FREE COOKING: Red Chard & Sweet Potatoes

  I've always seen red and rainbow chard at the store, but felt hesitant to buy it, because I didn't really know how to cook it. So this time I decided to buy and give it a try! It was actually not as hard as I expected. I approached it as I would collard greens or kale, because they sort of look alike. And it worked! 

So first I cleaned each leaf.

Then I cut off the stems and chopped the leafs. I did chop a little bit of the stem too because it looked so pretty :)

Then I chopped a red onion, a sweet potato and some garlic

Crushed the garlic. I like lots of garlic flavor! :)

Sautéed the onions with a little bit of canola oil on medium/high heat, then added the garlic and seasoning of choice (this time I felt like adding a little bit of ginger powder, cayenne pepper & salt. Sautéed for few more minutes.

(Gotta keep adding little bits of water as needed so it won't burn)

Added the sweet potatoes, sautéed for a little bit then closed the lid to let the potatoes cook a little.

(Gotta keep adding little bits of water as needed so it won't burn)

Once I saw the potatoes were starting to cook, I added the chopped chard & a little bit of water...YES, so it won't burn! Hehehe...trust me, I've burned food MANY times until I finally learned the trick!

Closed the lid and let the chard cook.

 Once I saw the chard was cooked, but not overcooked (the color should still be vibrant and not too dark), I removed from heat and added some sliced almonds and golden raisins for garnish...just because I had some around and thought would add a little "somethin' somethin'" to the dish!

That's it! 

Hope you like as much as I did.

:)

FREE COOKING: Almond Garlic Broccoli

I normally don't know what I'm cooking until the cooking is done! This is not something planned or intentional in any way, it just happens. This is how cooking has come to me from the very start. When I first started cooking in my teen years, I would often ask my mom for her recipes (she is a great cook), but as soon as I started cooking I would almost always change things due to lack of needed ingredients. And this is how it's been ever since, I basically work around what I have, instead of working around a recipe. 

It's freeing, a way to create something new, and explore the many delicious foods our Creator has made for us to enjoy! Because of this way I cook, I end up discovering some delicious combinations, and not so good ones as well! The difficult part is that I often can't replicate a plate, because I can't remember exactly what I put in the previous dish. The great part is that I get a unique dish every time I "free cook"! 

And this is how this Almond Garlic Broccoli came to be! 

A great combination worth sharing:

Ingredients

Broccoli

Sliced Almonds (as much as you enjoy-I enjoy lots!)

Pressed Garlic (as much as you enjoy-I enjoy lots too!)

Canola oil (remember: olive oil is no longer healthy once you heat it! It's meant to use only in its raw form!!!

Season to taste (we really enjoy hot dishes, so pepper is always a part of our dish, garlic-salt or cajun seasoning...sometimes a little bit of ginger powder! Feel free to play around with seasonings you enjoy. Make this dish your own creation :)

Preparation

Steam Broccoli so it's soft but still a little crisp and bright green.

Place some canola oil in a skillet (about 1 tbsp) and add the pressed garlic and almonds on medium-high heat. Let it fry for a few minutes until you see the garlic become golden brown and a little crisp and the almond's color lightly changing. Careful because it can burn quickly if you don't watch out! You can also add the seasoning you like at this time too, it's usually seems to release more flavor when you add the seasoning with the oil and let it cook for a little while. Once garlic and almonds look roasted enough (but not burnt), remove from heat and add broccoli and mix well carefully. Let the broccoli stir-fry a little in the hot pan with the hot oil. 

That's it!

It is also good with a little bit of lime juice, if you like it :)

This is a very delicious and quick side dish!

 My husband is not too fond of broccoli, but he throughly enjoyed this one. 

NOTE: (Avoid stirring the garlic together because they will clump, if that happens, no problem! Once you're done with the stir-frying you can use a fork to break them apart again before adding the broccoli.)