Spring Greens

It's a good thing we like salad, because there is a whole lot of lettuce out in the garden.  Last year's lettuce went to seed, and so we have a lot of new lettuce this spring.  I also followed some advice I read from an old friend and scattered some seeds in the garden sometime in early March on the chance that some of them would survive the freezing and thawing and come up.  You guessed it - more lettuce.  And some radishes.

I've also got a couple chard plants that somehow survived the winter and are growing like crazy.  So, I have chard and radish greens to use, too. The other night I sauteed some of the greens with garlic and olive oil, added a bit of balsamic vinegar, and then fried a couple eggs to go on top - over easy so the yolks could run down into the greens.  It was incredible easy but oh so tasty.  (and I didn't think to take a picture until after I'd savored every last bite)

 The next night I added a bit of rice to the greens and served them with grilled chicken.  (Yes, I had this two nights in a row.)  Both were really yummy and a great way to use all those happy spring greens. I'm throwing radish greens in my salads, too - so good!

Sauteed Spring Greens

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Minced garlic
• Chopped greens - Chard, radish, spinach, whatever you have
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Balsamic vinegar
• Cooked rice (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in medium skillet;  add garlic and saute for a minute or two.
2. Add greens and cook until softened and tender, stirring often.  You may need to add a bit of water as the greens cook.
3. When greens are cooked, add salt & pepper and drizzle with a bit of Balsamic vinegar.  If using rice, stir it in and cook until heated through, stirring.
4. Serve topped with fried eggs or grilled chicken. 

Seriously, super simple.  And I didn't really use any measurements, just tossed things in the skillet.  Just remember that greens cook down a lot, so you'll want quite a bit of greens to start with.  And they're good for you, so you can eat as many as you want.

I pushed the greens to the side of the skillet and fried the eggs right beside the greens, and I suppose you could actually cook your chicken in the same skillet, too.  But I seasoned mine and grilled it on the George Foreman grill.  I used a boneless thigh, but if you prefer breasts that would work just as well.  And, I'm sure there are plenty of other things that would be good on a nice bed of greens.  Any ideas?

Amazing Skillet Potatoes

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Adventures in All Things Food.  Andrea lives on a large fruit and vegetable farm in Oregon with her husband and their three adorable kids,  She and the kids grow some beautiful produce in their backyard garden, and she loves good food without a lot of fuss.  Because, obviously she is extremely busy, but still wants to feed her family well. 

Quite a few of Andrea's recipes caught my eye.  Here are just a few:

• Zucchini and Quinoa Salad - not the right time of year, but I will definitely have to try this when summer rolls around, and I start getting zucchini from the garden.
• Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
• Cherry-Apple Cobbler with Sweet Vanilla Custard
• Zucchini Spice Cookies 

When I saw these skillet potatoes, I knew I had to try them.   There is just something about the combination of mushrooms and spinach that I am a bit addicted to, and these just looked so good.  The only thing I changed about this recipe was to add an onion, because everything needs an onion!  But really, I think these potatoes would be wonderful with or without the onion.

Amazing Skillet Potatoes
adapted from Adventures in All Things Food

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 4 russet potatoes, cubed (pre-cooked and chilled overnight)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 T butter
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 grated cheddar cheese

 Directions:

1.  Heat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Drizzle some olive oil into skillet and saute onions and mushrooms until tender and starting to brown.  Add spinach and allow to wilt.  Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Drizzle a little more olive oil in skillet and add cold cubed potatoes to skillet.  Allow potatoes to brown on the bottom and then add the butter.  When butter starts to melt, turn potatoes and allow them to crisp up on the other side.  Once they are nice and golden, stir the mushroom mixture back in.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Turn the heat off; sprinkle cheddar on top, and cover with a lid until the cheese melts.  Serve immediately.

I've often relied on fried potatoes as an easy dinner when I don't know what else to fix.  Heat some oil in a pan and toss in some potatoes, onions, and sometimes peppers, and you've got a yummy and satisfying meal.  These particular potatoes don't quite work that way.  Oh, they're definitely yummy and satisfying, and they are awesome for dinner.  But they do take a little planning ahead because the potatoes need to be cooked ahead and refrigerated, so when they go into the skillet all they really need to do is warm and brown instead of cook completely.  That extra step is most definitely worth it.  The flavor is wonderful.

