Chunky Veggie Chili!

Chunky Veggie Chili!

This Delicious Dish, is one of my winter favorites! (okay I know some of my readers think I'm ridiculous for needing a winter dish as I live in Phoenix AZ, but believe me, I sneak it in all through the year! it's great for the cold). This meal takes some planning, but is pretty simple to make.

I have won 3 first places in chili cook offs with this! I think the first time I made this I was 16, it's just gotten better with age.

what you'll need

Dried Pinto Beans (you can cheat and buy pre-made, but I promise the quality WILL go down)

Salt to taste

1 Bushel of Cilantro

3 Bell Peppers (I like to get different types to give it color as Grandma Brown might point out)

1 Onion (I mix red and white, but yellow and green are welcomed into the equation as well)

2-3 Tomato's

2-3 Chili's ( I use Chili Serrano's for the flavor, but it tends to be a spicier Chili, feel free to use

any type or none at all. Remember, removing the seeds drastically changes the temperature)

2 Sausages (this is easily substituted out with some nice Italian Seasoning, or your own blend)

First your going to take your Dried Pinto Beans. I put these in a crock pot, but you can improvise with a large sturdy pot. you just can't use it while at work or gone for a few hours. be sure to wash your pinto beans before using them. put about 2 layers of washed pinto beans at the bottom of your pot. Then add about 3 times as much water (about half the pot). Let sit over night or until beans are softened and about double in size. Cook in the crock pot on high for about 6 hours or until beans smash with no resistance. You may even want to eat a few, just to be sure they are the softness you appreciate. In a crock pot (provided water is covering the beans) you won't burn them so if you set it on high and go to work (again, makes sure there is PLENTY of water, better too much then too little) you should be fine. For those who are using a regular pot, cook the beans for about 6 hours at a medium high temperature (about 350) This is when you salt the water to taste. Now when salting the beans make sure you taste the water and NOT the beans. The water will get salty FAR before the beans, and there you go, hours of work are now overly Salted.

GREAT NEWS! The hard part is NOW over!

now you can wait till the beans are done or you can pre-cut, it really doesn't matter. Chop up your Cilantro, Bell Pepper, Chili, Tomato and Onion. As you'll notice in the photo to the left, I generally keep the veggies pretty chunky! This is how I like it, but your fine to cut it smaller for more of a soup. If you'd like more of a soup, only add about half or even a third of the veggies.

Now you brown the Sausage. I usually get mine from behind the counter at Sprouts, but you can always get a name brand sausage. I like to use a spicy Italian or a Permission (or both). Again, you can easily substitute this if you are not a meat eater. Just add seasonings of choice. Italian seasoning should be perfect!

This is where you add everything to the Crock pot! As you can see, it may not all fit in right away. Some times you need to let it boil down a bit. This is a 1.5 quart Crock Pot, if you have larger you shouldn't run into this problem. once everything is in, stir it all up, as watter if needed, put the lid on, and let it cook for at least a half an hour.

The longer it boils together, the better it tastes! I've let it cook for 2-3 hours before. Again, with a crock pot it shouldn't burn (I may not suggest going over night, or even exceeding the 3 hours).
When your done you should get something looking like the top picture (sorry, due to technical difficulties I didn't get the final photo in the crock pot).

All you need now is some Corn Bread!

Guacamoli and Pico De Gallo

Just in time for the Super Bowl!

I'm putting these two recipes together because they are basically the same recipe. The only difference is weather the main ingredient is smashed Avocado's or diced Tomato's.

You will need

6 ripe Avocado's ( For a party you will want at least 10 avocado's)

4-6 Tomato's (dependant on size and type)

1 bushel of cilantro

2 chili sereno's (or any other pepper, dependant on your ability to handle spice! These tend to be on the spicier side)

2-3 Cloves of Garlic (dependant on size)

1/4 cup Onions ( I do a mix of red and white, and some times green)

2 tbsp butter (for the vegan out there, olive oil is fine)

Salt to taste

Lemon or Lime juice to taste

1 Bag corn ships of choice.

First your going to cut open the Avocado's and place them in a large bowl once pitted and pealed. With a potato masher blender or fork mush the avocado's to your desired consistency.

Next your going to chop up the Tomato's into small pieces (almost minced) and place them in a separate large bowl. Take out about 1/4 cup of the tomatoes and place them to the side. Add salt and lemon (or lime) to taste. The actual use of the Lemon or lime is to keep the avocado's from turning brown and to keep the tomato's fresh. you can also substitute vinegar or anything acidic really.

Next your going to mince your onions, garlic and chili's. ( a hint for those who like the flavor of a spicy chili, but don't want the heat, remove the seeds, this is where most of the heat resides). Place your onions and chili's into a frying pan. Following this, mince 1 bushel of cilantro. Put about 2/3 of the cilantro in the frying pan as well. Add the butter and saute over medium-high heat. Once it all cooks down to about half the size, add the 1/4 cup tomato's that you had placed to the side. saute this for about 30 seconds then remove from heat. Add Half of this to the Avocado's and the other half to the tomato's. Add in the rest of the cilantro, half and half. Mix all together and enjoy! (another hint: if you let this sit over night, the flavors blend together to create a new level of delicious!

Below you will see two room mates, enjoying the demo Guac and Pico!

Chickpeas and Tilapia Salad

OK, so I'm happy to announce my second recipe! This one is an invention of my own. This idea kinda came to me (which has a 50/50 chance of being great) and fortunately I LOVE this salad. It's one of my favorites! It requires no dressing, it's healthy and it's delicious (if I do say so myself).

