A Spotted Rooster For Breakfast

As I mentioned in an earlier post I am an early riser.  When I worked I unfortunately got into the trap of getting up and having some yoghurt and a piece of toast while I waited for the coffee to finish percolating and then was out the door early.  I didn’t have much of a breakfast at all and it never really carried me through to lunch.  When I retired I started to look at mornings differently and now that I know what I have learned I wish I would have started to eat like this earlier.  I have always known breakfast is probably one of the most important meals as our body has been fasting for eight to ten hours by the time we awake, and proper nourishment is important to get things started, but you get into a routine sometimes that is hard to break.

Some of you will be playing little violins for this but I have always had a hard time with weight management.  I once went to a weight watchers meeting for some advice but they thought I was a graduate from the previous course so wouldn’t let me in.  Today, I weigh within five pounds of what I weighed when I graduated high school and humorously prefer to think of myself as having an athletic physique rather than being tall and skinny.  I know, I know it is awful not to have to worry about the number of calories you eat, but I have learned to cope.   Despite all of this, as I have aged I have become more aware of the types of calories I am eating because I know you can easily start to have problems if you are eating a lot of the wrong kind.

I began to do some research on what kind of breakfast I can eat that is nutritious and has enough of the right kind of calories to carry me through until lunch.  I have always had a fairly large lunch which likely came about because I didn’t eat enough for breakfast while I was working, but found with most breakfasts I would run out of energy mid morning.  In my research for balanced nutritious meals I came across a recipe out of Costa Rica that features rice and beans with salsa, onions and garlic.  Eaten with tortillas it has proven to be a great start to my day and is the first breakfast meal I have found that is nutritious and carries me through to lunch with no hunger pangs. 

I have refined it somewhat over the last few years, but find it enjoyable getting the individual components prepared and trying to find ways of having all the ingredients be something prepared at home versus buying.  Essentially this is a variation of a Costa Rican breakfast called Gallo Pinto.  Gallo means rooster and Pinto is spotted, so spotted rooster.  Not sure why the rooster as there is no chicken in the recipe but google says it is spotted due to the white rice and black beans making it look spotted.

There are tons of recipes for this on line but this is what I have come up with as my breakfast.

Gallo Pinto

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/2 inch slice of purple onion diced
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1/4 cup or to taste Shredded Mexican blend cheese
• Black Turtle Beans or equivalent (see below)
• Jasmine Rice or your favourite (see below)
• 6” diameter Corn or Flour Tortillas (see below)
• Salt, Pepper and Sazon Spice to taste (see below)
• Salsa (see below)

Using a cast iron skillet or your favourite fry pan, melt the butter to bubbling.  Add the onion and garlic.  While this is cooking, put the cheese into the bottom of a bowl, top with the Salsa and set aside.

After about five minutes or so add the beans and rice.  Stir to mix in the pan and continue to stir gently, coating with the butter.  Add seasonings to taste.  After another five to ten minutes and everything is warmed through, put the ingredients on top of the cheese.  Add more Salsa and stir to gently mix together.

Return the pan to the stove and add tortillas, one at a time, toasting until they bubble up slightly, flip, repeat and make a wrap with the contents.  Enjoy.

Black Turtle Beans

• 2-3 cups Uncooked Black Turtle Beans or your favourite bean
• Enough water to cover the beans about 1/2 to 1 inch deep

Rinse the beans, put them into an InstaPot and cover with water.  Put pot onto High pressure setting and cook for 27 minutes.  I tried Navy Beans but found they were way softer than the Black Beans and tended to mush up somewhat so stick now with Black Beans.  After the session is complete drain the beans and place onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper to dry.  Once dry, divide them up your favourite way for freezing or fridge storing.  I put mine into 12 ounce plastic Tupperware containers so I can freeze them in a container that provides enough for two or three breakfasts.

Doing beans this way are apparently more nutritious than canned, but they do not come with that black sludge you always find at the bottom of canned beans.

Jasmine Rice

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 cups of your favourite rice
• 2 cups of water
• 3 bay leaves
• Curry or Turmeric or your favourite seasoning to taste
• Salt and pepper

I got this rice recipe online and have modified it somewhat, but it is supposed to be the way restaurants can almost always guarantee fluffy rice that does not stick.  I cannot vouch for the restaurants but I can tell you it makes a perfect non-sticky rice.

Using a cast iron skillet or your favourite fry pan, melt the butter to bubbling.  Keep the pan on medium heat, add the uncooked rice and stir gently to coat as much of the rice as possible.  Keep stirring the rice for five to ten minutes depending on your heat setting and pan, or until the rice takes on a caramel colour.  While this is cooking put the water, bay leaves and seasonings into the rice cooker.  Stir to mix.

The original recipe I found said to add the seasonings to the rice as it was cooking but I found it would very easily burn as it mixed onto the rice and came in contact with the pan for too long.  I tried Turmeric first when I started doing this because of the beneficial qualities of it, but found over time I preferred the finished taste of the rice when using the Curry.  Your results may vary.

When the rice is toasted to your satisfaction transfer it to the rice maker.  Stir to make sure all is coated and turn the cooker on for the regular cycle.  When the cycle is finished immediately transfer all the rice onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to cool.  This is especially important as apparently you should not store rice in the fridge if it is wet for longer than a day or two.  Two cups of rice yields enough for about five days of breakfasts and a couple of salads so five days for me.  Transfer the cooled rice to quality storage containers and refrigerate.

Tortillas

The recipe I use online says to use corn tortillas and I have tried that, but find it very difficult to find good quality fresh corn tortillas that don’t have the consistency of thin cardboard and fracture when you roll them as you would a burrito.  So I have found flour tortillas are way better and have a smoky taste as they toast in the frying pan.  Down in the US there are all kinds of good quality tortillas and I have found WalMart in Canada does carry the same in the International aisle.

Sazon

Goya makes a great powdered product and you can buy it in just about every grocery store in the US, and I have found it at WalMart in Canada; but I found a great recipe for it on line and after taste testing both I can hardly tell the difference.  I make up enough to fill a spice container but you can mix and match depending on how much you want to make.

• 1/2 Tablespoon Coriander
• 1/2 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1/2 Tablespoon Turmeric
• 1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

Please note the Oregano is only a teaspoon and not tablespoon.  I messed up the first time and went with a tablespoon and it was overpowering.  Most recipes on line and the packaged product have salt, but I am not a big fan and you will be adding salt to taste anyway so I don’t use it in this mixture.  If you want it added it is like the other ingredients and is a 1/2 Tablespoon.  You may adjust your ratios depending on taste.  Mix all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

Salsa

• 425 gram can Tomato Sauce
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Bring all ingredients to a simmer over low heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.  Cool slightly before serving.  Store in air tight containers in the fridge.  I use squeeze containers that used to have honey in them and they work great.  Lizano Salsa is available in most grocery stores or the International aisle at WalMart and is very good, but I have not found one that is not too hot for my taste.  Also, the online recipes for what I show above likely have slightly higher quantities of the hot stuff in the list.  I am not a big fan of overt spice so have modified the recipe to my taste.

I usually eat this breakfast for about a week to ten days then switch to one with a yoghurt and cereal base.  I will post something on that breakfast before too long and explain the rationale for the variation.

If you try this out, enjoy and thanks for reading.