I Forgot.....

We're having my fabulous Red Beans and Rice for dinner tonight.

The total cooking time for this meal is 2 1/2 - 3 hours.  It's 4:00pm

right now and, about thirty minutes ago, I realized I had completely

forgotten to soak the kidney beans.  This led to a semi-frantic,

"forgot to soak beans" Google search.  A surprising number of

people have encountered this problem and it turns out it's

no big deal. 

If you ever forget to soak your beans, this is what you do:

1.  Don't panic.

2.  Place beans in a large pot and cover with water.

3.  Bring to a boil for 2-3 min.

4.  Cover and remove from heat.

5.  Allow to sit, covered, for 1 hour.

6.  Drain beans and get on with your recipe as planned.

I may just do it this way from now on.

Roasted Romas

My son came in the kitchen today and asked his usual,

"What's for dinner?"  to which I responded by telling him I would be
serving steaks with a red wine and mushroom sauce,
creamed spinach, and roasted roma tomatoes. 
Then he said something that absolutely stunned me. 
He said, "I love tomatoes!"

This is the same kid for whom I used to hide vegetables in his

food just so he would eat them.  Amazing how things change.  :)

The steak recipe can be found on my other blog, here

About the tomatoes, this is a super easy and pretty side dish

that adds a nice splash of color to the dinner plate.

Here's the recipe:

4 Roma tomatoes, cut in half, lengthwise

olive oil, to taste

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/8c. fresh basil, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 400*

2.  Place tomato halves in prepared baking dish.

Drizzle with olive oil.

3.  Sprinkle with garlic, basil, salt, and pepper.

4.  Bake 35-45 minutes, until tomatoes have softened.

5.  Serve immediately.

Every time I make these, my husband comments on

how much he loves them!