Cook-off Chili

I’ve got a lot of secret ingredients that make this chili out of this world, but my biggest secret is tasting it along the way. If it’s getting too spicy, I add more sugar. If it’s too sweet, I add more heat. It’s all about finding the right balance of ingredients and the only way to really do that is to taste it. I’m also notorious for just using whatever I have of hand. Leftover taco beef? Sure, throw it in the pot! Only have frozen peppers or canned tomatoes? Totally okay! Use what ya got! This is my basic chili recipe and then some of the substitutions I used this time are in parenthesis.

Cook-off Chili

• 1 pound ground beef
  (I added 2 hot chicken sausage links, casings removed)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 to 8 peppers, chopped
  (I used a combination of bell, banana, jalepeno and poblano)
• 2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
  (I used 4 fresh diced tomatoes and 1 can of crushed)
• 1 to 3 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons hot Mexican chili powder
• 1-1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon parsely
• 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  (I used 1 teaspoon Apple Pie Seasoning)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 cup red wine
• salt and pepper to taste

Notes: If you use lean beef or turkey be sure to add 1 tablespoon of olive oil when browning. If you like it spicy, but don’t have any hot peppers, add up to 3 tablespoons of hot sauce (I use Frank’s) to give your chili heat.

In a large stockpot over medium heat, cook the beef and sausage until browned. Add the onions, garlic and peppers and cook until tender, about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cover. Simmer over medium low heat for 1 hour. After 1 hour, taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

Baked Green Bean Fries

my helper! This week our farm share provided us with a ton of green beans and rather than just cooking up plain ol’ green beans, I wanted to do something a bit more interesting. Green bean fries it was! These were so easy to make that my 16-year old sister, who is staying with us for the month, even jumped in and helped out.

Baked Green Bean Fries

• 4 cups green beans, washed and ends trimmed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• olive oil or butter spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together eggs, garlic salt, salt and pepper in a dish. In another dish, combine breadcrumbs and cheese. First dredge a handful of beans in the egg mixture, then in the breadcrumb mixture, making sure to coat each bean. Arrange in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet and spray olive oil or butter over top. Bake for 15 minutes or until beans have started to brown. For the dip I mixed 2 tablespoons of my Swiss chard pesto with a 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt.

Quinoa, Black Bean, Summer Squash and Feta Salad

Quinoa, Black Bean, Summer Squash and Feta Salad

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-1/2 cups raw zucchini and yellow squash, chopped
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 green onion, sliced thin
• handful of fresh chopped basil or 2 tablespoons dried
• salt and pepper

Cook quinoa according to package directions, it will make about 3 cups cooked. Combine all remaining ingredients into a large bowl and stir until well incorporated. Serve hot or chilled.

Leftover Chicken Rice Bowls

This is a perfect weeknight dish for those unsure what to do with an abundance of chicken leftovers. I used all ingredients I had on hand in my pantry. Now I know most people don’t have Sazón lying around in their pantry, but you absolutely should! I grew up with a Puerto Rican grandmother who cooked with it a lot, so it’s become a staple in my own house. This was a huge hit with the hubby who is a big fan of Chipotle’s rice bowls.

Leftover Chicken Rice Bowls

• 1-2 cups grilled chicken breasts, cubed into 1-inch pieces
• 1-2 cups frozen corn
• 1 packet Goya Sazón with Coriander and Annatto
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 pouch of ready-to-heat rice (My favorite is Rishikesh Whole Grain Brown Basmati Rice)
• Dollop of sour cream
• hot sauce

In a medium skillet over medium low heat, add pre-cooked chicken, corn and half of the Sazón packet. Cook until chicken is warm, corn is cooked and the seasoning is well incorporated. Add beans to a small pot with the rest of the Sazón packet. Make sure not to drain the beans. Simmer until warm. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package. In bowls, layer ingredients as follows: rice, beans, chicken/corn mixture, dollop of sour cream, dash of hot sauce.

