“Our” rice bowls consist of these layered up ingredients: brown rice, beans (mashed up and seasoned), a meat (seasoned shredded chicken or seasoned ground beef), and toppings (tomatoes, onions, cheese, cilantro, olives).

Our family will bring beef and beans, and the toppings of onions, cilantro and goat cheese. The other family will make the rice and the chicken, and prepare the toppings of cow cheese, tomatoes and olives. We’ll each contribute a dessert.

Should be a good meal!

What are your favorite meals to share with other families, potluck style?

Related: The thrift store glass jar I found to store my pumpkin seeds!

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon.

Seasoned Chicken for Rice Bowls

• 1 free-range, organic chicken
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 cup water

Cook the chicken overnight in the crockpot.

Allow the chicken to cool enough to for handling; remove the meat from the bones. Put the meat back into the (washed) crockpot. Reserve bones for making stock later or discard. Add remaining ingredients. Chop with a big spoon to incorporate ingredients and to shred the chicken. Turn on to LOW. Serve when warm. If kept ready for several hours, watch the amount of water and add more as needed to prevent burning.

Serve atop rice bowls with seasoned black beans and brown rice and other toppings such as: diced onions, sliced olives, diced avocado, shredded goat cheddar cheese, cilantro, bean sprouts, etc.

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon

A great way to make a double batch of this is to cook 5 cups of dry black beans in the crockpot overnight. Use a 4- to 5-quart crockpot. In the morning, you’ll have 15 cups of cooked black beans, which will make the following recipe twice. Use half the beans for the first batch and then put it back into the (washed) crockpot. Then use the other half of the beans to make it again, and add that to the crockpot also. Keep the crockpot on low and the beans will be ready for eating immediately or in a few hours — whenever you’re ready! They’ll thicken as they cook, so adjust liquid as you desire.

These beans are delicious many ways. One of our favorites is to use them in rice bowls. Scoop the beans over prepared brown rice and top it all with foods such as seasoned shredded chicken, diced onions, sliced olives, diced avocado, shredded goat cheddar cheese, cilantro, bean sprouts, etc.

Seasoned Black Beans for Rice Bowls

• 7 to 8 cups cooked black beans, rinsed
• 1 to 2 cups of water, or to desired consistency
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Combine all ingredients in a deep skillet over medium heat, starting with 1 cup of water and adding more as needed. Mash with potato masher so that the beans are chunky in a thick liquid. (Or to the consistency you desire.) When thoroughly heated, transfer to crockpot set to LOW to stay warm until ready to serve.

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon

With the weather warming up, we sure feel like having lighter, cooler foods. This is a deliciously simple chicken salad. We like to eat it with Quinoa Dinner Cakes. Yesterday when we were out clearing brush and cleaning up our property, I brought out a bowl of this chicken salad and a bunch of the dinner cakes. Yummy lunch — or dinner!

Yummy Chicken Salad

• 1/4 to 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, diced
• sea salt and pepper
• few pinches of dried basil
• generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• few splashes of balsamic vinegar
• finely grated goat cheddar cheese (optional)
• chopped olives (optional)

Toss all ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve atop greens, in a sandwich, or alongside Quinoa Dinner Cakes.

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon.

Chicken Chili

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• meat from 1/2 to 1 whole cooked chicken
• 8 cups cooked beans (such as pinto or kidney, or both)
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• pinch of cayenne pepper, or as much as desired
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

optional:

• 1 can light coconut milk, unsweetened
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• sliced olives

Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add chicken chunks, beans, and diced tomatoes. Whisk tomato paste and water together in a 4-cup measuring glass. Add to pot. Add all spices. Let all ingredients simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add coconut milk, nutritional yeast and/or olives 5 minutes before serving, if using.

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon.

This is one of my favorite growing up dishes. The flavor is excellent; it is warming and filling. I still don’t think I make it as well as my Mom does, but I try! The photo above is of the Great Northern beans I finished soaking this morning (see How to Cook Dry Beans). The photo below is of the finished beans in the tomato sauce.

As a side note, I love to use my pasta pot for cooking beans. Draining is simple — just pull out the insert over the sink. Voila! Beans are easily separated from the water. Rinse right in the pasta insert also.

Fasooli (Fuh-SOO-lee)
Arabic White Beans & Rice

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
• 3 cups cooked great northern beans or navy beans
• 1 can tomato paste
• 3 cups filtered water
• 3 cups brown rice, cooked
• 2 to 3 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Over medium heat, saute onions in olive oil. After a few minutes, add garlic. Stir frequently. Let onions saute until transparent and soft.

In a 4 cup measuring cup, mix tomato paste with water until smooth.

Add great northern beans, spices and tomato paste/water mixture to pot. Taste, adjust seasonings if necessary. Simmer to heat all ingredients thoroughly.

Turn off heat. Serve over warm brown rice.

Delicious served with stewed lamb meat, or chicken chunks.

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon.

Sylvia’s Chicken Noodle Soup was a hit for our dinner last night! The meatballs are out of this world yummy.

We will have this meal again and again.

My procedure was to take frozen chicken stock and get it simmering. Then I added diced onions, the soup spices, and 3 cups of wild rice to that. I didn’t add the carrots or celery because we prefer our veggies raw and also there are some (I won’t say who) who don’t prefer a sweet carrot taste. I left the rice and stock to simmer for the hour it would take to fully soften the rice grains.

Meanwhile, I mixed up the ground chicken with more diced onions and the spices. Because of our dairy allergies, I used no parmesan cheese. I browned the meatballs in extra-virgin olive oil in a cast iron pan (see picture). When cooked, I transferred them to the warm oven, covered, to await dinner.

We each require different amounts of protein. This we’ve learned from experience. When I served dinner, I filled each bowl with a big ladle-full of the wild rice soup base and topped that with an appropriate amount of meatballs. Once again, no parmesan cheese, but the soup really didn’t need it. The parsley, thyme and coriander were perfect flavors, both in our mouths and in the heavenly scent that filled the house all afternoon.

Great Northern Bean Stew

• 1 to 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef
• 2 small red onions, diced
• 4 cups Great Northern beans, cooked
• 4 to 6 cups clean water
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 2 to 3 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

In a stockpot, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat. Keep it chunky. Add the onions and let saute until translucent. Turn down heat to medium.

Whisk tomato paste into 4 cups water until smooth. Add to pot. Add beans and all remaining ingredients to pot (except additional water). Let come to a boil, then turn down heat to low. Let simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add more water to desired thickness.

Serve with whole-grain bread or over brown rice.

© Copyright 2008 by Wardeh Harmon

I haven’t made muffins in awhile, but after having the family request some yesterday, I will gladly make some today. They will be our usual sweet potato muffins, but I am going to add small pieces of our chocolate chunks to them. I have to make more of the chocolate chunks (they keep getting eaten!) and I will try it a little differently today. I’d like to make them sweeter, and sweetened with either date sugar or agave.

Also, today, I will give another gluten-free bread recipe a try. This one is from my friend, Tiffany — Tiffany’s Gluten-Free Bread. I will have to sub for the eggs.