I have been a busy little bee moving from my apartment to my wonderful new house! Now I am unpacking and with a little less urgency than a strict move in date, I have some time to breathe. We went camping lasr weekend, and even though I didn't actually cook anything in a little pouch, it got me really excited about the idea of cooking things in little pouches.
I got this recipe for Fish Fillets with Tomatoes, Squash and Basil from the June 2012 issue of Bon Appetit - they have tons of other pouch recipes perfect for summer! I have already devoured Basil Tomato Sauce with Polenta (polenta is a surprisingly awesome substitue for pasta) and Sausages with Onion and Green Peppers were a big hit at the bar.
I love salmon and usually buy it at Costco (boneless, skinless, individually wrapped amazing fillets). They cost about $20 for 7, so not the cheapest but also not too expensive. I didn't want to make the drive all the way to Costco and I found an equally good version at Albertson's. 8 fillets for ~$12, but the fillets are about half the size and have the skin on. This doesn't bother me and it has been fun to switch it up. I recommend either for this recipe, but I think the smaller size of the Albertson fillets may cook faster in the pouch. Note this recipe originally called for "white flaky fish such as Atlantic cod or halibut," but I like it with salmon. I think you could use just about anything and be fine.
I also have a giant basil plant, which I call my basil bush, dying to be picked. I love this recipe because you can use tons of basil. This dish would be great for having company over, as it looks amazing and the pouches make great individual servings.
Fish Fillets with Tomatoes, Squash and Basil
Ingredients
2 thinly sliced zucchini
1 thinly sliced shallot (shallots usually come in twos stuck together - use both)
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil divided plus 1/4 cup basil leaves
16-20 grape tomatoes sliced in half
4 tablespoons white wine (I usually use Tisdale Chardonnay as it is only $3 a bottle)
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 fish fillets of your choice (as mentioned above, I used salmon)
salt and pepper
Parchment paper (I think the only viable substitute would be aluminum foil)
Directions
1) Defrost the fish if not already defrosted. With salmon, I like to soak in warm water to defrost. Preheat oven to 400*.
2) Get 4 rather large squares of parchment paper and lay out on a work surface.
3) Divide squash among the parchment paper, arranging on one side in thin layers. Evenly divide tomatoes among pouches.
4) Add shallots, basil, and tomatoes.
5) Drizzle each packet with 1 tablespoon of wine and 1/2 tablespoon of oil. I was worried it would spill everywhere but it doesn't. Season with salt and pepper.
6) Add a fish fillet to each packet. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle another half tablespoon of oil.
7) Fold packet over to close, and crimp edges tightly. I did a rolling type crimp and flattened the edges.
8) Place packets on a baking sheet and bake, 10-20 minutes. I baked for 20 because I hate undercooked salmon and you don't have to worry about the food drying out because of the packets.
9) Cut packets open, watching out for the steam. Serve with garnish of basil.
YUM!
To be honest, I am not quite sure what I spent the last two weeks so busy doing. Last weekend was my boyfriend's birthday, so I spent part of the time drinking mimosas and the other part lying on the couch :) I also haven't been feeling 100% so I think that had something to do with my absence.
I have spent almost the entire week eating quinoa + goat cheese, and tacos (corn tortilla, black beans, cilantro, pico de gallo, red onion, lime juice and avocado = magic). In my taco frame of mind, I had also purchased the necessary supplies to make Salsa de Chipotle, so I decided to make that today.
For a frame of reference, I LOVE dips, so I decided to make this with the intention of dipping carrots and other crunchy vegetables into it. I think I went through a month long period a few years ago where I literally only ate dips and the food I could dip into it.
Ingredients
6 Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup sunflower oil or vegetable oil + 1 tsp
1/4 white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 chipotle chiles in adobo (go to the Mexican section of the grocery store; they are in a little can)
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350*. Cover a baking sheet in aluminum foil. Cut tomatoes in half and place them on the baking sheet. Roast for 1.5 hours.
2) In a medium pan, heat 1 tsp oil. Saute onion and garlic until golden brown.
3) When the tomatoes are done, put them into a large blender. Add onions, garlic, cilantro and chiles. It will seem like two chiles isn't very much, but it was perfect for me. Add more if you want more kick. Blend and gradually add oil. Keep blending until smooth.
4) Eat with your favorite dipping items, or on tacos.
