recipe: super-simple black beans and rice.

i am not afraid to say that the rice that accompanies this dish – my mom’s recipe – is the fluffiest rice i’ve ever had. so fluffy, in fact, that i’ve often thought that rice at very good asian restaurants doesn’t compare. it’s that good. there’s something comforting about it, too – you could eat it with just a pat of butter of mix in some veggies, or cook it like i do and pile garlicky black beans on top. the dish is wonderful reheated, too.

in terms of the black beans, adjust the ingredients to taste – this is a great recipe to just “eyeball,” and i thought it would be perfect in light of my spanish- and mexican-food-themed weekend. enjoy! (pic to come later.)

super-simple black beans and rice

for the black beans:

1 can black beans (i like bush’s)
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/2 a medium to large onion, red or white, diced
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper, to taste

for the rice:

1 cup white rice
2 cups water
1 tbsp. butter

in a medium saucepan, add water, rice and butter and heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

meanwhile, after the rice has cooked for about 10 minutes, heat olive oil in a large pan. add garlic and onion, stir and sauté until very fragrant. add black beans; stir to mix with garlic and onion. season liberally with salt and pepper. cook until heated through. serve atop steaming white rice, add whatever "extras" you like (guacamole, fresh tomatoes, sour cream) and enjoy!

[stay tuned for a great new column announcement – along with a reorganized content schedule – coming up!]

the weekend + a few new things.

well, what a weekend it was! in addition to some really crazy weather -- we're talking wind and rain on friday night and then gusts of wind so strong that a fence next to my apartment blew down (onto my car! eek! thankfully, no dents or scratches) and the power went out on saturday -- plus the fact that we lost an hour of sleep, i definitely feel like i did a lot of fun things.


on friday, my friends k., s. and i headed over for dinner at a new tapas bar called ceviche. it's a chain, with locations in orlando and tampa, but the sarasota space is awesome, complete with rooftop bar overlooking the city. afterwards, we headed to esca for a mojito before turning in for the night. on saturday, some other friends and i had delicious mexican food at two senioritas and then bar-hopped on siesta key. in spite of the cold (we were all in jeans and coats), it was a great time. we danced the night away. siesta key is one of my favorite places to go out -- it's relaxed beach-cool and there's always fun people.

so that was the weekend, and now we can look forward to the week ahead! coming up later today is my super-simple, super-yummy recipe for black beans and rice...and (it's going to be a three post day, in the spirit of trying mini-posts! i worked on today's over the weekend, so we'll see how the rest of the week goes) a new column, "going green." i have a terrific kick-off post that i hope you all enjoy. (the column is eventually going to switch to tuesdays, but i'm so excited about this week's item that i wanted to share it immediately.)

and later this week, the usual "stuff i love today," a brand-new style file and a very special wednesday post. i hope you enjoy.

put the lime in the coconut.

so this weekend didn’t turn out quite the way i’d planned (no patterned key rack – yet – and the apartment is still not totally clean), but it was great. and that’s all that matters, right?

friday night, after going to a work event for one of the monthly departments that i write, i met up with my good friend k. at a fun bar downtown and then headed home for a night of rest and relaxation. i slept late on saturday, made some headway on cleaning my apartment and then, when plans for the evening fell through, made myself some more of my favorite creamy artichoke soup, complete with a cup of green tea with honey and a chunk of warm, crusty french bread from whole foods. (i’m looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch today.) then, sunday, i had lunch at yummy a downtown italian restaurant, café epicure, with another friend, then met up with k. again and went shopping, kayaking on the bay (!! my arms are so sore, but it was so awesome) and beach-walking. the day ended with a south african-inspired dinner at k.’s family’s house on the siesta key bayfront that included lots of wine, great conversation and yummy fruits and vegetables. it was literally a perfect day – i can’t imagine doing anything more fun. and needless to say, i slept incredibly well last night.

last night’s dinner also made me decide, once and for all, to make this week a food-themed week for the blog, so we’ll have more than one recipe, a “stuff i love today” kitchenware post and even a food-related style file. i know i said i’d post a recipe from the silver palate cookbook that my mom recently gifted me, but let’s save that for wednesday and start today off on a sweet note, with the peninsula grill’s famous 12-pound coconut cake.

before i post the link to the recipe, let me just say that serving this cake will make you the most popular person at whatever event you happen to be attending. it’s two days’ worth of sticky, coconutty, fun work, but the results are well worth it. i baked it for my office’s holiday lunch and people were genuinely upset when i took the last small piece out of the kitchen before the end of the work day. and in case you’re wondering, it really does weigh 12 pounds. this cake is a beast. here’s a picture (please excuse the fact that it’s saran-wrapped; i baked it the night before the holiday lunch and wrapped it in an attempt to keep it from being infused with other flavors from my fridge).

[not quite as pretty as the one on the peninsula grill web site, but just as tasty.]

anyway, without further ado, click here for the recipe – you’ll be taken to epicurious.com. and if you don’t want to make the cake yourself, the peninsula grill will ship it to you – click here for information (yes, the cake’s so popular it even has its own page on the restaurant web site).

one more thing: i’m going to try and make a trip to overholt’s produce stand this week, and i’m really excited. for those of you who don’t know, overholt’s is located in a section of sarasota that’s known for its mennonite population and a couple of really delicious amish restaurants (a coworker and i recently had lunch at yoder’s, and the cream pies are to die for). the strawberries k.’s family served at last night’s dinner were from overholt’s, and they were plump, sweet and juicy. i’ve heard great things about it, and it shuts down for the summer in about a month, so i need to haul my cookies over there and pick up some fruit. yum. will report back.

a quickie before i head to orlando.

one last thing: while working (read: perusing blogs) this afternoon, i came across this great web site, laurenalane, via oh joy!. not only are lauren's needle-felted items really sweet, she's a winter park girl, like me! enjoy, and see you monday.

monday afternoon blues.

this is going to be a short post because i'm feeling pretty under the weather (my sore throat from this weekend has now morphed into a full-blown cold; i'm just waiting for the advil cold & sinus to kick in), on top of which oscar has decided to start eating his own litter, which...gross. on so many levels.

[adorable? yes. litter-eating? also yes.]

anyway, raging cold and litter-eating cat aside, i did have a good weekend. on saturday, my lovely friend k. and i headed to the lido beach resort's pool for a couple of hours. it was glorious -- there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the pool was hopping and the whole scene was reminiscent of the week in spring when my grandparents would come visit and we'd sit around their (boutique, historic) hotel's pool, sipping drinks (shirley temple for me; daiquiris for them) at a table under a huge umbrella.


then, afterward, we headed to southgate mall where i bought a cute top from the gap and a little black dress from dillard's that i'd had my eye on for a month and that was half off. talk about a deal (and also, thank you, bank gift card). later that evening k. and i met up with the lovely t. for dinner, then joined some other girlfriends at selva grill for drinks. i skipped out early because of the aforementioned cold and then spent all of yesterday laying around. more of the same is going to ensue today because i'm pretty sure i have to go to work tomorrow -- taking a fourth day off after a three-day weekend would probably not be looked upon very kindly.


i am, however, going to try and make myself some soup tonight because i've been a bread fiend lately and i think my body would appreciate the vegetables and home-cooked nourishment. the soup is a giada de laurentiis recipe, and if it turns out well, i'll be sure to post it. (and i'm pretty sure it will; her stuff is always delicious.)


a bientot -- this girl is going to lay down.