Navy Bean Chicken Chili

Navy Bean Chicken Chili
White Bean Chili
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
1 pound dried navy beans
5 cups chicken stock
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
¾ cup diced onion
1 ½ cups chopped green chiles (fresh or canned)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
½ teaspoon white pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
½ bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
Rinse beans well, cover with cool water, and soak for 2 hours. Drain. Place beans in large pot with chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. In a saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and chiles and saute for 5 minutes. Add chile mixture to pot with beans. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Lower he.at to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Serve with cornbread, if desired.
Les’ version - I used 2 pounds of small white navy beans, I soaked them overnight, about 10 hours, Add water just to the top of the beans and simmer for about 8 hours in the crock pot, low setting; Add two cans of chicken broth; I sautéed one large white onion in about two tablespoons of butter, I used all of the oregano and maybe 1 teaspoon of cumin, and 11/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 1 / 2 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, because I used water to cook the beans I added bullion power to compensate for the water. I cubed the chicken breasts, and did not use the garlic or the chilies. I added the cilantro at the end and cooked on high for another 2 hours.

Honey-glazed chicken stir-fry

There are 3 stir-fry recipes in my one of my favorite cookbooks, and this is my favorite of the 3.

12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons vinegar (I use rice wine or apple cider)
2 Tablespoons orange juice
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 & 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
4 cups cut up veggies such as: broccoli, pepper, onion, mushrooms, snow peas, carrots, celery, etc. (I like to add water chestnuts and bamboo shoots as well)
2 cups hot cooked rice

Cut chicken into bite size strips; set aside. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together honey, vinegar, orange juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch; set aside.

Pour oil into a wok or large skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Add vegetables to wok: cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove veggies from wok. Add chicken; cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Push chicken from center and pour sauce into the center. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Return veggies to wok. cook and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through. Serve over rice.

Mini Taco Bowls

For those of you who don't know, my neighbor and I take turns teaching a weekly cooking class to our collective 5 kids. This is what I taught today and since it goes along so nicely with Kristen's last post, I thought I would share. For dinner I made slightly bigger versions, using glass bowls on a cookie sheet. The muffin tins produced a crispier shell, so maybe I'll line the bowls with foil next time, Anyway, they were a big hit and super easy.

Now I need to buy some vanilla bean ice cream and combine this recipe with Kristen's and make yummy cinnamon-sugar ice cream bowls...maybe topped with fruit salsa!

Mini Taco Bowls

8 small flour tortillas

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

1 cup salsa

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups chopped lettuce

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup Ranch Dressing

Heat oven to 350°F. Microwave tortillas on HIGH 30 sec. Press 1 tortilla into each of eight 2-1/2-inch muffin cups. Carefully fold back edges of tortillas, leaving opening in center of each for filling. Bake 10 min.

Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in salsa; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 min. Spoon into tortilla bowls; top with remaining ingredients.

Rosemary chicken skewers with berry sauce

It seems I like food on sticks. I also like mixing sweet with savory....so when I saw this recipe it definitely got my attention. And like my other skewer recipe I have on here; it could be used as either an appetizer or paired with something else for a main dish.

A while ago I was making something using fresh rosemary and got a little carried away; which resulted in the whole dish tasting like a sprig of rosemary. So when using this herb fresh I am a little careful and did not use the full 2 tablespoons. It still tasted great so I will probably do the same when I make this in the future.

For the chicken:

• 4-6 boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped, fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine or vermouth
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 3/4 cup of fresh or frozen blackberries or boysenberries
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of red currant jelly (or berry jam or jelly)
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Method

1 Cut the chicken into 1 1/2 inch pieces and place in a bowl. Mix with the wine, oil, rosemary, and pepper. Cover and set aside to marinate in the refrigerator for one hour.

2 Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Thread the chicken onto skewers and season generously with salt.

3a Grilling Preheat the grill for direct high heat. Brush the grill grates with olive oil. Place chicken skewers on grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Place on a platter and cover with foil to allow the chicken to rest.

3b Broiling Preheat the broiler. Place skewers on an oiled broiling pan, 5 to 6 inches away from the burner. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Place on a platter and cover with foil to allow the chicken to rest.

4To make the sauce, place the marinade and the berries in a sauce pan and simmer gently until the berries are soft. Press through a strainer and discard the pulp.

5 Return the juice and marinade mixture to the pan. Add the vinegar, jelly, and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered until it has reduced by about 1/3 to a light syrup-like consistency.

