CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED Chicken and rice! Rice and chicken! Two great tastes that taste great together. One of my favorite food combos. And this was yummy! I did bookmark a couple of other Cuban recipes that I want to try someday but I was just really feeling like chicken and rice today. This was easy to make, I had the ingredients on hand, and it was filling and tasty. I would make it again!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED The steaks in this recipe are actually pork steaks/chops. I have to confess, I did not follow this recipe to the letter. The recipe calls for roasted potatoes and I was not going to turn my oven on today. Too hot. So, I made mashed potatoes instead and I think they paired amazingly well with the pork chops and the sauce. The pork itself was easy enough to make and the sauce doesn't call for a lot of ingredients but it does call for pork broth. That is not something I have on hand, nor have I ever seen it on grocery story shelves. So, I used chicken broth and it was FANTASTIC. All in all, this was absolutely delicious COMFORT FOOD. I paired it with a salad using veggies from my garden and it was a damn good meal.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED I had to use Google Translate for this recipe and break out my scale to measure the beef in grams but, other than those two things, this was easy to make and the ingredients were all things I could buy locally. And it was tasty! It's essentially a hearty beef stir-fry with onions and tomatoes. Nothing too fancy or weird. Just plain and simple food and seasonings. Beef, onions, tomatoes, bouillon granules, salt, pepper, and oil. That's it. And it was yummy! I will definitely make this one again!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED Chicken and rice again! This was okay. It's definitely not my favorite chicken and rice dish of all the chicken and rice dishes I've tried but it's good enough to finish. I'll probably never make it again but it was worth trying once. I had to purchase something called Lizano Salsa/Sauce to make this with and it has a unique flavor profile that I can't even begin to describe and I'm not sure I like it. It is like a mildly spicy and vegetable-y Worcestershire sauce. Sort of. But not exactly. Like I said very difficult to describe. I think I might like it better in a beef dish than a chicken one. I have a large bottle of it so I'm doing to have to look around to see what else I can make with it to give a fair shake.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED I combined the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo for this one because the cuisine is pretty much the same and, allegedly, this is the national dish of both countries. This was fine. The sauce of peanut butter and tomatoes was better than I anticipated. But I wasn't wowed by the texture of the chicken skin. I knew that, cooking it this way, it wouldn't be crispy and it was pretty much the opposite of crispy. I mean, it was still edible, but not my favorite. I doubt I will make it again because I made such a mess of my kitchen while cooking it. I managed to spatter red palm oil everywhere and then stirred a little too aggressively and sent tomato sauce flying all over the place as well. If it had knocked my socks off, the mess would have been worth it. It wasn't worth the mess for me.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED This is one of those recipes that seems to vary slightly in ingredients and ratios depending on who you're asking. The same basic ingredients are in each version so I went with the most straightforward one I found. I found this very easy to make, just had to do a little chopping and marinating so I didn't have to spend a ton of time in a very hot kitchen. Our evaporative cooler just doesn't reach the kitchen so it is very very warm in the summertime and I don't want to spend a lot of time in there. Anyway, this has a light lemony and creamy (from the coconut cream) flavor that made it, for me, a good summer meal. It didn't knock my socks off but I can see myself making this again as I usually have most of the ingredients on hand and it was pretty quick and easy. Sometimes you need quick and easy.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED. These were pretty good! They have a nice lime, garlic, and cumin flavor, perfect for summer! They weren't difficult to make, though they do require a little planning ahead as the chops need to sit with the lime garlic mixture on them for several hours. I ate them with some roasted potatoes and sliced tomatoes in a little vinaigrette. A cilantro lime rice might go well too. Or yellow rice. It was a nice meal that I would eat again. My son dropped by and ended up finishing off the pork chops so I think he enjoyed them as well. :)

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED There were several recipes that caught my eye when looking for something from China but this one appealed to me the most and gave me an excuse to try dark soy sauce. I wasn't able to find Thai Basil so I had to substitute in scallions (as recommended by the recipe's author) and I don't think I missed out on much. The flavor was out of this world! Very savory. The dark soy sauce added a depth and oomph that went beyond regular soy sauce's capabilities. The wings were so so flavorful. Yum!!!! I ate them with jasmine rice because I felt the stickier starchiness of jasmine rice would work best with the wings. And it was terrific. I also tossed some fresh scallions over top, for extra crunch, and would do it again. I will make this again, for sure.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED. They say this is an appetizer but it sounded like a good meal for summer, for me. And it was! I cooked the chicken up in the morning before the house got too hot and then put it in the fridge until dinnertime. That was the extent of the cooking involved. I did change up a couple of things but I don't think they'd get me kicked out of Chile. The recipe calls for a vinaigrette over the lettuce but I opted to just squeeze some fresh lemon juice over it. I also added some chopped green onions because I had them and they needed to be used up. I really liked the lemon juice, it made it taste fresher and bright. The green onions added a different texture and a pop of oniony goodness. I can definitely see myself eating this again, it was a great cool meal. Perfect for summer.

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAHARAGWE RECIPE CLICK HERE FOR THE KACHUMBARI RECIPE It's been hot here and, in the afternoons, my kitchen feels like it is about a thousand degrees. So, I really haven't felt motivated to cook anything that requires using the oven or standing over the stove for long periods of time. Luckily, I managed to find two recipes that seemed like they wouldn't require a lot of time in a very hot kitchen! One, Maharagwe, is a kidney bean dish and the other, Kachumbari, is a salad. First, the Maharagwe! This one took some time because you need to soak the beans overnight and then cook them until soft the next day. It's mostly passive time though so you're not chained to the stove. The cooked beans are added to a bunch of sautéed veggies, spices, and coconut milk. It was okay but I felt like it needed a little oomph. I'll probably tinker with the leftovers for dinner tomorrow. Maybe throw in some green onions and a tiny bit of the Hot Ones hot sauce. I don't think I will make this again but it was a "good enough" and filling meal. Second, the Kachumbari! This was a very refreshing salad, absolutely perfect for summer. I was a little wary because the only dressing is fresh lime juice with some cilantro thrown over the top. I thought it was going to be too tart or sour. But the amount of lime juice over the amount of ingredients is just right and it adds a nice fresh zest to the vegetables. Not too tart or sour at all! I actually ended up eating a very large amount of this salad because it was just so fresh and tasty. I will make this again.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED Some countries don't have much of an online presence when it comes to looking for authentic recipes. Central African Republic is one of those countries. I found a couple of recipes that seemed to be connected to CAR but I can't say with 100% certainty that they're authentic. Anyway, after searching and then narrowing the already few results down to what I can eat and can buy locally, I was left with Chicken in Cumin Sauce which turned out to be a really nice meal! It wasn't difficult, didn't have a ton of ingredients, and I could serve it over rice. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, chicken, cumin, salt, and pepper. YUMMMY! I will definitely make this again.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE I USED I was in the mood for comfort food this week and Pate Chinois seemed like it might be just the thing for that purpose. And it was! If you like Shepherd's Pie or Cottage Pie, you'll like this. I liked it. My husband even gave it a shot and had a couple of helpings! It's not fancy or difficult, it's just plain and simple no frills food. And sometimes the soul needs that. I would make this again.