And when I added the butter to the skillet?  Over the top, heavenly smells in my kitchen!  These potatoes were just wonderful.  Even after I was stuffed from eating so much, I just could not stop picking individual pieces of potato out of the skillet and eating them.  So good.  And then the leftovers?  Just as good.  I heated them up and then scrambled some eggs with them, and added some additional cheese to the top.  They were perfect!

I will definitely be making these again.

An InLinkz Link-up

Mushroom Florentine Pasta

We had this for dinner recently. Yum!  Seriously, all these flavors are so good together.  There's just something about mushrooms and spinach, and creamy pasta sauce.

Mushroom Florentine Pasta
from she wears many hats

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces linguine pasta (or equal amount of another pasta)
• 3 T flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 3 T olive oil
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 ounces smoked Gouda cheese, shredded (if you don't have smoke Gouda, plain will be fine, or use Gruyere)
• 4 cups (or more) spinach leaves

Directions:

1. Begin cooking pasta according to package instructions.
2. Whisk together flour, chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 6 minutes. Add minced garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes, until garlic just begins to brown.
4. Whisk flour, chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper mixture into mushrooms and garlic. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Add shredded cheese and stir until cheese has melted.
6. Mix in spinach; stir and cook until wilted.
7. Add a ladle or two of pasta water to skillet, then drain pasta and add to skillet; toss to coat.

We had some grilled chicken with this and topped it with some fresh ground pepper. It was absolutely perfect. I will definitely be making this again.

Pizza with a Caulilflower Crust

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Dancing Veggies, a blog with a focus on healthy, simple, and quick vegetarian dishes on a budget.  Amanda started cooking in high school when her mother declined to fix special meals for her.  If she wanted to eat differently from the rest of the family, Amanda would need to cook her own food.  Smart mom!   

While we don't eat a vegetarian diet - my husband would complain loudly if he didn't get his meat! - I think adding more veggies to our diet will always be a good thing.  Amanda's blog is a wonderful resource full of interesting and tasty vegetarian recipes I will definitely be trying out in the future.   A couple that caught my eye were the Avocado Tomato Grilled Cheese and these Twice Baked Potatoes – Samosa Style.  We did make a version of the grilled cheese, which was super yummy, but when my son mentioned that he'd been wanting to try a cauliflower pizza crust, I decided to check to see if Amanda had one on her blog.  Yes, she did, so we worked together and made an amazing pizza with a cauliflower crust.  We did add chicken to our pizza, so it wasn't vegetarian, but I think it would have been just as good without it.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza
adapted from Dancing Veggies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cauliflower florets, steamed and mashed
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-1/2 tsp. oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450° F
2. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed cauliflower, egg, and cheeses. Add the garlic and oregano and stir well. Pat into the bottom of a pizza pan or cookie sheet; bake for 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove the crust from the oven and top with your favorite toppings and cheese.  We used a simple homemade pizza sauce, grilled chicken, onion, red pepper, feta, spinach, and mozzarella. 
4. Brush the edges of the crust with olive oil and then bake for an additional 15 minutes (or longer), until the cheese and crust are nicely browned.

The flavor of this crust is absolutely amazing!  All that garlic!  Great call, Amanda.

 It's so good my son said he was going to marry this pizza.  We are already thinking of ways to improve it, though.  We were in a hurry, so we didn't remove enough of the moisture from the cauliflower after steaming it.  Some recipes mention squeezing it out in a dish towel.  I don't know that we'll go to that extreme, but the crust did have a little more moisture than we liked, so we'll take that extra step of draining it thoroughly, at least, next time.  Also, we cooked it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper - instead of on the pizza stone that I have right there in my oven.  So, I will be using the pizza stone next time, and maybe cooking the crust a bit longer before adding the toppings.  We're hoping those little tweaks will get the crust just a bit crisper on the bottom.
 

This is definitely a recipe I will be using again.  I'm so glad my son was wanting to try it and willing to help me.

Update:  I tweaked it a bit and we had cauliflower crust pizza you can pick up and eat!