Plate the skewers and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Whole wheat pizza crust dough

I use this recipe in my bread maker, and it makes the BEST (and easiest) pizza crust ever! And as a plus it does not need to spend all day and night rising!

1 thick or 2 thin 12-inch crusts

1 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

If using your bread maker; use the pizza dough selection.

If you are not using a bread maker then do the following:
Combine all ingredients in your mixer until it forms a ball-if it's too sticky add a little flour, to dry-at a little water. Knead dough for about 15-20 minutes (or let your mixer do it), and let it rise (covered) for about a half hour, then punch it down.

For both methods:
Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide in half (if making 2 crusts) and press into a 12-inch pizza pan. Generously prick dough with a fork.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to turn light brown. Remove, add desired toppings and return to oven to bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Use any topping your heart desires! My favorites are ham and fresh pineapple, or tomatoes and fresh basil. Brandon's favorite: pepperoni.

*image via flickr: user gym

South Seas Kebabs

I got this recipe from a cookbook that was printed in England- the ingredients have funny names (like aubergines for eggplant and courgette for zucchini) and the amounts are measured metrically. So being the nice and helpful person I am, converted everything into a language that us here a'mercan folks can read.

1 pound rump steak, cut in 3/4 inch pieces (or any lean cut of beef)
1 ripe papaya, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes (use mango or pineapple if you want)
1 red or green pepper, cubed

Honey ginger glaze:
6 ounces chicken stock
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbs honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 Tbs cornstarch mixed with
1 Tbs water

Puree one third of the papaya in a blender. Set the remaining cubes aside. Mix the beef and papaya puree in a shallow dish. Cover the dish and marinate the beef in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

For the glaze, combine the stock, onion, garlic, ginger, honey, salt, and pepper in a small pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch/water mixture and continue cooking and stirring until it thickens- 1-2 minutes. Remove the glaze from heat and set it aside.

To assemble kebabs thread cubes of beef, papaya, and pepper onto four 12 inch skewers.

On a pre-heated grill, cook the kebabs for 3 minutes. Turn them and cook for 3 minutes more. Brush with glaze and cook them for 1 minute. Turn the kebabs once more, brush them with glaze and cook for another minute. Transfer the kebabs to a platter and brush with remaining glaze. Serve immediately.

Serve on it's own for an appetizer, or with {brown}rice and green salad for a yummy dinner.

Burrito, healthy style!

There are ways to eat your favorite foods, they just need a little tweaking!

Whole wheat flour tortillas
ground turkey
taco seasoning
cheese of your choice (use mozzarella for a less-fat option-tastes surprisingly good!)
green cabbage, cut thinly
diced tomatoes, salsa, or pico de gallo
Reduced fat or fat-free sour cream
*Favorite hot sauce

Cook the ground turkey like you would ground beef, and add the taco season as directed on the package, then assemble like you would any burrito!
Use a little less meat and a little less cheese, and pile on the veggies! Using cabbage gives it the crunch like lettuce does, but has a lot more fiber and fills you up better than lettuce would.
If you want to omit the meat altogether and make a veggie burrito, add in some black beans-they contain the protein you'd be missing from meat, and also have extra fiber...yeah for fiber!

*my favorite is the hot sauce pictured.

kristen's cacciatore

I believe I got this recipe from my mom (I don't know where she got it from), but I've changed it so much I think I can officially call it my own!

1 large can diced tomato (you can use italian style if you want)
1 large can pureed tomato
1 small can tomato paste
2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 large onion, cut in thin rings
1 green pepper, cut in thin strips
1 red pepper, cut in thin strips
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
dash red pepper flakes (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

Put skillet on medium-high heat and spray good with pam then add the onion and peppers; cook until tender-make sure you are stirring often so they don't burn (I know this by experience). Add all of the tomatoes, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper; stir until combined and the tomato paste has mixed in well, then add chicken. Simmer on low heat for at least 10 minutes. Serve over [brown] rice.

the chef's (that's me) notes:
This is one of those recipes that you can't really mess up-You can add more (or leave it out) chicken or more onion, etc. if you want to. I like to use fresh garlic and parsley, but tastes great if you don't have it on hand. It's a great recipe for grilled chicken leftovers as well! Most chicken cacciatore recipes call for mushrooms, but since I despise them I don't put any in, but if you like them-add a few!

Serves 4