Chili "Fries"

Why do I crave chili on 96 degree days? No idea, but it's so good. All the time. This is another one of my perk-up-the-leftovers ideas, so you can start with any chili you have hanging around (probably not much this time of year), but here's mine (approximately) in case you are just venturing into the chili cooking world:

Serves: a bunch! (approx. 10-12 one cup servings) and freezes & reheats well.

1 lb lean ground beef (in my opinion- as lean as you can afford!)

1 can black beans, rinsed (approx. 15 oz.)

1 can kidney beans, rinsed (approx. 15 oz.)

1 can corn, drained (approx. 15 oz.)

1 can diced tomatoes (approx. 28 oz.), flavored if you like

1 can crushed tomatoes (approx. 28 oz.), flavored if you like

1/2 green pepper, diced

1/3 onion, white or yellow, diced

3 garlic cloves (the little sections), diced

a little olive oil

a little chili powder or McCormick chili seasoning packet (seriously, I'm a McCormick commercial)

In a large pot heat oil. Add garlic, saute for a couple of minutes. Add green peppers and onions, saute a few more minutes. Stir often to keep garlic from burning. Add ground beef, breaking it apart to crumbles. Cook until ground beef is browned. Add tomatoes, beans, and 1/3- 1/2 McCormick packet or chili seasoning to taste and stir to mix well. Let simmer for 30 mins or so. When it comes to chili, in my opinion, simmering is good. So if you have to add some water to allow things to simmer longer, I say go for it. But clearly I feel like you should do whatever you want in the kitchen :). About 10 minutes before you are done simmering, add corn and stir to mix everything well. I never thought to put corn in all my years of living in Indiana (the corn state), but a year into NC I was adding corn and loving the "fresh" taste it adds! This, by the way, will make a lot of chili.

Now you can stop here and dig in! Delicious, especially topped with sour cream and guacamole. (Guacamole? Yes! trust me!)

OR, you can make it awesome. Here's how:

For each serving thinly slice 6-8 ounces of potato into circles/coins (russet and Yukon are both good). For each serving pour in about 1/2 tsp of olive oil and mix around until potatoes are lightly coated. Shake seasoned salt, garlic salt or powder, and black pepper over potatoes. Mix around and repeat the seasonings. I suggest using a Tupperware with a lid for all this pouring/mixing/shaking stuff. Once potatoes are well seasoned, bake them on a baking sheet (covered with foil but NOT sprayed with cooking spray) in a 400 degree oven. If you sliced yours as thin as mine, 10 minutes will be good. If they're thicker, cook longer! Go ahead and test one, their delicious on their own. A few will get crunchy/crispy, but most will still be soft/tender. This is why I call them "fries" not fries.

Once potatoes are done you are ready to assemble. The ideal dish for this is a wide bowl. Layer in the potatoes (for each individual serving). Top with hot chili (about a half serving of what you'd want if you were just eating chili). Add on top of this sour cream and guacamole (Yes, the guacamole!), and cheese if you like. Dig in. This is comfort/sweatpants/football watching food if ever there was any! And yet I've made it, measuring serving sizes and leaving off the cheese, for a Weight Watchers Points Plus value of my typical dinner. And you will be full. Try it, love it, make for friends. Even if it is 96 degrees out.

Garlic Scapes, Green Peppers, & Chicken Stir-Fry

This is what I ate last night and it was delicious! So this is not so much a recipe as a recommendation: 1. Find Garlic Scapes (aka garlic stems) 2. wash and cut the into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces 3. stir fry them in something. I love 'em. A note on preparation: It is my impression that you only eat from the widest round end to the little nub. Above the nub, the shoot narrows and is less firm. I've never eaten that part, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can't, I just don't know.

What? You've never heard of garlic scapes? That's not surprising. I didn't discover them until just a few weeks before leaving China (after living there for 2 years), but when I did it was love at first bite. They are little green shoots that grow out of garlic bulbs and are often removed to encourage growth in the bulb. They are only good while they are green, left to grow to long they turn white and too my knowledge are no longer used in cooking. If you ask the produce person at your local grocery store and they look at you like you are crazy- I can empathize. Been there, done that. Not the you-might-be-crazy-but-let-me-ask-someone-else, the flat out you-have-made-this-up look. However, farmer's markets to the rescue! In both IN and NC I have found garlic scapes at the farmer's market. They do have a limited season, but ask around at a farmer's market (especially the veggie people) and someone should be able to help you out.