Chickpea Fritters Revisited

I made chickpea fritters not too long ago and while they tasted good, I was disappointed with the way they fell apart in the pan and how dry they were. I wanted to try making them again with something to help bind them together and keep them moist. To achieve that I added egg, Greek yogurt and breadcrumbs and decided to forgo the flour coating. The end result was much better. They tasted light, were moist and held together pretty nicely. This time around, I made sure to leave some of the chickpeas intact to give the fritters a nice texture.

Chickpea Fritters Revisited

• 15.5 oz canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 large egg, whisked
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Olive oil, for frying

In the bowl of a food processor add chickpeas, panko, garlic, parsley, yogurt, whisked egg, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Pulse until well combined, but not completely pureed. Gently form six one-inch thick patty with your hands, compressing the mixture just enough to hold it together. In a large skillet, add the additional olive oil over medium heat. Add the chickpea patties and cook without moving for four to five minutes per side or until golden. Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt on top.

Ham and Black Bean Soup

This recipe was inspired by the over abundance of leftover ham we had in our fridge from Easter. My husband was sick of eating ham sandwiches and I’m not really that big of a ham person so we didn’t even put a dent in the leftovers. I decided to cut off as much ham as I could from the bone, cube it and freeze it. With the bone I decided to make a soup using what I had on hand. The ham bone gave the soup a rich, smoky flavor, but it’s not overly “hammy”.

Ham and Black Bean Soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups onion, diced
• 1 cup carrot, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 15.5 oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large honey glazed ham bone, with some meat left on it
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons Frank’s Red Hot or other cayenne hot sauce
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 1 cup cubed honey glazed ham
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and sauté the onion, carrots, celery and garlic over medium high heat until the onion becomes translucent (about 8 minutes). Add the beans, ham bone, chicken broth, tomatoes, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Turn the heat to high and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Then reduce the heat to low and allow the soup to simmer for 1.5-2 hours. Add the cubed ham and let simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Discard the bone and serve with warm, crusty bread or corn bread.

Easy Slow-Carb Egg Scramble

So I’ve been trying to give the slow-carb diet thing a go. I’ve only been on it for about a week and boy has it been challenging! Beans, even though they’re carbs, are allowed on the diet because they’re a complex carbohydrate. Also allowed on the diet: two glasses of red wine a night! Score!

Easy Slow-Carb Egg Scramble

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1/3 cup jarred jalapenos
• 1/3 cup black olives

In a medium-sized skillet, add all ingredients and scramble over medium heat until eggs are cooked thoroughly. Serve. That’s it! Super easy right?

 

*I added cheese, because I can’t do anything without it 🙃, but it is not slow-carb approved.

Quick Turkey Chili

This is a great dish to make on a busy weeknight (which is every night at my house) because it can be so easily customized based on what you have in the fridge. I happened to have fat free ground turkey, but you could also use ground beef or sausage and I was feeling too lazy to chop up any onion or garlic which I would normally add in.

Quick Turkey Chili

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• diced red & green peppers
• 1 15.5 oz can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp Penzeys Northwoods seasoning (coarse flake salt, paprika, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic and chipotle)
• 1 tsp cinnamon sugar (or more, to taste)
• 1 tsp Parsley
• Sriracha, as much or as little as you want

In a medium sauce pot, add oil and brown turkey with Northwoods, cinnamon sugar, parsley and Sriracha, about 8 minutes. Add peppers and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and beans, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. A rule of thumb I follow is if it’s too salty or spicy gradually add more sweet, if it’s too sweet gradually add more salt or heat.

Chickpea Fritters

Chickpea Fritters

• 1 15.5 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 4 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas, parsley, garlic, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper just until coarsely chopped and the mixture comes together when gently squeezed. Form into five 1/2-inch-thick patties and coat with the flour, tapping off excess. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the patties, turning carefully, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.