simple sides

It has been a long time coming…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

Honestly, I never thought this day would come. After my wife’s cancer, covid and a holy host of other roadblocks, I really believed that I was just going to end the blog. However, I am finally at the point where I can create a recipe and folks will actually be able to taste the flavors plus I am transitioning to semi retirement which will give me more time to do things that I want to do like creating and writing.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Ireland for my daughter’s wedding and we had a great time. The scenery was breathtaking and, I will say that, from a food perspective, it was eye opening. I am not sure what I was expecting regarding the pub and restaurant food except maybe heavy meat dishes with tough cuts of meat and no variety. I guess I had Charles Dickens in my head or maybe the Irish potato famine but my oh my! I was so wrong! Every place we ate had their own greenhouse behind the restaurant with fresh herbs and vegetables and the food was diverse and very, very tasty. The dairy products were sublime and the number of tasty chowders and soups was almost immeasurable. I can honestly say that I did not have a bad meal while I was in Ireland. Their food scene is highly underrated and is worth the trip. One of the things I had was a version of pearled couscous I thought was very tasty. Their version leaned toward an Italian flavor profile so I decided to see if I could create my own version of this same dish. Mine is “smokier” in flavor with some subtle notes of sweetness from the onion. I used this as a base for pan seared shrimp and asparagus and it was very tasty. Enough of this intro stuff and on to the recipe.

Hey Pearl!

Pearled CousCous with diced tomatoes (and other goodies) Serves 4

1 cup – Pearled couscous (yield is 2 cups cooked)

2 cloves – garlic (minced)

1/3 cup – fine diced sweet onion

14.5 ounce can – fire roasted diced tomatoes

8 ounce can – tomato sauce

1 tsp – salt

1 1/2 tbsp – capers

7 – basil leaves chopped

1/2 tsp – course ground pepper

Extra Virgin olive oil (a couple of good turns)

Construction Instruction –

Couscous – Prepare couscous according to package instructions but stay to the shorter cooking time because these are going to be added to and heated in the sauce for a few minutes. After preparing, take off the heat and set aside. (normal cooking time for the brand that I used is 10 minutes but I stopped at the eight minute mark)

Sauce – This is a quick sauce so it will only take around 10 to 15 minutes to prepare. In a 3 quart sauce pan drizzle some olive oil (a couple of good turns) and bring to temperature making sure that you do not burn the oil. Note: olive oil has a low smoke point so stove surface temperatures should be slightly below the mid-point. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and onion and sweat them until the onion is translucent and tender. Reduce the heat and then add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce and stir to bring all the components together. Simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes, then add in the capers, basil leaves, salt and pepper, all to taste. Simmer the sauce for another 4 to 5 minutes so the flavors can get to know each other. 

Finale – Once the sauce is done, add in the cooked couscous and gently fold together until everything is combined evenly. Keep over low heat and you will be ready to serve. 

I used this as a base for pan sautéed shrimp with steamed asparagus. 

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Gary Bechard

Somethings can wear you out…(but they don’t have to)

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

One of the things that I have figured out is that life is best taken one day at a time. There are things that happen that will flat out leave you wondering what in the world you did in your past lives to deserve what you are getting now. Currently, my wife has stage 3 lymphoma and we are having to deal with the issues and circumstances surrounding the disease. Thankfully, my wife is one of the most positive people on the freakin’ planet and that bodes well for her treatment. I applaud her and her positive fighting spirit. However, cancer changes things and her taste for food is one of those. I guess I do not understand her current penchant for wanting a Chicken Nugget meal from McDonalds at random moments but it is not only that which has changed. Her tastes change on a daily basis. No I don’t mean that she wants to dress like it is the 80’s (ewww!) but because of the Chemo drugs she may favor certain flavors over others. This has created a situation where I am literally buying for every dinner every day based on what flavor profile she prefers.  I have to ask each day, do you want salty, sweet, savory, sour, spicy, etc. The days of grocery shopping for the week have disappeared. It is almost like performing an episode of “Chopped” every night. This recipe was born out of this situation.

