Healthy and Flavorful: A Caponata Recipe That You'll Love

Because who says you can’t have both in one recipe? 

Have you ever realized that a lot of companies that claim to make healthy food, also make it really bland? It’s flavorless and lacks texture, and the best you can say is that it doesn’t leave you feeling sick. 

Yeah, we know those meals, and we hate them. SO, we’re offering up this recipe for Caponata, an easy veggie recipe that is packed full of flavor and will leave you full. If you want you can also pair it alongside a smaller portion of pasta or polenta for a more filling meal, or as a lunch made up of leftovers. 

Ingredients:

1 lb eggplant

1 cup pine nuts

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

2 carrots

3 green onions

1 rib celery

1/2 cup currants

1/3 cup olive oil (+/-)

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons parsley

1 tablespoon basil

1 tablespoon sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Tools:

Baking sheet (1/2 size for toaster oven)

Cutting board

Knife

Bowl (x2)

Cheese grater (optional)

Large frying pan with lid

Measuring cups and spoons

Fine sieve or colander

Can opener

Timer

Serving spoon

Let us start off by saying that caponata is a very flexible recipe (sub things in or out as you wish), but it is not a picky eater approved recipe. Please do not attempt to feed this to fussy small fries or to the family members whose gut-check reaction to anything vegetable is "why?" or "ew." We will not be held responsible for the griping.

Be prepared to spend a good deal of time cutting vegetables for this recipe. We highly recommend toasting the pine nuts (just as they are, don't be tempted to oil or season them) in the oven for about 15 minutes while you chop your many veggies. At least that way you're making progress on two fronts while you bore yourself chopping, and it adds some nice depth of flavor to the final product.

As always: be sure to wash your produce!

Start with the eggplant. Trim the top off, and halve it down the center so you have a flat side to set it on while you cut. No one likes escaping veggies, or nicking fingers trying to catch them. Your goal is to cut this large, funny-looking vegetable into a half inch dice. Once you get it diced, move it to one of the two bowls.

Next up will be your green onions. Trim them up and just roughly chop them, then dump them into the bowl with the eggplant.

Mince or slice your garlic (some families have strong feelings about a preference here, but we don't much care as long as it lands in the pan), and toss it in with the eggplant and the green onion.

That lonely single rib of celery goes next. We find it easiest to cut it lengthwise into thirds before we start the widthwise cuts, that way the chunks of celery aren't so big they end up accidentally taking over the meal. Once it's cut, those pieces go in with the rest so far.

And the carrots you've got can either be chopped or shredded. The regular carrots at our grocery store were sad looking this week, so we subbed in a double handful of baby carrots and shredded them for uniformity. The carrots join the others in the bowl.

That bowl is looking pretty full, isn't it? Time to start on the next.

Take the tops off your peppers and remove and discard the seeds and ribs. Chop down to half-inch dice like the eggplant and move them to the second bowl. 

Now you're finally done with the cutting board and the knife, just in time to need a measuring cup!

Measure out your currants and toss them in with the peppers.

Take the capers out of their jar, but don't add them to the bowl yet. These little guys are STRONG, so plop them into a sieve or colander and rinse them thoroughly. Once they're drained, they can join the currants and peppers. 

Toss your parsley and basil on top of that second bowl.

And right about now, the timer should be going off for those pine nuts. Just turn off the heat and let them sit for a while; their turn will arrive soon enough.

Now we move our attention to the frying pan on the stove. Pour enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and light the burner. Set to just over medium and heat until the oil starts to shimmer. Be careful not to set it too high - olive oil has a low smoke point, and you do not want the smoke detector to give you an unnecessary wake up call.

Once the oil is hot, dump the eggplant bowl into the pan. We know it looks like there's not going to be room for anything else - don't worry, it will cook down. Give it a quick stir, then cover the pan. Set a timer for six minutes. Stir occasionally during that time.

When your six minutes are up, push the eggplant mixture to one side of the pan. Add a little more oil, then the bowl of peppers. Stir again and let it cook, uncovered this time, for another three or four minutes.

As the peppers soften up, you're safe to add the pine nuts. Just pour them all in there and give everything another stir. You'll probably need to add another splash of oil at this point, along with the red wine vinegar, the tomato paste and the sugar. (Adding the sugar here offsets the funky smell of the vinegar and helps balance the acidic, tinny taste of the tomato paste.)

