Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Black Beans & Rice, April 19, 2016

Last night, I intended for us to have black bean soup for supper, with an orange & spinach salad. However, I decided to try a different recipe than the usual Cuban black bean soup I make. This was also supposed to be Cuban-style, but it was not a recipe created by a Cuban and it fell far short. It was incredibly bland and blah. I managed to salvage it with copious amounts of Sazón Goya, but even then, it needed rice under it. So, I cooked up a pot of rice and we ended up with a pretty dang tasty dinner. The recipe wasn't good enough to point you that direction, so I will simply suggest that you try my Cuban black beans, which you can find here.

The salad was completely wonderful, so you can have that "recipe." Basically, all I did was cut up a couple Cara Cara oranges (my favorites) and toss them with baby spinach, chopped red onion, and slivered kalamata olives. I whisked equal parts Spanish olive oil and Jerez sherry vinegar until they emulsified, then sprinkled in some salt and pepper, for the dressing.

I also made a pitcher of cocktail mixer for Cherries Jubilee Cocktails. I left the mixer plain, in case Jeannene wanted some without alcohol. It's fine that way, but best of all when finished with a shot of Cake vodka. For the mixer, I stirred 2 cups of orange juice, 2 cups Vernor's ginger ale, and 1/4 c. maraschino cherry juice. It turned a really lovely pink. Then, I poured it over ice and added a shot of the Cake vodka and a couple cherries for garnish. Delish! Jeannene's not usually much of a mixed drink fan, but she loved this one and said I should make it my signature cocktail.

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