Latin Spice Rub

To go with the mashed lima beans, I made the Latin spice rub from Canyon Ranch: Nourish. I had to make a few substitions and put the rub on chicken. I browned the chicken on each side and removed it from the pan. I deglazed the pan with a little chicken stock and added a little of the leftover spice rub. The chicken went back into the pan to finish cooking while the sauce reduced.

The chicken was served with a little sauce and the mashed lima beans.

Latin Spice Rub on Chicken with Mashed Lima Beans

Latin Spice Rub

adapted from Canyon Ranch Nourish

1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp red chili powder
2 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp sea salt

Mix spices.

Latin Spice Rub

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Mashed Lima Beans

Last weekend I was wandering around Lincoln Square and walked into one of the independent bookstores and found Canyon Ranch: Nourish: Indulgently Healthy Cuisine. I started flipping through it and found a bunch of great recipes.

I decided to make the mashed lima beans and chicken with latin rub. The mashed lima beans were great although the book said to use a masher but I had to put them in the food processor to get the right consistency. Overall, a great side dish.

smashed lima beans

Smashed Lima Beans

adapted from Canyon Ranch Nourish

16 oz frozen lima beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
sea salt
black pepper

Steam the lima bean until tender. Mix lima beans, olive oil, buttermilk, and salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl. Process in a food processor until smooth, return to bowl.

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Ode to peanut butter

The Minimalist wrtites about peanut butter-who doesn’t love it? It’s one of the things Pat and I go through quickly. I eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and peanut butter toast for breakfast all the time. Great stuff!

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apple, Gorgonazola, and argula pizza

I saw this gorgeous plum and Gorgolzola pizza at Mango Tomato and was inspired to do something similar.

I bought whole wheat pizza dough at Trader Joe’s along with the other ingredients.

I cooked the pizza dough in a cast iron pan on the stove-it’s hot and I didn’t want to heat up my non-central air conditioned apartment. After I flipped the crust so it was done on both sides, I added a little olive oil, sliced apples, crumbled blue cheese, and arugla. I carefully placed the whole thing in the toaster oven and broiled it until the cheese began to melt and the arugla started to wilt.

apple, Gorgonzola, and arugula pizza

It wasn’t too pretty but it tasted great!

A nice feature of personal pizzas is that everyone can have their favorite toppings. I made Pat one with tomato sauce, pepperoni, mozarella, and roasted yellow and red bell peppers. (The toppings barelt fit!)

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chili sauce

I flipped through The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics and saw this recipe for Thai Chili Sauce.

I made pork fried rice and mixed this in at the last minute. I loved this dish except I would serve the sauce on the side when I make it again. The first few bites were delicious and then my lips started burning. I kept eating because it was good but definitely too hot for me.

Thai Chili Sauce

1/4 cup dried Thai chilis
1/2 cup fish sauce

Place the chilis and fish sauce into a food processor and blend it until a sauce forms. Serve on the side.

pork fried rice with Thai chili sauce

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