Stir. A lot.

We know that tomato paste looks like it's never going to stop being a blob in the middle of the pan... But give it time, and don't quit stirring.

Once everything is incorporated (finally!), use a serving spoon to scoop out a serving to enjoy. We put ours over polenta, but that part is totally up to you.

Let us know over at our Facebook page what you thought of this recipe. We love hearing how they turned out for you. 

And if you need new appliance performance, preferably also without the jumbo-sized price tag, maybe reach out to our service department. You can reach them through our contact page, or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055)

Blending Your Own Teas

If you were here for our post earlier this week, you'll be excited as this week's post is all about how to blend your own teas! Will be taking a look at several different varieties of herbal tea that you can make from the plants we mentioned in our last post.

Like we said in our first post, please do not take anything said within this post or are growing your own herbal garden post as medical advice, and Appliance Rescue Service is not to be held liable in the event that you do choose to do so under your own cognizance. 

However, many of these teas can help with various medical issues as much medicine derives from our natural world. Therefore we would suggest, if you do find yourself interested, to discuss it with your primary caregiver not as an alternative to medicine but to be used in conjunction as part of a whole-body healing approach.

We prefer not to repeat ourselves when it's possible to avoid it, so although many of the herbs and spices are used in several different teas we'll talk about the benefits of them when they're first mentioned rather than repeating it for each tea. If different benefits are used in different teas we will of course talk about them where relevant.

Courtesy of Frantiska Ambrozovya

Headache B Gone
1 part spearmint
1 part black tea
Orange zest to taste

Medicinal Properties – this tea is particularly good when you have headaches. The combination between the spearmint and the black tea would be similar to taking Advil or Tylenol. Spearmint specifically is good for treating headaches, while black tea adds a hit of caffeine that is seen in many headache treatments.

Lemon Sunshine
1 part lemon balm
1 part lemon verbena
½ part lemon thyme
⅛ part lemon zest

Courtesy of anna-pou

Medicinal Properties – this tea is a good all-around pick-me-up. Lemon balm, lemon verbena, and lemon thyme all have effects on various parts of the body. Working together, they can soothe everything from heart palpitations to soreness to indigestion and nausea. With all of these various lemon-flavored herbs Plus actual lemons zest, you also get a very nice morning tea to help you kickstart your day.

Lady’s Cup
1 part chamomile
1 part red raspberry leaf
½ part peppermint or spearmint
Just a pinch lavender

Courtesy of işıl-agc

Medicinal Properties – this soothing floral tea is wonderful at the end of a rough day. Although red raspberry leaf does aid in several feminine issues there is no reason that a male cannot drink the tea. All of these together have a very calming and relaxing effect on both the nervous system and the brain.

Courtesy of Bru-nO

Stomach Soother
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons peppermint leaf
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 inch knob of ginger 

Medicinal Properties – if you're having stomach issues such as nausea or diarrhea and can't stand to keep much down this is a good tea to turn to. As we mentioned in our garden post, Ginger is a fantastic stomach soother for most people. Combined with the fennel seeds and peppermint leaves into a tea that will perk up your appetite but it also will help in calming most stomach issues.

Elderberry Tea
2 cups of water
2 tablespoons elderberry syrup (or one heaping tablespoon dried berries)
1 cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
Simmer for 30 minutes.

Courtesy of pasja

Medicinal Properties – the cinnamon and cardamom in this tea are flavor additives rather than being part of the medicinal action. That comes from the elderberries which support a healthy immune system thanks to all of the antioxidants that are packed into the berries. Depending on how you decided to preserve your harvest you can use a syrup or a heaping tablespoon of the dried berries while making this tea. Many suggest drinking One 8 oz cup of this a day during flu and cold season.

 Rosemary-Mint Tea
Two (4 inch) sprigs rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
About ¼ cup dried mint, either peppermint or spearmint
Pinch green tea

Medicinal Properties – Rosemary has been shown to have a positive effect on the prevention of aging in the brain as well as protecting the brain from damage due to free radicals. It has also been shown to help improve recovery in stroke patients. Combined with green tea and peppermint, this is a wonderful tea for studying and during a long day of work. 