Last night I needed something to go with chicken parmesan and grilled eggplant but did not want to do the noodle thing (chemo drives up the sugar content in the blood and noodles are bad for that) which would be bad for the blood sugars. Rice was the winner in this contest because of having zero sugars thus not contributing to the possible diabetic issues.   Normally I use all fresh ingredients and cook all day but I wanted to keep it simple and use as many pre-done products as possible to cut down on prep and clean up time. I also wanted it to be flavorful so I kind of combined Northern Italian with Southern Italian to get there.  You will notice the name is a bit different and references the type of cancer my wife has and it is not intended to glorify the disease but without Dr Hodgkins there would be no treatment. So, I guess it could be a tribute to him.

 

Hodgie’s Italian Baked Rice

Ingredients –

1 – 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes with garlic, oregano and basil (I used Hunt’s) drained

1 – 8 ounce can of tomato sauce with garlic, oregano and basil (I used Hunt’s)

2 – 8.8 ounce bags of 90 second rice (I used Uncle Ben’s)

1/3 cup – Diced mushrooms (I used baby Portobellos)

1/3 cup – Diced sweet onion

1/4 – Red bell pepper diced

1/4 – Green bell pepper diced

4 ounces – Shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – You know…the good stuff

Construction Instruction –

First, you are going to make a quick sauce. In a 5 quart sauce pan do a couple of turns around the bottom of the pan with the olive oil and bring to temperature remembering that olive oil has a low smoke point. ( medium to medium high should about do it). When the pan is at temperature put in the onions and peppers and sautee them until the onions are translucent (you can kind of see through them). Next, add the diced mushrooms and sautee them until they soften. When the vegetables are done add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce, lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Second, do the 90 second rice according to the package directions and put into a big bowl. Add your quick sauce to the rice and fold everything together until the vegetables are evenly distributed. Place this mixture in a small baking dish and gently layer the parmigiano-reggiano on the top.

Finally, bake covered at 350 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes.

This was served as a side for Chicken Parmesan and grilled eggplant but would be great with a host of other dishes.

A final note –

You can make this a fancier dish if you use your own homemade sauce, fresh herbs and roast your own tomato pieces but if you are pressed for time and need to just make dinner happen, here you go.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist – Gary Bechard

You say tomato, I say “tomahto”…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

I am not sure I would call the whole thing off, and some folks will have probably already seen the featured picture on FaceBook, but I thought I would go ahead and commit this short, but extraordinarily tasty recipe to the food blog.  As the story goes (and you know how that is), I was walking through the local groceria when I saw a beautiful vision. (key dreamy music) The vision was of multicolored Heirloom tomatoes together in harmony in the bin longingly asking for some attention. As readers of this blog will know, sometimes vegetables speak to me and these were no different and were asking me to do something creative and colorful.  I chose a wide variety of different colors and sizes because they all have a slightly different flavor profile. However, all of the different types of tomatoes have a kind of sweetness to them so I wanted something to balance the flavors and that is where the Kalmata and green olives plus some sweet onion came in.  This recipe was kind of a departure for me in that I decided on a side dish before I even picked out the protein.

We Can All Get Along (mixed Herloom tomato salad)

Gary Bechard – The Well Fed Cyclist

Ingredients:

4 to 5 – Heirloom tomatoes of varying size and color, cut into small wedges

8 to 10 – Miniature San Marzano tomatoes sliced in half length wise

8 to 10 – Yellow Cherry tomatoes sliced in half

1/3  – Medium sweet onion, sliced and quartered

1/4 cup – Kalmata olives sliced

1/4 cup – Green olives with pimento sliced in half

1/8 cup – Champagne vinegar

Construction Instruction:

On a large plate or small platter put down the bed of onions spacing them evenly across the entire surface, layer on each of the types of tomatoes making sure to kind of mix up the colors (have some fun with your food for once people) at the end sprinkle the different kinds of olives evenly on top.  To top it all drizzle the champagne vinegar on top and chill for about 40 minutes so that the flavors REALLY get to each other ( averitable flavor orgy, if you will).

This was served as a side for simple baked salmon filets with steamed cauliflower as the other side dish.  I meant to do some pearled cous-cous but the meal just did not need it.

Enjoy!