!I have two complete and utter obsessions lately that, no matter what, I can’t shake. One of them is rewatching all three seasons of Arrested Development (ILLUSIONS DAD! THEY ARE ILLUSIONS!) and the other is cilantro. I mean I’m SERIOUSLY addicted. But I guess having an addiction to a show and a spice is better than say, crack cocaine or meth right? I mean, that’s a plus side? Last week I satisfied both of my addictions by eating an entire family size helping of this spicy cilantro rice while watching (and quoting with a mouthful of food) season one of Arrested Development.
“His eyebrow just fell into the candy beans!” In addition to watching it all for the 15th time, I’m also speckling my everyday conversations with quotes, like the one I began this paragraph with. And most of the time they actually don’t make any sense to the context of the conversation. Like, Elliot asked me to help him yesterday and instead of a normal “YES!” or, more like me “Give me ten minutes” (which turn into hours), I said “I’m a scholar mother! I enjoy scholarly pursuits!” Then I threw in “A magician called Gob!” If you’ve never seen the show or just have a life that doesn’t involve watching it over and over, you probably have the same look on your face that he did yesterday. So…SPICY RICE!
I actually made this rice before I made the creamy cilantro pasta last week (but I mean, I can’t not share a creamy pasta, right)? Although honestly, this rice is JUST as good. I’m not even kidding. It’s like the rice you get when you order a burrito from Chipotle, but spicier. Those little orange bits in the rice? Chopped habaneros. They add the perfect kick without being too hot. Like the time I forgot to deseed the jalapeños and had to use an ice pack on my tongue.
You could eat this on its own like I did just straight from the serving platter with a fork, or you could serve it with fish, in burritos, alongside your favorite chicken. It’s so versatile And with Cinco de Mayo coming up, it’s the perfect side dish to your zesty fiesssstaaa. And while you are fiesting (it’s a word) why not invite me over? I’ll bring some margaritas!
“Even if it means taking a chubby, I’ll suck it up!”
Spicy Cilantro Rice
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Makes 2 cups
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: About 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup rice
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 jalapeños, deseeded and halved
- 2 habaneros, deseeded and halved
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 cloves garlic
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a glass baking dish with foil and cover with nonstick cooking spray. Place the jalapeños, habeneros and garlic cloves on the foil. Bake for about 10 – 15 minutes or until darkened and garlic is fragrant.
- In a medium sauce pan, bring the water to a boil. Add salt and rice and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the rice is soft and tender, about 15 – 20 minutes. Drain the water and place the rice in a large bowl.
- In a food processor, add the oil, cilantro, jalapeños, habaneros, garlic, lime zest, lime juice and salt and pepper. Pulse on low until slightly pureed. Mix the cilantro mixture to the rice and stir to combine. Serve immediately.
Nutritional information per 1/2 cup:
Calories: 118.5
Fat: 6.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 12.25 grams
Fiber: 0 grams
Protein: 1 gram
Weight Watchers Points: 3
My Stay at the Montage Beverly Hills
I’m not lying when I say this nor am I offering any other opinion than my own, the Montage Beverly Hills is one of the most amazing hotels I’ve ever stayed at.
I was lucky enough to spend three days at the stunning Montage on the first leg of my trip to the French Polynesian Islands. To avoid having to spend 17 hours in a plane, I decided to spend a few days in LA first and then fly to Tahiti, well rested and pampered. So I thought I’d do some work and reached out to the people at the Montage. Allison, the PR director, was incredible. She was so sweet, so accommodating and really created an amazing itinerary for me! So, after a long flight that Friday, I was in utter awe when I arrived. The hotel looks like a hidden oasis in the bustling Beverly Hills landscape and the lobby is something out of a classic 1940’s movie.
Image by CN Traveler.
They put me in a junior suite and oh-my-gosh, these photos can’t even do it justice. It’s the perfect size for a couple or a really, really lucky travel writer 🙂 My friend Shannon bunked up with me, though.
The bed was incredible. It was the most comfortable thing I’ve ever slept in. And they monogrammed the pillow for my last name! No detail goes unnoticed with these folks. It’s like you’re staying at your really wealthy great aunts house. They made you feel like family, not a hotel guest.