Garden Tea
1 part Purple sage leaves
1 partLemon balm
1 part Peppermint or spearmint
1 part Rose petals 

Medicinal Properties – this tea is another general pick me up combining the benefits and flavors of several different herbs and spices. Sage is ideal for many different throat-related issues and is commonly used in gargles. It also acts as a wonderful digestive stimulant which means this could be an ideal after-lunch tea.

Lavender-Mint Midnight Tea
1 part lavender
4 parts peppermint (or spearmint if you like a milder mint)

Medicinal Properties – as we said earlier, peppermint is a very soothing and calming flavor, and combined with lavender, this is an ideal middle-of-the-night tea. If you're having trouble falling asleep or falling back to sleep after having woken up, this is a tea we recommend. Lavender is regularly part of different cures for insomnia, both as a tea and as aromatherapy. It helps to calm the mind, which is why many use it in this fashion. 

Summer Sunshine Tea
1 part chamomile 

¼ part lemon peel
1 part peppermint
1 part sage
Pinch clove

Medicinal properties: This is very much a calming tea while also feeling like you soaked up the sun. The warmth from the clove and lemon combined with the calming effects of the chamomile and peppermint make this tea a wonderful one to have on hand in the middle of winter.

Which one of these tees are you most eager to try? Let us know over on our Facebook page, as always we love to hear from you!

While you wait for your tea to brew, you might need someone to take a look at your ice maker to get you through the summer heat and cool down that delicious tea. (All of these can be served over ice! You'll just need to double the recipe to ensure the flavor isn't lost.) Fortunately, Appliance Rescue Service does indeed service ice makers. You can reach out to us via our contact page, or by giving us a call ((214) 599-0055). We'll work with you to choose a date and time that works best for your schedule. 

Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprints

The Best Cookies for Any Bake Sale

Sometimes the weather just calls for cookies.

While it is very firmly spring now, we sometimes get late cold fronts and even ice storms into April, where we are. We've had hard freezes as far into the year as mid-May, even. And cold days like that are an excellent excuse to make cookies. 

This time we ran a little short on butter and had to get creative. So we combined the idea of cream cheese snowball cookies and shortbread thumbprint cookies and ended up with this sweet little hybrid: chocolate cream cheese thumbprint cookies.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz block cream cheese

1/2 stick butter

1 egg

1/4 c bakers cocoa

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1 c sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp raspberry preserves

Tools:

Cookie sheet

Parchment paper

mixing bowls

microwave safe dish or saucepan (to melt butter and cream cheese)

measuring cups and spoons

spoon

ziploc bag

toothpick or scissors or sharp knife

Before we get started here, you should know that two of your ingredients are going to be your problem children. The butter and the cream cheese are going to be solid when you start out, but they really need to be liquid in order to do their jobs here. So we need to melt them - carefully. Most people use the microwave to accomplish this, but we have had terrible luck with that in the past (think exploding and/or scorched edges and untouched centers despite careful timing and frequent stirring). We prefer to use the stovetop and a saucepan over the lowest possible heat and stir every minute or so.

Cream cheese does melt, it's just stubborn. This is definitely not a recipe where you can substitute in cream cheese's lower-fat sibling, Neufchatel cheese. Leave it over the heat until you have no more lumps. You'll need to be extra patient with this step, sorry.  

As with any doughy recipe, mix your wet ingredients in one bowl (be sure to break the yolk on the egg, you want it to incorporate fully) and your dry ingredients in another. This helps prevent finding big lumps of crumbly, un-mixed flour or globs of sticky egg when you go to work the dough into individual cookies.

Stir together the contents of your two mixing bowls in the larger of the two bowls. Don't overdo it, because the cookies will be tough if you get carried away.

Once everything is mixed well, divide your dough into 36 balls. We know, three dozen feels like a weird number to shoot for, but it's what our test batch turned out to have after we split off comfortable serving-sized pieces.

Put down a layer of parchment paper on your baking sheet and preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Place each of the dough balls destined to become cookies on the sheet. They don't spread much at all, so as long as there's some space between them to press them, you can really pack them in.

Press lightly on each one with your thumb (or a spoon, or literally anything that will slightly flatten the dough and create a little well for your raspberry preserves). The goal here is to flatten the ball of dough into a thick disc, leaving a little divot in the center that doesn't create a slope to the outside edges of the cookie. If you like runny messes of preserves, that's your business - but we'd very much prefer it stay where we put it. 