WARNING: I would suggest making this for a crowd. If you are home alone, you are going to find it very difficult not to eat the whole thing! This stuff is incredible.
Big thanks to Glamour May 2012's feature presented by chef Julieta Ballestero, which is where I got this recipe from. I can't wait to try to recipe for "The Perfect Guacomole."
Today I tried to make Beet Foam. Why? I don't really know. I guess because I have an abundance of Soy Lethicin, which seems to be mainly useful for making foams. Hopefully I have more success with my future foaming experiments, but today's didn't work.
I don't even want to go into much detail because I have no idea what I did wrong - it was a pretty simple recipe. Maybe I will figure out the err of my ways as I try new foams. I blended 1 can of beets into a puree, added one packet of Soy Lethicin, and then used my immersion blender. You are then supposed to get glorious amounts of foam. I got nuthin'.
However, there was a happy discovery. Cut bread into fourths and top with blue cheese crumbles. Place in a 225* oven and let set for about five minutes until bread is dried out a bit and crunchy. Remove from the oven (blue cheese doesn't really melt, so don't wait for it to melt. It won't). Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and devour.
SO YUMMY. Beats the way I normally eat blue cheese- out of the container. Now I am nervous because I have an entire loaf of bread calling my name. It will take a lot of willpower to limit myself to a few slices a day.
Speaking of willpower, I also have my favorite tomatoes cooking in the oven which I can hardly keep myself from eating as they cook. Slice roma tomatoes in half, so you have two ovals (I think that is lengthwise). Use as many as you want - I love these so much I do about 10 at a time. Toss with olive oil and your favorite spices. I use salt, cumin, and some red chili flakes to make them spicy. Lay on a cookie sheet and bake at 225* for SIX HOURS. These get better over time. Start with as many as you can handle, because I always end up eating about half as they cook. Right now they have been in the oven 3 hours and I have already eaten three tomatoes. However, at 22 calories a tomato, these are an amazing snack.
I have had this Rachel Ray Cookbook (Yum-O) since high school:
The recipes all sound great, but for some reason, I never seem to make anything out of her cookbook (one reason may be the multitudes of cookbooks I have to chose from).
I wanted to find a classic chili recipe, so I figured Rachel would be a good person to start with. I chose her "Cajun Chili with Scallion Corn Cakes" recipe.
However, I should say up front I did NOT like the results the first day. I didn't start to really enjoy this chili until day two, and then something changed and the chili was delicious. So if you are planning to make it for some event (Super Bowl Sunday?) then I would suggest making it a day or two in advance.
I also made a few adjustments, so the first section of ingredients is what Rachel calls for and the second set are what I added.
See BELOW Cajun Chili recipe for Scallion Corn Cakes - these were my favorite takeaway from making this meal.
Ingredients for Cajun Chili:
Rachel's
1.5 pounds lean ground pork
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
4 shakes cayenne pepper sauce (Frank's Red Hot or Tabasco)
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 bottle of beer
1 can (14oz) crushed tomatoes
handful chopped fresh cilantro
Kosher salt, to taste
Kelsey's
First of all, I think using half of a vegetable is a waste because odds are I will be eating chili for the next week and will have nothing to use the vegetables in. Also, more vegetables means healthier chili, so why not? I used the WHOLE onion, red pepper and green pepper. I could also only find a 28oz can of tomatoes, so I used all 28 ounces. I used the entire bunch of cilantro.
The only "use the whole thing" I would be careful about is the beer. I used a whole bottle of beer and it definitely had a distinct taste. Like I said above, this mellowed out after a few days. However, if you are serving immediately, definitely be cognizant of how much beer you use. Maybe just drink the leftover while you are cooking.
I also added:
Another Tablespoon chili powder
1 minced jalapeno
MUCH more Tabasco (and I don't even care for spicy things)
1 lime
half cup quinoa (note that if you don't use the slow cooker method, you will want to cook your quinoa first and then add it. My quinoa wasn't fully cooked until the morning after I used my slow cooker)
Instructions for Cajun Chili:
1) Heat a big pot over high heat (I used a deep set saucepan type pan, but a pot would work too. Use whatever you want to make the chili in). Yes, use high heat. I was scared but it worked.
2) Add your pork to the pot. Season with chili powder, cumin and cayenne sauce. I couldn't believe this is called Cajun chili and only called for four dashes of hot sauce. I added plenty more while cooking and it didn't taste hot at all. I don't even like things spicy but kept adding hot sauce. So my point is add your hot sauce to taste.
