Cooking Lessons for Dad

Cooking Lessons for Beginners

Oven-Cooked Brown Rice

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Yield: 4 servings

Oven-Cooked Brown Rice

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup long grain brown rice
  • 1 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a 1 quart casserole or baking dish combine boiling water, rice, and salt.
  3. Cover with foil.
  4. Bake 35 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
  5. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Notes

You could also make a rice pilaf in the oven. You can replace the water with a flavored broth.

© Karen Breyer

 

Toasted Nuts

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Yield: Varies

Toasted Nuts

Ingredients

  • Nuts, raw

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Spread nuts on ungreased cookie sheet.
  3. Toast the nuts until they are light brown and have a nutty aroma, about 8 to 15 minutes. Larger and denser nuts will take longer and smaller nuts will cook faster. See below for some specific cooking times.

Notes

Approximate cooking times:
Almonds: 12 -15 minutes
Walnuts: 12 -15 minutes
Cashews: 8 - 12 minutes
Pecans: 8 - 12 minutes
Slivered almonds: 4 - 6 minutes

Do not combine different types of nuts on a cookie sheet because of the various cooking times.

© Karen Breyer

 

Trail Mix

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Yield: Varies

Trail Mix

Ingredients

  • Potential Ingredients
  • Nuts (Raw, toasted, or roasted)
  • Peanuts
  • Almonds
  • Walnuts
  • Pecans
  • Macadamia nuts
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Dried fruit (Small pieces or bits)
  • Cranberries
  • Raisins
  • Pineapple
  • Papaya
  • Mango
  • Apricot
  • Coconut

Chocolates or small candies

  • Chocolate chips (dark, bittersweet, milk)
  • Other chips (peanut butter, butterscotch, white chocolate)
  • M & M’s

Instructions

  1. Gather the ingredients.
  2. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl or container.
  3. Suggested proportion is 1 cup of nuts to 1 cup other ingredients (like 1/2 cup fruit pieces and 1/2 cup chocolates)

Notes

You can put these in easy to grab sandwich bags.

Put them in your covered candy dish instead of candy.

Great snack!

© Karen Breyer

 

Tofu Sour Cream and Chives

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Yield: 2 cups

Tofu Sour Cream and Chives

Ingredients

  • 1 12-oz. box tofu (soft, regular or firm)
  • 1/2 cup cashews, raw
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons chives, dried

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredient in a blender except the chives.
  2. Blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
  3. Add the chives and blend on low just until they are mixed through, but not blended.
  4. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

Notes

If you use firm tofu you may want to add some water (1/4 –1/2 cup) to thin the sour cream to the desired consistency.

Remember that the sour cream will continue to thicken as it chills in the refrigerator.

If you use refrigerated tofu packed in water, drain the tofu before adding it.

Adjust the chives to taste. You can also use fresh ones.

Do not over-blend the chives. If you blend them too much, the sour cream will turn green. You can also pour the sour cream into a container and then mix in the chives in with a spoon.

Great as a topping for potatoes, yams, beans, and Mexican food. Great as a dip for chips and vegetables. Excellent as a spread on sandwiches. I use it instead of mayonnaise.

This will last about a week in the refrigerator.

See a cooking demonstration of this Tofu Sour Cream and Chives recipe on the Cooking Lessons for Dad YouTube channel.

© Karen Breyer

 

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