Casa Vanessa

Hello friends, I found a version of this chicken recipe in one of Jillian Michaels' books. Not only is it flavorful, but it is super easy to make! The chicken comes out delicious and you can just add veggies or rice or anything else you have already as a side. Here is my version: Ingredients   Skinless, boneless chicken breasts Cooking spray Oregano Cumin Cloves Garlic Preparation Combine all spices in a dish,  spray chicken with cooking spray to cover it with the herb mixture and let is sit for about 30 min. Then just grill.    While you are waiting for the chicken to absorb all of the herbs, go ahead and work on your side dish and put the rice on the stove. This time I just had a couple of bell peppers in the fridge so I just chopped them up, added salt and pepper, and grilled them. For the rice I just used a brown jasmine variety because it is super easy to cook. Just throw it in the pot with water and wait. It is so flavorful and aromatic! Th...

Dear all, please welcome me back from my [almost] six month blog hiatus. My intention was not to abandon you. However, sometimes a brilliant law student is faced with only two options. To balance a full course load - including her first real trial  - with a part-time job or to enjoy cooking and blogging. Clearly, I opted for the former.   Luckily, as all in life, that too, was temporary and here I am thinking of you as I explore vegetarian cooking.  This recipe was originally posted by Martha Rose Shulman in The New York Times about a year ago. I tweaked it a little and here it is.  Ingredients    2 tbl of Virgin Olive Oil 1 small onion finely chopped 1 large carrot, diced 3-4 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp of red pepper flakes 1 can of grated tomatoes 1 cup of lentils water (obvious but just in case) 1 small escarole bouquet garni: bay leaves, thyme, cilantro, parmigiano romano rind   Preparation Heat oil in dutch oven (or any pot) ...

A trip to Costco's meat department inspired this succulent recipe that reminded me of my typical meals growing up where beef and salsa were a MUST at the dinner table. BEEF Arrachera cut is the best for this dish. I am not exactly sure if it is flank steak because it is not tough as flank steak is supposed to be yet the translations all have arrachera as flank. Here is what it looks like: You can marinade this beef anyway you want it.  This time I just used salt and pepper because I knew my salsa would give it a lot more flavor later. This recipe is so easy yet so great! First, dab a little oil with a napkin on the cast iron grill.   Then place the beef on the grill, turn it, and take it out when your heart desires. Simple as that. SALSA Oh! Salsita hmmmm just even writing about it gets me excited. This is just one variation of the always welcomed Mexican salsa. First boil three tomatoes and two jalapeños. Once they are boiled peel the tomatoes and remove the ends to...