3) Brown the meat for 5 minutes.
4) Add onion, garlic, celery, bell peppers, jalapeno, and lime juice. Cook, stiring/shaking the pan, for 3 or 4 more minutes.
5) Add the beer and stir everything together, scraping the bottom to get the burned bits. Add tomatoes and cilantro, plus quinoa if using (remember, pre cook the quinoa if you are not going to use a slow cooker). Bring to a boil and season with salt.
Essentially, your chili is done here. However, I then added the whole mixture to my crockpot and let it cook overnight. I don't know the difference in taste, but it turned out great.
Rachel's Scallion Corn Cakes:
Ingredients:
1 package Jiffy corn bread mix
1 egg
Milk
2 scallions (I prefer more like 4)
Butter/vegetable spray
Instructions:
Follow the instructions on the jiffy box for making corn pancakes, but add scallions to the mix. I bunched my scallions up and used scissors to cut them right into the bowl.
Then, depending on what occasion and who you are serving, make the appropriate size scallion corn cakes. For instance, if you are serving a lot of people small servings, make small corn cakes. If this is a meal for your family, make them larger.
The way I like to eat them is the crumble them up into the chili and mix it in. However, if you master the art of pancake making, I bet you could make them look really pretty and masterfully display them on top.
Either way, I GREATLY prefer the corn cakes to corn bread. I am not sure exactly why - maybe the texture? They taste awesome and are really easy to make.
When cooking mine, I did about 3 minutes on the first side and two minutes on the other side. Be careful though...the smaller you make them, the quicker they cook and they get easier to burn.
To serve my chili, I melt in cheese, add sour cream, and crumble in a corn cake. Voila!
My mom first introduced me to quinoa and I love it. I am surprised how many people have never even heard of it - when I bring it to lunch, I get all sorts of quizzical stares and questions about what I am eating. My mom and I both like to buy our quinoa from Costco. I didn't want to drive there the other day, so I ended up buying my most recent batch from the bulk foods section of Fred Meyer ($3.99/lb).
This recipe for Quinoa Chili came from http://www.allrecipes.com/.
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 pound extra lean ground beef *Optional
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced (2 teaspoons preminced)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced - use a serrano pepper if you prefer more heat
1 Tablespon chili powder
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
2 19oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon dried parsley (or 2 tablespoons fresh parsley)
black pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1) Bring the quinoa and water to a boil over high heat. A good rule of thumb for cooking quinoa is a 2:1 water to quinoa ratio. Reduce heat to a medium low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 15-20 minutes. FYI I also cook quinoa all the time with no cover and it turns out fine. Quinoa is pretty difficult to mess up.
2) If you are using meat, cook over medium high heat until the beef is crumbly, browned and no longer pink. I like to ensure the meat is cooked throughly, so you don't have to worry about getting sick if you taste the chili while it cooks. Drain the grease and set the meat aside. If you are not using meat, skip this step entirely.
3) Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. You can use a soup pot or a big stirfry pan - pick a pan big enough to make all the chili in as well. Add the onion, garlic, and serrano pepper* and cook for five minutes or so.
*A note on the pepper - the store was out of jalapeno peppers so I decided to be adventurous and try a serrano pepper. I was really scared to use it because a) I hate food that is too spicy and once the spice is in, you can't take the spice out and b) I always manage to get spicy-ness in my eye and it burns. I was really careful this time and removed all the seeds from the middle, then chopped the pepper into tiny pieces. It wasn't too spicy at all, so don't be too afraid to try a new kind of pepper! Next time I would even consider leaving the seeds in.
4) Add the cumin and chili powder and cook a minute more. The onion mixture may look a bit thick - this is fine.
5) Add the black beans, tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, zucchini, oregano and parsley. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Simmer until the bell peppers are tender, about 20 minutes.
6) Add in the quinoa, beef (if using), and corn kernels. Return to a simmer and cook five more minutes.
7) To serve, stir in sour cream and add cheese if desired.
My recipe (meatless) made 8 cups of chili. I calculated the calorie content and that is approximately 271 calories per cup. This soup is CHOCK FULL of vegetables and I can't imagine many meals you can make that would be more healthy or delicious. The beans add substance and there are all sorts of veggies and healthy spices (I especially love the addition of zucchini). Ease off the cheese and lay off the meat, and you have an even healthier meal. You could also use Greek yogurt rather than sour cream.