Oh and they had a walk-in closet that was the size of my dining room. I wanted to move in and never leave. EVER.
Oh and if the room wasn’t amazing enough, they had a cute bottle of champagne, candied bacon and cheese to snack on in the room. I mean, they left me bacon. True love, right?
Literally an hour after I arrived, I joined Allison for lunch at their rooftop restaurant, The Conservatory Grill. The view is stunning (despite the smog the day I got there) and the food is amazing. Most of the menu was filled with healthy options, like fresh pressed juices, salads, tofu and vegetarian burgers. We ordered salsa & homemade corn dog bites to start. They also brought us some amazing carrot and ginger juice to sip and some fresh vegetable soup while we chatted.
Can I just say again how incredible Allison is? She’s really professional but also really real. She’s very relatable, funny, charming and just a great person to talk to. I never once felt like I was talking to a PR person during lunch, which is nice! When it came time to order, I got the tofu and kale salad. Sounded so “LA” right? She ordered a delicious salmon salad!
Um, it was so good. I wanted to continue to eat past my full point. But, I’m in Beverly Hills so I showed some restraint, haha. After my lunch I went right to my spa appointment. So relaxing, so needed after a long flight. The spa is just stunning. I never wanted to leave. My favorite part, besides the massage, was the mineral pool.
Photo by The Montage.
After the spa, I relaxed before my dear friend Shannon arrived and we went for dinner at Scarpetta. It was funny because before I even told my LA friends where I had dinner planned, they all said “GO TO SCARPETTA!” So, we walked down to dinner and literally walked right past David Spade. Then, after we sat down, we looked over and saw Chris Rock. It was AWESOME. Besides the celebrity sightings, the restaurant was gorgeous. It was so nice so we sat outside in the courtyard.
I left my camera in the room but grabbed some photos of our amazing dinner on my iphone. All of the pastas were made by hand so the spaghetti and sauce was like…insane. They add butter to the tomato sauce so it’s almost like a tomato alfredo. I am salivating just thinking about it again. I didn’t get a photo but found this one online. You just HAVE to see this.
Photo by Scarpetta.
The chef really took care of us. We got a 9 course tasting menu and a wine pairing for every single thing (and then some). The manager and the sommelier were hilarious. They bickered in a fun way, like old friends. It felt like we were in someone’s Italian kitchen, not a busy restaurant. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had and the most fun I’ve ever had at a meal.
So, one of the coolest and most amazing parts of the Montage is their partnership with Mercedez Benz. You can rent a Benz for a full day at no additional cost. Not kidding. So, we decided to take an SLK convertible for the day while we went exploring LA.
Yeah, pretty amazing right? We spent the day cruising the PCH (I’ll share more of my LA trip in another post!) After a long night of partying on Saturday night, our in room breakfast was MUCH needed and appreciated on Sunday. They have a fabulous in room dining menu, especially the breakfast. I ordered the challah french toast and Shannon got the lemon ricotta pancakes. YUM.
Before we checked out on Sunday, we walked around so I could grab some more photos of the stunning hotel. Seriously, I’m not just saying this, IF YOU CAN, please stay there. It’s worth every single penny.
Thank you again to Allison for the AMAZING weekend and to the Montage Beverly Hills for hosting Shannon and I! I’m definitely going to be back next time I’m in LA! For more information on the Montage, check out their website, Facebook and Twitter!
Pina Colada Steel Cut Oats
At about 8:05 pm last night, I got a brilliant idea. I thought “I’m going to make some crock-pot steel cut oats so I have a healthy breakfast option this week!” So I hopped into my super clean, super dreamy kitchen (*might be an exaggeration), mixed some things together in my magic ninja and set it to cook on low. And then, 20 minutes later, I went to bed because I’m 98 years old. And erm, COMPLETELY forgot about them. The magical pina colada steel cut oats sat in my crock pot for hours, cooking and probably burning and dying a horrible death while I slept 15 hours like an old woman. So, imagine my surprise when I woke up and found a batch of creamy, beautiful and delicious oats staring at my face when I opened the lid to my pot. (that sounded dirty).