An InLinkz Link-up

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken

I've made the Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts several times since I first tried them. The flavor is just so good.  Unfortunately I'm out of sun-dried tomatoes, but I did want to try some different flavors in my stuffed chicken breasts.  So I went looking for a recipe to change it up a bit but still use the spinach and feta.  The addition of the lemon zest in this recipe caught my attention right away.  I also added just a touch of lemon juice, and I think the flavor turned out great.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken
inspired by this recipe

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 ounces fresh spinach
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• a squeeze or two of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1⁄2 tsp black pepper
• 1⁄4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat; add onions and garlic, and cook until onions become translucent.  Add spinach and continue cooking until spinach is wilted. Turn off heat and stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, salt & pepper, and feta.  Set aside.
2. Place a chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan until breast is about 1/4" thick.
3. Spread half of spinach/feta mixture on chicken breast.  Roll chicken breast up, starting with the narrowest end.  Secure with toothpicks and transfer to a baking dish.  Repeat process with second breast.
4. Drizzle the breasts with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 350° F for 30 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes; Remove toothpicks, slice and serve.  Spoon a little of the cooking juices over the top, if desired.

4 Servings

The recipe said to cook the chicken breasts in the skillet after rolling them up, turning them occasionally to get the chicken browned and cooked through.  I don't roll my chicken breasts up well enough to feel that I wouldn't just lose all the filling if I tried that.  There is a lot of filling!  So I just placed my chicken in a baking dish and baked it.  Super simple, which I love.

The skillet-cooked breasts might get a little browner, but you'll notice that my toothpicks came loose on at least one of the chicken breasts, so I probably would have had filling everywhere.  It probably would have tasted just as good, though.

I'll definitely be using this filling again.  (I'm kind of obsessed with spinach right now)  I'm also a dark meat chicken kinda gal, but these stuffed chicken breasts turn out really moist and flavorful.

Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Pasta Skillet

I had half a butternut squash and a bunch of spinach that really needed used before we went away for several days in December.  I really don't like throwing away food that I spent good money on, and, while the butternut would be fine, I didn't think the spinach would be any good by the time we got back.  So, I went searching for a recipe to use it and found this one.

We loved it!  My husband says we should have this on a regular basis, and my son liked it so much he wanted the recipe so he could make it for himself.  I'd say that's a success.  Even better, it's really simple and all cooks together in one skillet.

Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Pasta Skillet
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound chicken or turkey sausage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups chicken or turkey broth
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, torn
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage, more or less to taste
• 1 cup (about 4 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, combine the onion, garlic, sausage, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat into small pieces, and cooking until the sausage is cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Scrape the mixture onto a plate and return the skillet back to the heat.
2. Add the broth and pasta to the skillet and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the squash and simmer 8-10 minutes longer, or until the squash and pasta are both tender. As the squash breaks down, it will help bring a creaminess to the sauce and pasta. If the mixture begins to seem too dry, you can add more liquid as needed.
3. Stir in the spinach and sage and cook for 1-2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Add the sausage mixture back to the skillet and stir in the Mozzarella cheese.  Add salt & pepper to taste.
4. Remove skillet from heat, cover and let the pasta sit for 5-10 minutes. Give it a good stir and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

So good! I adjusted the recipe slightly since I didn't have as much butternut as the original recipe called for. (I used the other half of the squash in this yummy Butternut and Potato Bake)  I just used a bit less sausage, broth, and pasta, but I used my whole bunch of spinach.  I used 3 homemade sausage patties which were actually part beef and part chicken and already cooked.  I just thawed them, cut them up and browned them with the onion and garlic. I didn't really weigh them to see how much sausage I was actually using, but the balance was pretty good.  I think you can use anywhere between 1/2 lb. to 1 lb. depending on your preference and what you have on hand.

Be sure to dice the butternut small so that it cooks quickly, in the time it takes the pasta to cook.  You want it to get nice and soft, and then it thickens the sauce nicely.  I did not think this needed any additional salt and pepper at the end, but that may depend on the sausage and/or broth you use, so just taste and judge for yourself.  I did put a little fresh ground pepper on mine along with some Parmesan, and that was perfect.

Now I need to buy some more butternut squash and spinach!

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, and Feta

I know I've seen some recipes for spinach stuffed chicken breasts, probably on Pinterest, but when I started looking, I didn't find any that were exactly what I was looking for.  So I just put some stuff together, and it really turned out good.  The flavors were amazing.

 

Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large handfuls fresh spinach
• Sea Salt
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 to 4 T. crumbled feta

Directions:

1. Heat tomatoes and oil in a skillet over medium high heat; add onions and garlic, and cook until onions become translucent.  Add spinach and continue cooking until spinach is wilted.  Add a pinch of sea salt, and set aside.
2. Place a chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan until breast is about 1/4" thick.
3. Spread half of tomato/spinach mixture on chicken breast.  Crumble 1 to 2 T. feta on top and roll chicken breast up, starting with the narrowest end.  Secure with toothpicks and transfer to a baking dish.  Repeat process with second breast.
4. Drizzle the breasts with any oil remaining in the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and bake at 350° F for 30 minutes.
5. Let sit for 5 minutes; Remove toothpicks, slice and serve.