Once all the cookies are shaped and ready for the preserves, fill a ziploc bag with the preserves and use something sharp to cut or poke a little hole in one corner. Utilize it like a piping bag, squeezing a little bit of preserves into each cookie. Try not to overfill any of the wells, as they'll make an epic mess if you do.

Place the cookies in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for at least ten minutes before you try to move them - they'll still be very soft when you take them out of the oven, and they'll need that extra few minutes to firm up a little.

We know it's tempting to eat them right away - they smell so good, after all! - but please, please give them time to cool. Otherwise, you'll be like us and burn the roof of your mouth on what feels like molten lava.  

We won’t ask if you’re going to try making them this time. These are too good not to try. So instead, let us know over on our Facebook, what other types of jam do you think you could pair with this? 

Since you wound up here, and you’ve read all the way to the bottom, when was the last time you had a maintenance check for your appliances? If you haven’t done it in at least a year, you might consider having one. Spring and fall are the best times to have your appliances checked out, rather than the chaos of the holidays or the heat of the summer. Getting an experienced technician to walk through all of your problems now can mean your appliances are less likely to fail during the heat of the summer. 

If that type of preparation is something you’re interested in, give us a call ((214) 599-0055) or reach out to us via our contact page. We’ll work with you to set up a time and date that works for your schedule and send out one of our technicians to work with you. At Appliance Rescue Service, our goal is to keep your home running smoothly. 

Escapee From New York: Chocolate Bagels

Getting Great Bagels Right In Your Kitchen

One thing that’s hard to get in Dallas is an honest bagel. However, it’s our opinion that just because we’re living in Texas, doesn’t mean we can’t have good bagels. This recipe is one we had to tweak a few times before it was ready, but we finally got that delicious chewy texture that is unique to New York bagels.  It’s especially good when paired with a vanilla cream cheese. Even better? You can start your day with it, or have it for dessert!

Ingredients

Day One:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons baker's cocoa

4 squares baker's chocolate

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons honey

Day Two:

8 cups water

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

Tools: mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons,  large baking sheet (insulated is best), aluminum foil or plastic wrap, kitchen towel, parchment paper, stock pot or caldera, 

heatproof bowl or shallow pan (to melt chocolate), large slotted spoon, spatula, small bowl, brush

This one is a labor-intensive recipe - don't panic; you can do this! Just be sure you allow yourself enough time to work on it. We recommend you get to work on them at least a day before you plan to serve them. Bagels will rise two separate times, and it's best to leave them overnight on one of those two rounds.

Measure out your flour and move it to the large mixing bowl. Try not to pack it down when you do this.

To the flour, add the baker's cocoa and the xanthan gum. Don't go overboard with the xanthan gum! We know it's only a tiny little bit as compared to everything else, but trust us: a little of this stuff goes a long way.

Add your kosher salt and use a regular spoon to give it a quick stir to incorporate all the dry ingredients.

Start your pan on the lowest heat setting and break your chocolate into it, or snap your chocolate into a heatproof bowl to microwave it. Either way, be ready to stir frequently to avoid burning. Once it's all melted, you can add it to your dry ingredients.

Shift your attention to wet ingredients for a minute. Use a measuring cup to get the proper amount of water. You can start with cold water and heat it up in the microwave if you're using a glass measuring cup, or you can let the tap run warm and then fill the cup if you're more comfortable that way. Just make sure it's not too hot, as too much heat will kill your yeast.

To your water, add your tablespoons of honey and stir until the honey has dissolved. This will only take a few moments, as long as the water is warm enough.

After dissolving the honey, measure the dry yeast into the same cup. The water will wake it up, and it should fizz or foam a little as you stir. (If it doesn't, your yeast has kicked the proverbial bucket. It's much better to have to toss a cup of water and spoonful of honey than the whole bowl of ingredients, which is part of why we're doing things this way.)

Add your remaining wet ingredients to your dry, and stir it around a little until it makes a shaggy-looking dough. It will look uneven and swirly because it's not fully incorporated, but that's okay; you're not done with it. Now you get to use your hands and get messy! 

