Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Teaching does not leave a lot of time on the weeknights.  My school doesn’t let out until 3:40 and then I have after school tutoring most days, so I don’t get home from school until 5:30-6 most of the time.  Tonight was definitely one of those limited time nights.  We actually don’t have tutoring this week (everything gets re-arranged during homecoming week), but coronation was tonight at 7.  Now I don’t know if coronation is something specific to the South or just something specific to the Delta, but let me assure you, it is like nothing I ever saw in Ohio!  Nearly 2 hours, 88 students in dresses and tuxedos being presented in a precession, and a highly choreographed “Waltz.”  It’s a trip.  Suffice to say, there was not going to be a lot of time to make and eat dinner tonight before the ceremonies began.

But, no worries, in my hour of need I turned to my slow cooker.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but my slow cooker is literally my favorite kitchen device.  Whoever invented the slow cooker is a god.  I don’t know what I would do some days without it.  I just threw all the ingredients for this chili in the pot last night and put it in the fridge.  This morning, I just took out the pot, turned it on low, and let it do its thing all day while Katie and I were at school.  We came home from school today, and the first words out of her mouth were “oh man, that smells amazing.”  And it did.  With very little effort on my part we had a fabulous chili dinner and got a little taste of fall, a must, given that cool fall weather and scenery is something we’re severely lacking in the Delta.

Add to this recipe what you’d like.  Add some diced onions or jalapenos if you have the time.  If you want to change things up, swap black beans for the pinto beans.  This recipe is a great go to when you’re in a rush and need something to cook itself, but is also a great base to work off of if you have the time to chop up extra ingredients and make things interesting.  I also love the leftovers of this chili on nachos the next day.  Yummm.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 (24 oz) jar of salsa

1 clover garlic, minced

3 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 (11 oz) can of Mexican style corn, drained

1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

 

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

2. About 1 to 2 hours before you want to eat, shred the chicken in the pot with 2 forks and continue cooking.

3. Serve with cheese, sour cream, green onions, cilantro, etc.

Spicy Potato Curry

Living in the Delta is difficult when you love ethnic food.  Our cultural options are Tex-Mex and Chinese takeout here in Greenwood.  Allegedly there’s a Lebanese restaurant in Clarksdale, but I’m not sure I believe it.  Since I can’t go to Memphis every week and get something delicious and out of the ordinary, I had to start trying to make ethnic food myself.

My first attempt at Indian food last year was a really interesting peanut stew.  It was delicious and definitely made me want to try my hand at other Indian food recipes!  I waited a long time to try out this potato curry for a couple of reasons.  First, I highly doubted Jess (my old roommate) would have liked it much.  She’s not much of a spicy food person, plus she’d never really had Indian food before…it sounded like a gamble I didn’t want to take.  Then there was the fact that this recipe calls for garam masala.  Yeah, if you don’t have that in your spice cupboard, you’re not alone.  I definitely did not have garam masala, hell, I’d never even heard of it before!  Needless to say, this was not an ingredient readily available in the Delta.  When I was home in Ohio I went to a market in Columbus and bought a ziplock bag of garam masala from an Indian food stall.  I feel bad that this recipe is breaking my rule that I’d only include recipes with “normal” ingredients.  But, seriously, it’s too delicious to keep from you guys.  I’m sure the recipe would still be delicious if you wanted to make it without the garam masala anyway, so don’t count this out entirely if you can’t find it.

Also, an added bonus for this recipe: it’s not only vegetarian, but it’s vegan too!  I’m quite happy to say that if I ever have a vegan over for dinner, I will have something delicious to cook!

Ingredients:

6 redskin potatoes, chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups eggplant, chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

4 tsp curry powder

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ginger

2 tsp salt

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz) can peas, drained

1 (14 oz) can coconut milk

Directions:

1. Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two.

2.Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add eggplant and season with cumin, cayenne pepper, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and salt; cook for 2 minutes more.

3. Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, and potatoes. Pour in the coconut milk, and bring to a simmer.

4. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes before serving.  Serve over rice.

Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic Chicken

I LOVE balsamic vinegar.  It is so delicious.  I will take basically any excuse I can to cook with it.  So this is one of my favorite recipes.  The sauce reduces and becomes really concentrated and delicious; really flavorful.  I made this chicken when my best friend came to visit me over spring break (along with corn and crab cakes); he absolutely loved it.  I sent him the recipe and he has made this dish numerous times back home in Chicago when he’s had friends over for dinner.

I like to stretch my chicken breasts as far as they’ll go, so I like to cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces right away when I make this recipe.  Chicken breasts are so big nowadays, you really don’t need to eat an entire breast as a serving.  Feel free to make this recipe with whole breasts rather than cutting them up though if you prefer to have entire chicken breasts, just take them out of the pan after step 2 and keep them warm in a dish.  Also, if you have white wine, consider adding a splash of that to the sauce when you add the chicken broth and balsamic vinegar.  I haven’t had white wine on hand when I’ve made this recipe, but  the next time I do, I’m definitely adding it!  If you decrease the number of servings in this recipe, don’t decrease the sauce!  It’s sooo delicious, you’ll want as much as possible.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks

3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 an onion (about 3/4 cup?)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp thyme

1/2 Tbsp butter or margarine

 

Directions:

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat and saute chicken for about 5 minutes.