Excuse the crap-tastic photo on this one. No matter what I did, I just could not get a sexy photo of it. Probably because it’s a bowl of smooshy goo? Man I’m doing a terrible job of selling this. Let me start over. THIS OATMEAL HAS RUM!
I shot these oats a total of 55 times and like none of the photos came out. I’ve been having a Julie/Julia style meltdown over it. But, you don’t care about that! You want to hear about how these oats that shouldn’t have turned out but did taste, right? Well, let’s see the best way to describe them. GOOD. BOOZY. TASTES LIKE A PINA COLADA. Really, it does. It’s amazing. Luscious, creamy, fruity and coconuty (it’s a word). It’s like you poured a frozen cocktail over oats and called it a day. And then added sprinkles of this magical stuff.
The only thing I’d recommend if you make them is to stir about halfway through. They were just a little chunky when I woke up because I didn’t stir them. And just don’t even bother trying to take photos of them b/c you’ll have 5 mental breakdowns before it’s even 9 am.
Pina Colada Steel Cut Oats
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Serves about 7. (3/4 cup servings).
Prep time: >10 minutes
Cook time: About 4 – 6 hours
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked steel cut oats
- 1 1/2 cups light coconut milk
- 1/2 cup milk or light cream (we used 1% milk)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup pineapple Chobani (nonfat)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (I used Zulka pure cane sugar)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- About 2 1/2 tablespoons brown rum
- 2 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Directions:
- Add oats, coconut milk, light cream, water, chobani, sugar, cinnamon, brown rum and coconut flakes into the basin of a crock pot. Top with pieces of cut up butter.
- Turn crock pot on low and cook for about 4 1/2 – 6 hours (mine only took about 4 1/2 hours), or until oats have incorporated all of the liquid. Stir mixture every 1 1/2 hours to avoid burning and sticking.
- Serve immediately with extra coconut flakes.
Nutritional information per serving:
Calories: 232.5
Fat: 9.25 grams
Carbohydrates: 23 grams
Fiber: 2.5 grams
Protein: 5.7 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 5
Claire
Tags:bobs red mill recipes, coconut milk recipes, healthy recipes, oatmeal recipes, steel cut recipes
Spicy Cilantro Alfredo Pasta
A spicy life is a more exciting life, am I right? Who wants to lead a bland, salt and pepper existence when your life could be doused in chili, tabasco, habernos and red pepper? Why would you want just regular alfredo when you could have a spicy cilantro alfredo pasta instead?
I think it’s because I was recently in Mexico, eating every jalapeno, shrimp, bundle of cilantro and haberno I could get my grubby little hands on, that I’ve recently been craving spice. In almost every single dish I’ve made, there’s been spice. It’s almost to the point I can’t eat something unless it slightly burns my tongue. Yes, I’m 100% aware of how creepy that sounds.
I can’t help it though, I crave all things spice! And not even just in my cooking or eating, but in my real life too. All of my clothes are vibrant, speckled with bright colors and shapes. I’m taking bigger risks and chances. I’m going on trips I would have NEVER considered a few months ago. I’m wearing crazier make-up and dying my hair funky shades of red. I’m the human version of this spicy cilantro alfredo pasta, really. I was once a boring plate of noodles and now I’m spicy, sassy and I’ll probably burn your tongue.
I’ll let that marinade in your head for a second. I know a lot of people who don’t like cilantro. And to that I just have to shutter but pretend like I accept your decision. Hands down, this is my favorite fresh herb. In the entire world.
It’s what for dinner. And it’s what really balances the spiciness of the haberno, jalapeno and chili powder in this alfredo. It also gives the sauce such an added depth of flavor. You could omit it if you absolutely CAN’T stand cilantro, but I can’t make any promises that it’ll be as good. I’m just being honest. Even though this dish is a little heavier than my normal pasta dishes, one heaping serving only has 10 WW points, which is 4 less than Weight Watchers own recipe!
If your life is a little blah, a little drab, a little boring, add this spicy cilantro alfredo pasta to your menu. THIS WEEK. Before you know it you’ll be dying your hair purple, wearing neon green pants and jumping out of airplanes.