One other bonus? The chili looks really awesome - it is very colorful.
My mom gave me this recipe for Mediterranean Chicken, and it comes from allrecipes.com
It is really delicious, healthy and low calorie.
Ingredients (supposed to serve 6 mine would probably serve 3-4 as I used less chicken)
- 2 teapsoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine + 1/2 cup white wine (I used Tisdale Pinot Grigio)
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves - I used 8 tenderloins
- 3 cloves garlic, minced - I used 3 teaspoons minced (roughly double)
- 1/2 cup diced onion - just used 1 small onion, didn't measure
- 3 cups tomatoes, chopped - Like a dumbass, I bought sixteen Roma tomatoes. For the record, 6 is plenty :)
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme - I used 8 sprigs
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil (I used three big leaves) - you could use more here and it would only improve the flavor
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives - I omitted these completely. I hate kalamata olives, but the comments on the recipe say this makes the dish, so decide for yourself.
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Directions:
1) Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons white wine over medium heat. Add chicken and sautee on each side about 4-6 minutes each. I ended up deciding to cut my chicken into bite size pieces, which would be best if you were using this over paste or rice. If you have chicken breasts, it would be good to leave them whole and use as an entree by itself. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
2) Leaving drippings in pan, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then, add onion and saute 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil (which is hard to see because there is not much liquid - look if the bits of liquid seem to be bubbling). Lower heat, add 1/2 cup white wine, and simmer 10 minutes. I like to simmer on a fairly high heat (like medium low not low) when cooking with wine so it thickens up better. Add thyme and basil, and simmer 5 more minutes.
3) Return chicken to skillet and cover. Cook over medium-low until chicken is no longer pink (using tenderloins, mine were already fully cooked from the first step). Add olives and parsley and cook for one minute.
This would be really great over spaghetti, with or without the chicken. You are essentially making a delicous tomato sauce. Also, grated parmesan cheese makes this even tastier.
Last night I went to my friend's house, where we made a feast and watched movies.
Here was our menu:
- Eggplant Ricotta Bites
- Chicken Chili Stew
- Cornbread
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Tiramisu
- Sparkling Red Wine
It was awesome! We also watched Bad Teacher and the Twilight movies (but I feel asleep right when Twilight started).
The recipe for the Eggplant Ricotta Bites came from the Food Network. Here is how we made it.
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
Salt
All purpose flour
3 large eggs
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
3 plum tomatoes, diced
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar - I think it would be better with balsamic
1 cup ricotta
Shredded fresh basil, for topping
1) THINLY slice the eggplant into rounds and season with salt. You can use a heavy hand with the salt.
2) Set out three bowls. Fill one with flour, one with the beaten eggs, and one with breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan.
3) Dredge the eggplant in the flour first, eggs second, and breadcrumb mixture third.
4) Heat up a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat. Wait a few minutes to make sure it is really heated up, which will improve your first batch. Working in batches, cook the eggplant until golden on each side - this took me about a minute per side. Add olive oil between each batch. Drain eggplants on paper towels and season again with salt.
5) Finely dice the tomatoes and toss with two teaspoons of olive oil and two teaspoons of red wine vinegar. If I were making this again, I would do 3 teaspoons of each, and try it with balsalmic instead of red wine. I individually added more vinegar to each of my bites as I ate them.
6) Spoon some ricotta onto each eggplant slice and spread out with the spoon. Top with tomatoes and shredded basil.
Note - these are NOT good left over, so only make as much as you plan to it, and don't expect delicious leftovers the next day. The eggplant got a lot more eggplant-y overnight, and was harder to bite into. It just got soggy overall.
Well I think it is time to let the cat out of the bag. If you haven't caught on by now, it is time you know the truth...I LOVE PARMESAN!
I also love salads, homemade salad dressing, and my coworkers. Why my coworkers? Besides being all around fantastic, many of them seem to have an affinity for growing tomatoes and sharing the wealth. I have picked up about a dozen or so home grown tomatoes in the last week, and they are fantastic. I eat them plain with a bit of salt on top, but I was looking at my last remaining beauties tonight and decided I needed to do something special with them. I decided to roast them in olive oil, balsamic and a spice mix of ground mustard/cilantro/cayenne whilst preparing a salad to go along with the fresh veggies.