With clean, dry hands, knead until it comes together into a smooth ball. Remove it from the bowl and then knead some more on a clean counter. We know you're probably afraid of over-working it, but bagel dough is serious stuff. Knead it on the counter for ten minutes. Resist the urge to add water - it's supposed to be stiff. We set a timer on the microwave or a wristwatch to make sure we don't quit too soon (your hands and forearms will probably get a little tired if you're out of shape like we are).

Once you've reached your ten-minute knead time, move the dough back into the bowl. If there are scraps and spots of flour left in the bowl, wipe it out before you transfer the dough; you really don't want the headache of trying to work excess flour in after this rests overnight. Cover it tightly with foil or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Leave it there overnight and come back to it in the morning.

The next day, remove your dough from the refrigerator, turn it out of the bowl onto the counter, and split it into eight even-sized pieces. Work each piece for a few minutes until it's warmed up and softened, and roll it into a ball. Once you've finished all of them, set them back in the bowl. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel and let them rest for 20-25 minutes while your oven preheats to 425*.

Yes, we said 425*. Yes, that's high. No, you won't burn the bagels.

While your oven warms up, you can take care of a few other little tasks. Grab your parchment paper and line your baking sheet. Get out your stock pot, add your eight cups of water and bring it up to boil. Measure your quarter cup of honey. Whisk your tablespoon of water into the egg. Now take a deep breath, and walk away for a few minutes.

When your timer inevitably summons you back, grab a ball of dough and roll it between your hands. You want to make a disc this time, not a ball (or a log like other recipes may tell you). Put your thumbs in the center as you rotate the dough around, pushing outward gently a quarter turn at a time. After a few turns, your thumbs should be able to push through and create the hole in the center.

Once you have the center opened up, give it a few more turns under gentle pressure to smooth the edges in the center and around the outside of the circle of dough. Be careful to retain the depth you've created - try not to press the dough flat while you work.

When you're satisfied with your bagel shape, place it on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. We like to keep the sheet next to the oven vent to give the bagels a little last rise (it's a cheater tactic, but fluffy bagels are better bagels).

Repeat until all your bagels have been shaped and smoothed to your liking and transferred to the baking sheet.

Time to check on that pot of boiling water. Assuming it's really boiling and not just simmering, drop in that quarter cup of honey and give it a stir to dissolve. If you can't stir out the boil, your water is hot enough.

Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer your bagels one by one to the hot water. We do them as two waves of four, but adjust according to the size of the pot you're using - as long as they fit without touching each other or the edges of the pan, they'll be fine. Just make sure not to squish them in there.

Let the bagels sit in the boiling water undisturbed for thirty seconds, then use the slotted spoon to flip them and boil the other side for the same amount of time. Lift them carefully out of the water at the one-minute mark and, after letting the excess water drain off, place them back on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Take up your brush and egg-wash the exposed side of the bagels. It doesn't take much, so start with just enough to lightly coat them. You can add more, but you won't be able to take it away if you overdo it.

Slide them into the oven on the center rack and set a timer for eight minutes. When your eight minutes are up, remove them and check to be sure they're nice and glossy looking. Assuming so, flip them in place, brush the bottoms with egg wash and put them back in for eight more minutes.

After you've reached the end of the second timer, they're ready to go! We recommend letting them rest on the baking sheet or a cooling rack for ten minutes, but they smell so good it's hard to resist splitting them and tossing them right into the toaster and chowing down with a little cream cheese.

Let us know what you thought of this week’s recipe on our Facebook page! We want to hear all of the interesting ways you make these and see how they turn out! 

If you wound up here because your appliances are malfunctioning, give us a ring! You can reach out to us via phone at (214) 599-0055) or by going to our contact page. Wherever you are in the Dallas Metro area, Appliance Rescue Service is here to help. Whether you're in Coppell, Allen, or Plano, we'll work with you to get your home running smoothly again.

Sweet Veggie Tropical Curry

 It’s sweet; it’s got a ton of veggies, and it’s a riot of color! 

