Summer Rice with Spinach and Feta Cheese

What a wonderful summer dish. It is very light and contains the right amount of proteins. It can be served as standalone dish or a companion to chicken or meat. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of basmati rice, rinsed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 pounds of spinach cut into wide strips
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup roasted and shelled pistachios
Feta cheese
Ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups of water to boil. Stir rice and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and cook over very low heat until rice is almost ready. Keep the rice covered.
2. In a large pot heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, add garlic and cook for about 1 minute until the garlic has a golden color then remove the garlic. Increase the heat and add the strips of spinach. Stir the spinach with the olive oil and cook until tender.
3. Add the spinach to the rice, stir lemon zest, dill and mix everything trying to fluffing the ingredients. Add the pistachos and black pepper.
4. Let the rice seat for 2 minutes and add the feta cheese.

Wine Pair: Serve with a bottle of Saperavi wine from Gorelli

Russian Cabbage Golubsi

Cabbage are very popular in Russian cuisine and Cabbage Golubsi are always present at any Russian table during holiday season. You can make this dish with meat or you can go all veggie.

Ingredients:
1 Large Cabbage
Ground Beef
1 cup of Rice
Onion
Carrots
Pepper
Tomato

The ingredient quantities varies based on the number of Goupsi you want to make and their respective size.

Preparation:
1- First you cook the rice half-way. Add 1 cup of rice to 1/2 cup of water and when the water begin to boil when 30 seconds and stop cooking the rice. Let the rice cool down.
2- Remove each leaf from the cabbage. Put water to boil in a deep pan and put the cabbage leaf in the boiling water for few seconds. You want the leaves to become a bit soft because you will need to fold them to make the Golupsi.
3- Cut the onion, pepper, carrots and tomato into very small pieces.
4- Mix the ground beef with the rice to make an homogeneous mass. Add salt, pepper and onion.
5- Fill each cabbage leaf with the rice and ground beef mass and fold it to make the Golupsi.
6- Place the Golupsi in a large deep pan. Add the carrots and tomato pieces. Add salt and cook for 1 hour.
7- When the Golupsi are ready add sour cream.

Go Vegan! Substitute the meat - Instead of mixing the rice with the ground beef mix the rice with the onion, peppers, carrots and tomato.

Cuban Black Beans (Spicy)

Cuban black beans is one of my favorite recipes. Every time I make black beans I try different combinations of condiments as a way to add a new twist to the traditional recipe. To make black beans the "real way" you need to leave the beans in water overnight. 

Ingredients:
1 package of black beans
Roster red pepper
Small Onion
1 teaspoon of Vinegar
Sazon Goya (instead of the Goya packages you can use cumin and oregano)
olive oil
1 teaspoon of sugar

Preparation: (if you are using the slow cooker cook the beans for at least 6 hours)
1- Leave the beans in water the night before cooking.
2- Turn the slow cooker on high heat, add salt , red pepper slides and Sazon Goya to the beans. 
3- When the beans are soft add less than 1 teaspoon of vinegar and sugar to the beans.
4- When the beans are ready add a teaspoon of olive oil.
5- Garnish with small onion slides.

If you like garlic then you can add garlic instead of onion. Serve as a soup or on top of rice.

Yellow Rice with Edamame and Okra

Yellow rice is easy to make as a main dish or as a companion to meat, fish and poultry. More people are trying to eat light food during lunch time and a tasty yellow rice with veggie is an excellent choice.

Ingredients:
1 cup of yellow rice
1/3 cup of edamame
1/2 of cut okra (use frozen cut okra to make the process easier)
1 tea spoon of lemon juice

Preparation:
1- Boil the cut okra and add the lemon juice to prevent the okra  from becoming sticky (I learned this trick from my grandmother when I was growing up). By the way, my grandmother lived to celebrate her 100 birthday so she was a prolific source of culinary ingenuity.
2- Add the yellow rice to a different pan with water and set to boil. When the water begins boiling add the edamame , the almost cooked okra and salt. 
3- Turn the yellow rice into medium-low heat with a half cover top and let the rice cooking.
4- On a separate pan, add a notch of olive oil, very small onion slides and sundried tomatoes and cook until the onion start turning light brown. 
5- When the yellow rice is ready serve and pour the sundried and onions of the top for additional flavor.

Wine Pairing: Gorelli Saperavi