And that's it.  It's really simple, and has me wondering why I haven't tried this before.  There is a lot of going back and forth between handling raw chicken and spreading other ingredients or whatever, so it's really handy to have a sink full of soapy water while you do this.  Or just keep using more soap and washing your hands like I did.

Spread tomato/spinach mixture on chicken; crumble feta on top

I didn't really measure any of my ingredients, but these amounts are close, and this is one of those things where it doesn't really matter.  Throw in what you have or what looks good to you.

Roll up, secure with toothpicks, and place in baking dish

I think this is going to become a regular recipe around here.  The flavors go together so well, and the chicken is really moist and flavorful.

Of course, now that I've discovered how easy it is to make stuffed chicken breasts, I may have to find some other things to stuff them with too.  What do you think?  What would be good stuffed into a chicken breast?

Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Pasta

I know there's a site that lets you enter the ingredients you have in your fridge/pantry to come up with recipes that use those ingredients.  In fact, I think I might have even posted something about it on this blog.   Somewhere.  But I don't use that site - or any site like it.  I just type the ingredients I have, plus the word 'recipe' into search in my browser, and I end up with a whole list of recipes to choose from.

Yesterday I typed in 'chicken spinach mushroom recipe' - because I had cooked chicken, spinach, and mushrooms in the fridge that needed used, of course -  and found this one from the Betty Crocker website.  So, of course I pinned it to Pinterest!  And made it for dinner tonight.  Except that I forgot to add the chicken - didn't even think about it until I was eating!  But, you know what?  It was really good even without the chicken.

Source: bettycrocker.com via Anna on Pinterest

Here's the recipe:

Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Pasta

Ingredients:

• 8 oz spaghetti, cooked, reserving 1/3 cup pasta water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1-1/2 cups loosely packed spinach
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 cup cubed, cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken works great)
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
• Salt
• Pepper 
• 1/3 cup reserved pasta water

Directions:

1. In large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Cook mushrooms, onions and spinach in butter until vegetables are softened and spinach is wilted, about 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Stir in garlic. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute until the pasty taste cooks off. Add the half-and-half and stir slowly as sauce thickens. Add the chicken to skillet; cook until hot, stirring occasionally. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add cooked spaghetti and reserved pasta water. Stir to combine.

I used Angel Hair pasta, because that's what I had.  I didn't measure the mushrooms or spinach, just used a little more than half an 8-oz. package of mushrooms - that would be 5 ounces, right? -  and washed a bunch of spinach.  It looked like more than the 1-1/2 cups the recipe called for.  I think I could have used more - spinach cooks way down, so I think it would be hard to use too much. 

And, I forgot the chicken.  But, like I said, it was good even without the chicken.  I did not measure the pasta water that I added, but it was definitely more than 1/3 cup, so do not drain the pasta and pour the water down the drain until you're sure the sauce and pasta are the right consistency - and then save some more because it will thicken up.  I think it's better with a little extra liquid and not too thick, at least that's my preference.

We had some leftovers, so I'm planning to add the chicken then, or at least some chicken.  I'm also thinking of adding a can of diced tomatoes to change it up a bit.  I got some diced tomatoes with rosemary and oregano that ought to be just the thing.

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Potato Pancakes w/ Spinach & Cottage Cheese

I made these for lunch the other day. They were so good, I'm thinking of mashing some potatoes just so I'll have leftovers!

Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

• Leftover mashed potatoes (1-1/2 to 2 cups)
• 1 egg
• Chopped onion
• Chopped spinach
• Cottage cheese
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Flour

Directions:

1. Mix mashed potatoes, egg, onion, spinach, and cottage cheese well - no measurements, just whatever sounds, looks, feels good to you.  Season with salt & pepper.
2. Add enough flour so that you can handle the mixture and form into patties.  It will be very messy, and you will want to coat your hands with flour so it doesn't stick too much.
3. Heat a little oil in frying pan; add patties and fry on first side until browned, flip and cook the other side until browned and heated through.  Serve on a bed of fresh spinach.

 Enjoy!