So last night I heated up some oil (olive oil, but I wanted sesame. It, too, got lost in the pantry) and cooked my thinly sliced chicken breast just to done, then set it aside. In that already hot pan I added a touch more oil and chopped green pepper and garlic scapes (washed and cut to about 1-1 1/2 inch pieces). I let them sizzle for a couple minutes, then added a little white wine vinegar, put the lid on top, and let the sizzling and steaming commence. Before all the liquid cooked out I added a little soy sauce and my favorite Chinese flavored stir fry sauce- Sichuan. Now I say Chinese flavored stir fry sauce because I think this is how grocery stores in America think of them, so if you look in the international isle, you should have some stir fry sauce options (sweet & sour, Sichuan or spicy or red pepper or just plain hot!, kung pao, etc.). I learned to eat veggies while living in China and the spicier they were, the better. If you're not so into the burning lips and runny nose, try another flavor or go with just the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Remember with any of those sauces that it is easier to add more than to "fix it" if the dish gets too sweet or too anything you don't like. I served this with quinoa because I had a low protein day, but rice would have been great too.

Stir fries are a great way to experiment in the kitchen!

Chipotle Chicken Pasta

Of all the recipes to start with, I'm not sure this is my best. But it is one that made me call my sister and tell her I had come up with something new if she wanted to try it.

Recipe amount for 1 serving for 1 individual, increase as needed. I don't anticipate this would make good left overs, but it should double/triple/quadruple well.

Chipotle Chicken Pasta

1 c. cooked pasta (your choice, I used spiral pasta because I couldn't find the spaghetti in the pantry)

3 oz. cooked chicken

1 tbs. butter

1/4 c. flour

1/2 c. sour cream, light

1/4 c. skim milk

McCormick Taco Seasoning mix

McCormick Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper marinade (optional)

Prepare chicken by marinading in McCormick Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper marinade and baking or grilling. Honestly, I suggest making this chicken alone as a different meal and making enough to have leftovers for use with the pasta. Already have left over chicken? Use that! Tear cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Cook pasta to al dente, keep pasta cooking water.

In a sauce pan melt butter over low-medium heat. Stir in flour until well blended. Stir in sour cream. Add 1 tsp. McCormick Taco Seasoning. Stir in milk and prepared chicken. Add more McCormick Taco Seasoning 1/2 tsp. at a time to desired taste. Stir in cooked pasta and add pasta water about 1 tsp at a time to your desired consistency. (If you like thinner sauces add more water or milk, thicker sauces add just 1 or 2 tsps of pasta water.) Continue to heat and stir on low-medium heat until cooked chicken is thoroughly warmed. Dig in!

Nothing fancy and a good way to use up left over chicken and/or pasta, but so delicious! Totally met my comfort food craving without crashing my most recent attempts at reasonably healthy eating. This, by the way, it pretty rich so I'd pair it with a salad or fresh fruit.

Well, maybe I'm a little crazy in the kitchen too

Alternate title: Like we needed another food blog.

We don't. I get it. I mean, I love them, but I'm not setting out to have one of those amazing blogs with artsy pictures of each ingredient. Rather, I thought this would serve as a great place to record what I'm cooking and what I'm making up as I go and how it keeps me sane. I often get asked for this or that recipe, so here's an organized storage place to direct folks.

Unfortunately, my recipes aren't always useful. My frequent response to the "hey, can you give me the recipe for this?" question is "uhm, maybe...if I can remember it." You see, where as I thrive on order and rules in all other areas of life, the kitchen is where my creativity kicks in. And that means I rarely measure, barely follow recipes (I consider them inspiration), and have a hard time repeating exactly what I've created. Disasters occur on occasion and I consider that more a part of the process than failure. So, how will this blog be helpful? Well, maybe I'll start measuring. Or not.

But all this to say I love to cook. I'm working on my PhD and it is not unusual for me to show up during the busiest time of the semester with a plate of Dark Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal cookies. (If I ever figure out how I made them, I'll let you know. They were delicious.) My tag line is "I cook my stress," and when I share the products with others, I only end up eating part of my stress :) I love to feed people. The books may say there are 5 love languages, but I beg to differ. I suggest 7: cooking (and pranking) should be added.

I have no delusions of daily updates, or of pretty photos, or of gourmet food. But I come from the generation inspired by that woman that married a cowboy and that lady that took on Julia Child's cookbook and this move back towards making, actually starting from raw ingredients and making your own food. Not that I don't take short cuts; I mean thank goodness for McCormick. But inspired to know that not every fruit comes from a can and cakes actually start with flour, not Betty Crocker magic dust.

And so here begins the blog about what I'm cooking and if it is keeping me sane. Perhaps I should note that I am have multiple food personalities and will likely blog recipes from the "clean eating" personality, the weight-watchers-friendly-but-not-so-clear personality, and the chocoholic personality. All things in moderation friends, all things in moderation.