Now back to my love of parmesan -- I had shredded parmesan for lunch in a chickpea salad and it was the first time parmesan just didn't do much for me. I could have done with or without it, so I didn't want to just sprinkle some over my dinner salad. I decided it was time to get creative, so I picked up some grated parmesan (the kind that looks like powder) at the store.
This creation was pretty genius. You can jazz it up however you want and I didn't use precise measurements, but it went somethin' like this:
- Preheat oven to 375* F
- Lay parchment paper over my version of a cookie sheet AKA a pizza pan
- Pour about half a cup of parm into a bowl
- Add garlic powder to taste
- Add pepper to taste
- Add Italian seasoning to taste
- *If you prefer solid measurements, I would estimate about a quarter teaspoon garlic powder, a tablespoon Italian seasoning, and a half teaspoon pepper
- Mix it all up in the bowl and add to the parchment paper.
Here is where I would change things if making again. My original intent was to melt the circles into individual servings. Well I had never really thought about it before, but realized grated parmesan doesn't melt! When they were done in the oven, I expected to pick each circle off the paper, but they all crumbled, which ended up being a happy accident. If I were doing it again, I would just spread the cheese in a thin layer over the pan (use parchment paper though).
Cook for five minutes -- mine started to brown at four minutes, so pay close attention and don't exceed five minutes without a VERY watchful eye!
When done, remove from the oven and crumble up.
Now you have something that tastes like a deconstructed crouton -- breadcrumb-like, flavorful, adds a bit of crunch, and, even better, much lower calorie than croutons! One tablespoon of this stuff is only 20 calories and because of the crumb-like consistency, it sprinkles over your salad quite well.
I ALSO JUST REALIZED THESE TASTE EXACTLY LIKE BREAD CRUMBS! I really think they could replace bread crumbs in any recipe someone is looking to make gluten free. The flavor options are endless, and the cheese doesn't melt, so it will retain its crumbly texture. I am going to have to try it out and report back, but I can't imagine there is much more exciting for the gluten-free world than gluten-free breadcrumbs...imagine the frying possibilities it opens up :) Compared to breadcrumbs, the calorie content is about 1/3 to 1/2 as many calories.
This should be a fun week in the cooking world. Today I went to Costco and got:
- Lemons
- Apples
- Whipping cream
- Mussels
- Parmesan cheese
- Brussel sprouts
- Sourdough bread
- Grape tomatoes
- Spinach
- Walnuts
- Sundried tomatoes
I have some exciting plans...Quinoa and Walnut Stir Fry, Billibi (soup from the juice of mussels), Apple French Toast, and Cream-baked Brussel Sprouts.
In addition, my parents got me new tires for my birthday -- Thanks Mom and Dad!
However, now that I went grocery shopping, I am in grave danger. I rarely buy bread and now that I have some, I am absolutely obsessed with broiled buttered bread with parmesan cheese melted on top, Italian seasoning, and sun-dried tomatoes. To DIE for!!! I can't stop eating it -- it is fantastic. Stay tuned for some cooking adventures this week :)
I would consider myself a hater of romaine lettuce. First of all, on the lettuce spectrum, it is not even that good for you, as the darker the leaves, the healthier the lettuce. Second of all, I think it tastes mostly like water, and third of all it just grosses me out! [There is a caveat that romaine lettuce is required for a proper Caesar salad though]
I think the gross factor can be explained because of the turtles we used to have. Romaine was the main component of their diet, and I was little and we weren't the best caretakers. The romaine would get rotten/brown/gross and it was even grosser when it was digested.. . BLEH!
Anyway, I was looking on Orangette and craving a salad because I hadn't had a really good one in forever. I also didn't want to spend too much money, because I have a friend coming in this weekend and we will probably be spending lots. That was when I found Summer Romaine Salad with Lime Garlic Dressing. I would say this has forced me to rethink my snobby stance toward romaine.
To make it, I only had to buy a few ingredients. The first was romaine lettuce - I went for a giant head of it because it was a great deal for only $.99/head. The stuff in the bag was really pale looking, and the quality of the bunch looked better as well.
I also bought cherry tomatoes, four limes (which were disappointly small at the store), feta and a red onion.
First, you make the dressing. The recipe calls for three tablespoons and one teaspoon of lime juice, but I just winged it and squeezed in the juice of four limes (which is pretty close to the proper amount). Before juicing the limes, I roll each one around under my foot to get the juices moving. It is also an awesome foot massage! I need to get some sort of citrus juicer though, because doing it the old-fashioned way makes a huge mess.