You will need the following ingredients
1 Can of Chick peas (or a packet of Chickpea Magic from tasty bites)
Spinach
1 fillet of Tilapia (actually any fish will do)
2 squash
1/2 a tray of sliced mushrooms
3 tbsp oil
1 Clove of garlic
1tbsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 Laughing cow cheese wedges.

First your gonna want to chop up your squash into chunkie pieces. I used grey squash today, but usually I do a yellow squash mixed with zucchini. put your squash with your chickpeas and your seasonings. If you use the packet of chickpea magic, you don't need to use any seasonings. Also you can make this more of an Italian dish with Italian seasoning, or more of a hardy flavored salad with steak seasoning. With this meal, seasonings make ALL the difference. Season your veggies boldly because this will replace your salad dressing. Place 2 tbsp oil, the squash, mushrooms and seasonings in a frying pan and cook, stirring occasionally. you'll want to cook this for about 7-10 min, or until all the veggies seem to be cooked through. To speed up the cooking process go ahead and place a lid on the veggies, just don't forget to stir it frequently, and keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Veggies will cook down to about 2/3 it's original size.

Once veggies are cooked, add the fillet of fish to the pan and about 1 more table spoon of oil. Cover and cook for a few min. Once the fish starts to cook, go ahead and flake it off into the veggies. It should start to be a mix of veggies and fish. you should also notice a good amount of oil and juice from the squash at the bottom of the pan. This will all be necessary for your salad, so don't drain the contents. once the fillet is cooked and flaked in add to the top of a bed of spinach, juice and all. Finally, take a wedge or two of Laughing cow cheese and cut into small chunks to place on the top of your salad.

as you see in the picture, this can be a very pretty salad. Feel free to add Corn if it's in season, this gives it a slightly sweeter taste and is very nice.

bon apatite!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

1/4 Cup onions chopped (which ever flavor you like, I do a mix of red and white)

6-8 Bell Peppers dependant on size, I like to do several colors, it adds flavor

2 tbsp oil
2 Sausages (you can use pork, turkey, chickien tofu or what ever your diet requires)

2 cups pre cooked rice (I like to use Jasmine rice)
1 Cup pre cooked Lentils

6oz Tomato paste

12oz water

Salt to taste

Cheese of choice (I like munster)

Pre-heat oven to 375

My first meal will be a Stuffed Bell Pepper! Start out with dicing up about a quarter cup of onions. Cut the tops of the bell peppers off and dice up the flesh aroud the stem. You will be adding this to the stuffing ( for an added health bonus save the seeds to put in the stuffing as I've heard they are loaded with vitamin C and you really can't taste them in the mix.)

Rinse out the inside of the bottom half of the bell pepper and place on a cookie sheet.

In a large frying pan or small pot open two sausages and brown the meat. I get mine from Sproute's and like a hot italian susage and a spicy parmesan sausage mix. It's still a mild level of spice but adds something nice. Put that with about 2 talbe spoons of oil in a pan and brown the sausage. add in the diced onions and diced tops of the bell peppers (this is where the multiple colors looks nice and adds flavor), saute over medium-high heat. Another idea would be to add diced mushrooms for the mushroom lovers; I'll probably try this next time I make this meal.

When sausage is browned add your 2cups of rice and 1 cup of lentils into the pan. At this time you can add different seasonings such as garlic, cumin, cardamom exc. but to make things easier I just by the packet of precooked lentils by "Tasty Bites" called "Lentil Magic". This adds a perfect amount of flavor and is all ready to go! Otherwise you can make lentils from scratch and flavor to taste (carful to not over flavor). After all has been heated and mixed add 6oz of Tomato Paste and about two of those can's full of water. Stir all of this in until it looks well mixed. If you need to add moisture to your stuffing add more water. Now that your stuffing is completed, salt to taste. I like to add small cubes of cheese in to the mix, but this is completely optional for the lactose intolerant out there.

Stuff the stuffing into the bell peppers. I like to add a slice of cheese to the top but as you can see in the photo, I ran out of cheese so I did not add to the top of these bell peppers. Thus you see, you taters of the lactose, this again is optional. Place peppers in preheated over for 20-25 minutes or until peppers oare softened.

Enjoy!

* The stuffing also tastes great with Corn chips. Try it as a dip or on top of your nacho's!

My New Blog!

I have decided to start a blog with all my cooking adventures! I freequently get ideas for food, play around with recipes and trip into meals that I love (and the room mates don't mind either). I've grown a love for cooking and at times find it therapeutic. Unfortunately I never writer down how I make my meals. Due to this I frequently can't remember what that one special ingrediant was. This is where you and my blog come in. I want to keep a record of meals I've tried, and share these ideas with all of you. Please note that I have by no means gone to any schooling that would assist in my food ideas. That being said, this is an amatur blog. Please feel free to coment on how the measl tasted when you made it or on ideas of how to make it better (criticism welcomed). I also want to welcome others to add their ideas. If you ahve any meals that you would like to add and be named author of let me know! I'm always up for a new recipe to play around with.
I have named Julia Jones (my current room mate) the official tester! (if you'd like in on this racket, either move in or start coming over all the time, I'm always trying something new). One last thing, you will probably notice that frequently I make enough to feed a lot of people though I'm just one person. This is because a lot of times I eat the same thing for several days since I don't have time to cook every day or I'll share. That and left-over's are rarely a bad idea. Happy Eating!
Disclaimer: I like spice! Sometimes I don't realize how hot things are. I take no responsibility for your pained taste buds. If you don't know if you can handle the spice just leave it out K!