I made a couple for me and let my daughter taste them so she wanted some too.  I added a little extra flour before making the rest into patties, and while it handled better, the flavor wasn't as good.  You want to use as little flour as possible for the best taste.

Italian Style Chicken

I found this recipe in the Food section of my newspaper. It's a keeper!

Italian Style Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1-1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 large thinly sliced onion
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 T quick-cooking tapioca
• 2 cans (15 oz.) rinsed cannellini beans Great Northern beans
  
• 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
• 1/2 cup fresh basil torn into small pieces

Directions:

1. Place chicken in a 4-quart or larger slow cooker and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Scatter onion over chicken.
2. Stir together tomatoes, broth and tapioca; pour over onions.  
3. Cover and cook on high 4-1/2 hours or on low 6-1/2 hours.
4. Stir in beans and spinach; cook 30 minutes more on low.  Stir in basil and serve.

The flavors in this were so good together!  It turned out soupier than I was expecting, but I think that was because I used pearl tapioca instead of instant - it's what I had - and I think I messed it up by soaking it in hot water instead of cold.  Looking back on it, I could have just mixed the tapioca with the cold broth and tomatoes and let it soak in that overnight - since I mixed this up the day before and then cooked it in the morning.  Either way, I'll try it again, whether with instant tapioca or the same kind - to see if there's a difference.  It didn't really matter, because it tasted great.  I just cooked up some fettuccine and served it with that and some sliced sourdough bread.

The original recipe called for bone-in chicken thighs, but I read it wrong and got the boneless thighs out of the freezer.  I don't really like boned chicken in crockpot recipes because it ends up falling apart, and you always have to be on the lookout for bones.  So, I stuck with the boneless.  It was great, because it did fall apart, and there were pieces of chicken all through.  I cooked it on high most of the time, and probably got closer to the 6-1/2 hours than the 4-1/2.

I used Great Northern beans, which I cooked in my crockpot, instead of the cannellini beans - because that's what I had.  The original recipe called for 1/2 cup sliced black olives instead of the spinach, but at least one of the people who would be eating this doesn't like olives, so I left them out.  And the spinach?  The original recipe didn't call for it, but it just seemed like it should have spinach - so I added it.  I didn't actually measure, but a 10-oz. package ought to be about right.  You can add olives instead of the spinach or along with the spinach.

Update (1/29/16) -  This recipe was Lori's September 2015 SRC pick over on lori's culinary creations.  She added a handful of orzo to the crockpot along with the beans and spinach.  I just finally got around to making this again, and followed her suggestion and added 1/2 cup orzo.  I could have added a bit more, but it was really good.  I am going to have to do that from now on.

Also, I used chicken breasts, because that's what I had.  They aren't as good as the thighs, so I will definitely use thighs from  now on.  And, Great Northern beans are better than cannellini.  I will use those from now on, no matter what the recipe says.

Spinach and Cilantro Green Rice

Also from the What the Bible Says about Healthy Living Cookbook - I made this rice to go with the burritos last night.

Spinach and Cilantro Green Rice

Ingredients:

• 2/3 bunch cilantro (stems OK)
• 1 cup firmly packed fresh spinach
• 1-1/4 cups milk
• 1-1/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 T)
• 1-1/2 cups brown rice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Several generous grindings pepper

Directions:

1. Trim the cilantro stems to 1 to 2 inches.
2. Add the cilantro, spinach, milk, broth and lime juice to a blender and puree the ingredients.
3. Combine the liquid mixture with the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a tightly fitting lid, and simmer fo r45 minutes.
5. After 45 minutes, turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 10 minutes, without removing the cover.  Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.

1/3 bunch of cilantro for the burritos, 2/3 bunch for this rice - you'd think all my cilantro would be used, but those aren't really good measurements, and cilantro bunches vary - so I just used quite a bit of cilantro and called it enough, for both recipes.  I also used frozen spinach because I didn't have any fresh.  I'm not sure how much frozen spinach equals a cup of fresh, so I just threw some in.

I made half this recipe because we just didn't need that much rice.  I usually cook my brown rice 40 minutes so I thought the 45 minutes would be plenty long enough, but there was still liquid in the pan when I took the lid off, and the rice was a bit chewy.  It tasted really good though, so I'm either going to cook it at a higher temperature next time or do like it says and turn the heat off and let it sit - instead of removing it from the heat to let it sit.  The rice should continue to cook on the still-warm burner for a bit longer.

I put some of this on my Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito for lunch - along with the salsa, sour cream and guacamole.  Yum!