Sometimes you want to step out of the norm and try something adventurous. For your Blogger, that was this meal. It’s a delicious, multi layered sweet and spiced curry that is packed full of veggies and still manages to be extremely filling. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 

Ingredients:

4 red potatoes, chopped

12 baby carrots, chopped

4 large fresh mushrooms

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

1 small red onion, slivered

4 tablespoons coconut oil, divided

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon light corn syrup or brown sugar

two packages yellow rice

1 ripe plantain

Kosher salt, to taste

Tools: Cutting board, Knife, Can opener, Tongs, Slotted spoon, Serving spoon, Colander, Mixing bowl, Large, deep, slope-sided sauce pan or caldera with lid, baking dish, smaller sauce pan with lid, shallow frying pan with lid

As always, begin by washing your produce! We don't want dirt in dinner, and we're pretty sure we also don't want anything else from the field except the food itself.

Take your potatoes and chop them into roughly inch and a half chunks. Nothing has to be exact - they're potatoes. We didn't peel them for this recipe, but you can if you'd rather. Toss them into the pot, then chop the carrots, too. Add them to the same pot. Cover the veggies with just enough water and put a lid on the pot. Start the burner on medium and let them simmer for about ten minutes. 

While they simmer, it's time to take care of some other small tasks.

Preheat your oven to 450.

Chop up the mushrooms. We diced them up as small as possible so they'd hide in the sauce (we have some picky eaters in the house). You might want big pieces instead - they'll cook up either way at 450 degrees, so do whatever. The only thing we wouldn't advise is leaving them whole.

Open the can of crushed tomato and put it somewhere close by. You'll need it soon, but not quite yet.

We also used this time to start measuring the spices needed. There are a lot of them this time, but try not to omit anything - all of them are important to the finished product. We set them into a little glass dish off to one side until we were ready for them.

After the ten minutes of simmering are up, dump the veggies into the colander to drain them. Rinse the pan but not the colander full of veggies. Transfer the vegetables to the mixing bowl, drizzle them with olive oil, toss in the mushrooms and mix thoroughly. Add a little salt and pepper if you'd like, then transfer them again, this time to the baking dish. Bake them uncovered for 20 minutes.

Once the baking dish is in the oven, you'll have a clear cutting board and a little more counter space. Time to attack that onion. This is another produce item we tend to chop as small as possible due to picky eaters. Make sure you clean your knife when you're done with this step - the next thing you'll be cutting with it will not go well with onion.

However you choose to cut yours, once it's done, drop it into the pan you used for the veggies. Add about two tablespoons of coconut oil and the tablespoon of minced garlic and heat on low until the oil is melted. Bring the heat up to medium, add your many spices, and stir like crazy with the slotted spoon. It's going to be pasty looking - that's normal. Put the lid on it and let it go until you can smell all the spices. There's a noticeable difference, and you'll catch it long before you scorch anything, don't worry. If you're concerned, you can stir it occasionally while you wait for it to get to that point.

As soon as you know the onions are done, add in that crushed tomato, the heavy whipping cream, and the syrup. Give it a thorough stir, until the cream is fully incorporated. Cover it again and bring the heat back down as low as it will go.

The vegetables in the oven should be finishing up about now, right? Not really. The timer's about done, though. Take the veggies out and give them a stir, but then put them right back. Set the timer for ten more minutes.

Grab your packages of rice and get those going according to the package instructions in the smaller saucepan.

Once the rice is set to simmer, start heating the remaining two tablespoons of coconut oil in the frying pan on medium heat. Grab your plantain and cut it in half lengthwise. Flip the halves so they're flat side down on the cutting board and cut each in half again, short ways this time. This makes it easier to peel them and easier to fry them - double win! Once you've got the peel removed, place the slices flat-side down in the coconut oil. Sprinkle the tops with kosher salt, then cover them. You'll want to let them cook for about three minutes, but watch them carefully so they don't burn.

By now the ten extra minutes for the roasting vegetables should be up. Remove them from the oven and add them to the tomato mixture in the pan. Stir carefully to make sure everything is coated, then allow it to continue simmering while you check on the rice and the plantains.

After your three minutes (give or take) are up for the plantains, flip them carefully with tongs (don't squeeze too hard, they'll squish!), sprinkle this side with kosher salt, and replace the lid. They'll need another two or three minutes, but then everything should be ready.

Serve as plantain on top of curry on top of rice. 

Let us know what you thought of this recipe over on Facebook! As always, we love to hear from you! 

If you actually came to our site because one of your appliances is giving you trouble, we can help. Give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or go to our contact page to set up an appointment. We'll work with you to find a time and date that works for your schedule to figure out what the problem is and how we fix it.