To the lime juice, you add five tablespoons good olive oil (hopefully Costco is considered "good" haha!), a quarter teaspoon minced garlic, and an eighth teaspoon salt. I omitted the salt. Then you are supposed to whisk until emulsified -- I shook my little dressing container until it all mixed up.
To make the salad, I first chopped up the lettuce. Then, slice some cherry tomatoes, and slice the red onion. I made sure to slice the onion into little slivers because raw onion can be pretty potent.
To assemble, add the tomatoes, onion and feta to the salad and dress. I also added broccoli and dill to use up some leftover veggies.
This is VERY simple (juicing the limes was as hard as it got) and delicious. I was a bit wary of using raw onions (especially red, which I find very potent) but with the olive oil/citrus dressing, it wasn't too powerful at all. The combo of veggies and cheese suited each other very well.
I would caution that if you are not used to olive oil or don't like particularly tangy things, you might not like the dressing as much as you were hoping. However, I found it refreshing to eat a salad in order to taste the flavors of the salad, instead of eating salad as a means to chow down on some dressing.
Even though I am leaving town tomorrow, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to make a huge pot of chili this morning. Even though it may not have been the most practical thing, it was delicious and soooo easy. I got the recipe from an old church cookbook, and it was submitted by Rochelle Cooper. The book is full of really simple recipes and is one of those cookbooks where you just interpret things as you see fit. I have listed the original recipe, and the changes I used (based on what I had on hand)
Here is the recipe.
Ingredients
1 can diced tomatoes - I prefer no salt added
1 can tomato sauce - again, I prefer no salt added
3.5 lbs beef chunk tender or beef tri-tip, sliced and cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes - I used some beef I had left in the fridge (and only used about 1 lb)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil - I used sunflower oil
2 cans beef broth - I only used one
2 cans chicken broth - I used chicken stock.
1/2 cup dried minced or finely minced fresh onion - I chose dried (too lazy to chop)
3 tsp. granualated garlic (I assumed this meant garlic powder?)
3 to 9 Tbsp. chili powder - I used 3
2.25 Tbsp paprika
1 can green chilies, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper (I used cayenne and only 1/4 tsp)
Juice of a half fresh lime
1 lb bag dried kidney beans.
1) You need to commit to making chili a day early, so you can soak the kidney beans overnight. I soaked mine for only about eight hours (while I slept) and would recommend at least sixteen hours if you want your beans to be soft. Mine were a bit raw even after being cooked. Simply pour out the pound of beans, cover it with PLENTY of water, and let sit. I use a huge bowl and pour in way more than you think necessary. The beans will soak up an impressive amount of water.
2) When your beans are ready and it is chili-time, start by slicing up your beef. You might already know this, but my mom taught me to slice it while still slightly frozen -- it slices much better.
Then put about a tablespoon of the oil of your choice into a pan, and "brown" your meat. I took this to mean cooking it completely, as I wanted to sample my chili as I went and not have to worry about any raw meat.
3) Get out your big pot (recipe says 6qts) and toss the cooked meat into it. Add this:
Aka a can of diced tomatoes, 3 cans of both (2 "cans" are in that chicken stock), your minced onion (1/2 cup equaled that entire container), and a teaspoon of the garlic powder. Bring your chili to a slow boil and cook for about an hour. After mine reached a boil, I put it on about a four (a little less than medium).
4) Add this:
&
For the spices, I added 1 Tbsp cumin, 2 Tbsp paprika, 3 Tbsp chili powder, and 2 tsp. garlic.
ALSO ADD YOUR KIDNEY BEANS NOW! Drain them before doing so (duh).
Cook all of this for about 45 more minutes (again I set my stove to about a 4).
5) Add:
Any additional chili powder (I didn't add any more), your cayenne pepper, the juice of half a lime (roll it around on the counter first) and 1.25 Tbsp cumin. Simmer this an additional thirty minutes.
There you have it. Chili that is actually REALLY healthy (all those spices each have some amazing benefits).
*If you want to make the chili a little thinner, you can add another can of broth.
I like my chili with extra lime juice and curry powder. So good! And don't feel like you don't have enough time to make this...I threw mine together at 6:00 am, and even in the fog of sleep, it is very easy to do. Most of the time it is just simmering away, and you can pay very little attention.