Spicy Cilantro Alfredo Pasta
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Serves about 6.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces spaghetti noodles
For the sauce:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light cream
- About 3/4 cup skim milk
- 4 ounces soft goat cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
- 1 jalapeno, cut in half and seeded
- 2 habernos, cut in half and seeded
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- About 2/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to broil. Place jalapeno, habernos and yellow pepper in an oven safe baking dish coated with cooking spray. Broil for about 5 – 8 minutes, or until soft and slightly blackened. Remove from the oven and place in a food processor. Pulse on low with one tablespoon of lemon juice until pureed. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook until al-dente, about 8 minutes. Rinse and set aside.
- To make the sauce, melt butter in a 3-quart pan over medium heat. Add flour and stir in to create a roux. Add in the light cream and the light milk, 1/4 cup at a time, whisking after each addition. Stirring constantly, heat until mixture is thick (enough to coat the back of a spoon). Remove from heat and stir in goat cheese and parmesan cheese. Once cheese is fully melted, stir in chopped cilantro, chili powder and pureed jalapenos. Stir in salt, pepper and remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Stir the noodles into the sauce and serve immediatley.
Nutritional information per serving (about 3/4 cup):
Calories: 377.5
Fat: 16 grams
Carbohydrates: 44.5 grams
Fiber: 2.25 grams
Protein: 13 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 10
Claire
Tags:alfredo pasta recipes, alfredo recipes, cilantro recipes, low fat Alfredo, pasta recipes, spicy recipes
Chicken Salad Crostinis
Today isn’t just an ordinary Monday. Nope, not even one bit. It’s a very special, special Monday because….IT’S IN HONOR OF JULIE’S UPCOMING WEDDING!
I mean, I don’t even know what to say about Julie besides I would be completely lost without her! She’s always there for me, offering sage advice, pieces of encouragement and a laugh. Our daily text messages have me in tears they are so funny. I swear Julie and I are twin sisters separated at birth. We are literally the same person. You only meet a once in a lifetime friend, once in a lifetime and Julie is definitely one of those kind of friends. I know we’ll be texting & talking trash for the rest of our lives 🙂 When I tried to think of something to make for a bridal shower, I kept going back to these amazing chicken salad crostinis I made two weeks ago. Not only would Julie and I eat 1500 of these while gossiping over wine, these would be a fabulous addition to any bridal shower!
I’m seriously addicted to chicken salad lately. It’s weird, it’s the only thing I’ve been craving lately. Well that and pho. I want a big, steaming bowl of pho and a chicken salad sammie. Which as you know, totally go together so perfectly. And no, I’m not pregnant. I just have the weirdest, most absurd cravings ever. Well to satisfy my craving without eating 14,000 grams of carbs, I decided to top a simple and small slice of french bread with a big heaping spoonful of chicken salad.
Another reason I love chicken salad is that it reminds me of spring and summer. We’d always have picnics by a small little beach we had in Cleveland and there would always be a giant tupperware filled with chicken salad. I feel like you can’t have a picnic or a low-key outdoor lunch without it. Now, the one thing I have to be very strict on, NO GRAPES. They belog in wine, not on a sandwich.
So here’s to you Julie! Hope you have the best day OF your life and you enjoy every little second. And you better believe we’ll have a few of these crostinis with a few more glasses of bubbly to celebrate after the honeymoon 🙂
CLICK HERE FOR THE DELICIOUS RECIPE!
Nutritional information per crostini:
Calories: 170
Fat: 7 grams
Carbohydrates: 18.7 grams
Fiber: 2.3 grams
Protein: 6.8 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 4
Check out these other amazing shower goodies!
Rachel Cooks – Cappuccino Mouse Cups
Bake Your Day – Confetti Popcorn
Dinners Dishes and Desserts – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake
Chip Chip Hooray – Butterscotch Biscoff Chunk Blondies
Gimme Some Oven – Chicken Enchilada Cups
Climbing Grier Mountain – Vanilla Cupcakes with Purple Buttercream Frosting
Baked by Rachel – Chocolate Eclairs with White Chocolate Drizzle
London Bakes – Spring Onion Quiche
Carla’s Confections – Blueberry Bliss Cocktails
Wanna Be a Country Clever – Salmon Crostinis
Claire
Tags:chicken recipes, chicken salad recipes, crostini recipes, low fat recipes, quick and easy recipes