2. Add garlic, onion, and mushrooms.  Cook for about 5 minutes, then add vinegar, broth, bay leaf, and thyme.  Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

3. Continue simmering, uncovered, over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes.  Stir in butter and discard the bay leaf before serving.

Pizza Dough

I used to be really afraid of yeast.  Now that all of you have this mental image of me running screaming away from a piece of bread, let me explain.  When I say I used to be afraid of yeast, well I mean cooking with yeast, ie making my own bread dough.  I’ve told you before about my love for Taste of Home magazine, well last fall there was a section in one of the issues that focused on baking bread.  All the breads sounded AMAZING, but they sounded so intimidating!  They always said what temperature water you needed to disolve the yeast in, and then there were the trouble shooting tips…your bread didn’t turn out?  Here’s what you might have done wrong: kneaded too much, didn’t knead enough, let it rise too long, didn’t let it rise long enough, etc, etc.  Are you serious?  I definitely thought that was WAY too finicky for me to bother with.

While I was home for the summer, however, I mentioned my fear of yeast to my sister (who, for the record, is a fabulous cook).  She took it upon herself to show me that yeast isn’t something to be afraid of and showed me how to make pizza dough.  Pizza dough is a great starting step in cooking with yeast, I’ve heard it’s pretty difficult to screw up.  I would definitely recommend attempting to make your own pizza dough.  It may seem daunting, but it’s really simple.  Also, people are always incredibly impressed when you have them over for pizza and they find out the crust is homemade too.  Just saying.

Once it gets cooler here I’m hoping to try other bread recipes now that I’ve gotten over my initial fear of yeast, I still have that Taste of Home issue with the bread recipes, so maybe I’ll have to bust that out.  As far as the pizza dough goes, here’s the recipe I use:

Ingredients:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees to be exact, but that basically just means warm)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

6 cups flour

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit until creamy; about 10 minutes.

2.Stir the olive oil, salt and 4 cups of the flour into the yeast mixture. Mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

3. When the dough pulls together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume; about 1 hour.

4. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and form into rounds. Cover the rounds and let them rest for about 10 minutes.

To make a pizza:

5.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

6. Spread one of the portions of dough into your desired shape (if you have a rolling pin, use that), cover it with your favorite toppings and bake at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until the crust and cheese are golden brown.

      

Hummus

Much like my discovery of making homemade tomato sauce, the first time I tried to make my own hummus, it blew my mind.  Wow.  I was paying $3-$5 for hummus at the grocery store when I could make it myself in about 10 minutes with a $0.69 can of chickpeas?  What was I thinking buying it at the store?!?!  Needless to say, I don’t buy hummus anymore.  I just make it myself!  Almost all of the ingredients needed are something I already have on hand in the kitchen (except maybe the chickpeas), and it literally takes all of 10 minutes, max.

This is a great basic hummus recipe.  To change things up, though, try adding about 1/3 cup of roasted red peppers (that’s what I added to the hummus in the picture below).  If you usually like something else interesting added to your hummus, go ahead and try adding that ingredient into this recipe as well.  Also, try using cannellini beans instead of chickpeas to change things up, or if you don’t have chickpeas on hand.  If you’ve never had hummus before and have been interested in trying it, definitely give this recipe a try rather than spending that money to get some at the store.

Ingredients:

1 (15 1/2 oz) can chickpeas

1/3 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender; cover and process until smooth.

2. Serve as an appetizer with tortilla chips, pita chips, veggies, etc!  Or serve in wraps or pitas as a delicious and healthy lunch!

Eggplant Parmesan

I love the farmer’s market downtown.  I only started going this year, but its become one of the best parts of my Saturday.  It’s not very big, of course, like everything else in Greenwood.  There’s not really a lot of variety either, but that’s ok.  6 peppers for $2?  Yep, I won’t complain about that.  Poblano peppers, cayenne peppers, and banana peppers for $1.75 along with an awesome hour long conversation about starting a winter garden?  Love it.  This week, the highlight of  my visit to the farmer’s market was eggplants.  I got 3 eggplants for something in the neighborhood of $2.  Fabulous.

So the plan for this eggplant?  Eggplant parm first, and with the rest I’m thinking about veggie curry next week.  Get excited.  Unfortunately, after-school tutoring started this week, so my time after school is getting scarce.  This recipe takes about an hour, an hour and a half, so it had to wait until today when I knew I’d have extra time. My roommate has been pretty excited all week about eggplant parm and she said this recipe definitely did not disappoint.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced

2 eggs, beaten

3 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs

3cups tomato sauce, divided

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.

2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.

3. In a 9×13 inch baking dish spread tomato sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce.

4. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

  

Spicy Black Bean Soup

I LOVE soups.  I love how easy it is to make soups, how you can throw it all in a pot and just forget about it.  I love the way they taste and I love that warm feeling you get from eating a bowl of soup (completely disconnected from the fact that the soup itself is literally warm).  It’s the end of September and my biological clock is telling me it’s time for soup season!  And though the state of Mississippi thinks it will deter me from eating soup by keeping the temperature in the 80s, ohhhhh no.  There is too much Ohio in me.  Nothing can stop me from making soups once I get that fall feeling.  So let me warn you know.  Today was the first of many days of soups that will stretch from now until February.  Get ready.

I also love spicy foods.  And cumin.  There is literally no such thing as to much cumin in a recipe.  Yum.  This recipe as written is not for the weak at heart.  When I say “spicy” black bean soup, I mean it.  Cut down the chili powder or take out the jalapeno if you are not a huge spice person.  Otherwise you are going to need to serve this soup with a LOT of sour cream.  Don’t let that warning deter you though!  This soup is absolutely delicious, you just need to make at whatever spice level you are comfortable with.  I like to serve this soup with some cheddar cheese and crushed up tortilla chips (although I didn’t have any today, boo).  I’m not a big sour cream fan, but I know other people are, and if you are definitely serve this soup with a dollop of sour cream on top!  Yum.

Ingredients

2 (15.5oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

6 cups chicken broth (substitute with vegetable broth or water if you’re a vegetarian)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp chili powder (cut this down to 1/2 tbsp if you want to cool it down a bit).

1/2 tbsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 hours, or until ready to serve.

2. Serve with cheese, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, green onions…basically whatever strikes your fancy.

Chicken Piccata

My roommate and I love mushrooms, so any recipe that uses plenty of mushrooms is a big success in our house.  I’m also a big fan of any recipe that involves a white wine sauce, yummy!  A word of advice though, don’t be like me and insist on substituting olive oil for the butter in this recipe.  I always do that.  Trying to be calorie conscious and whatnot, you know?  Most of the time it’s totally fine and I never really think there’s a difference in taste, but I used olive oil in this recipe instead of butter and I really think it would have been better had a stuck to the original recipe.  Don’t get me wrong, it was still absolutely delicious, but I think the flavor of the sauce would have been fuller had I used butter.  Also, if you decrease the amount of chicken, don’t decrease the sauce, it’s soooo delicious you’ll definitely want it all!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

2 tbsp milk

6 chicken breasts

4 tbsp butter (do it…)

1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced

1/2 a small onion (1/2 cup?), chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp capers

parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a shallow dish, mix together flour, salt and paprika.  Pour milk into a separate dish.  Dip chicken breasts into milk and then into flour mixture.

2. In a large skillet, heat butter over medium high heat.  Saute chicken until fully cooked and golden brown.  Remove chicken from skillet and place on paper towels.

3. Add mushrooms, onions, and garlic to skillet and saute for 3-5 minutes.

4. In a medium bowl, combine the broth, wine, lemon juice and cornstarch.  Mix together and pour over mushrooms and onions.  Add capers.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Spoon sauce over chicken and sprinkle with parsley to serve.

Kielbasa Pasta

I made pierogies (not from scratch, just the frozen kind…although I really want to make an attempt at homemade pierogies one of these days…) with kielbasa and sauerkraut a few weeks ago for myself and today I realized I STILL had some of the kielbasa chilling in the freezer.  Needless to say, it needed to get eaten pretty soon.  I wasn’t really feeling more pierogies, so I decided to make some pasta with it instead.  Yesterday I bought a bunch of green peppers at the farmer’s market here in town, so this dish seemed like the perfect use for both of these ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb kielbasa (I use turkey kielbasa, but whatever), sliced and cut in half

1 small green pepper (about 1/2-3/4 cup), chopped

1/2 a small onion (maybe 1/3 cup), chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

8oz pasta (I used penne, but use whatever you want)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, saute the kielbasa, green pepper, onion and garlic in oil until sausage is lightly browned. Stir in tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Spoon kielbasa mixture over pasta to serve and top with cheese.

Raspberry-Dijon Sauce

This sauce recipe comes from the wonderful food magazine Taste of Home.  Love it.  I get SO excited when my new Taste of Home magazine comes in the mail each month.  I used this sauce on grilled chicken, I basted the chicken with the sauce about half-way through the grilling process and then spooned some of the sauce over the top before serving.  In the magazine this recipe was part of a recipe for grilled turkey tenderloins and I imagine that would be delicious as well.  This sauce would probably be good with something like pork chops as well, just a thought.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raspberry jam

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 tsp orange zest

dash of dried thyme

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine all the above ingredients.  Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.