If you were to look at my text messages, emails or the nicknames assigned to people in GChat, you might think that half the people I know don’t have actual names. Or that I have friends who fancy themselves celebrities on a mission to have the cleverest of names. Maybe you would think I was a secret agent (actually, it would be pretty cool if you thought that). Read more
Tag: entree
Food Matters | Broccoli Quinoa Salad
This post is part of the Food Matters Project, a cooking collaboration from a wide range of food bloggers. Each week, I will cook a recipe from Mark Bittman’s Food Matters Cookbook, which places an emphasis on mindful and sustainable eating. Follow along with us! My posts for this project can be found here.
Today is a Food Matters day.
One problem, I quite dislike the main component for the recipe for this week’s post.
White Chili with Turkey
I made this for dinner on Thursday night. I had picked up the peppers because they were on sale. I was going to make a chimichuri sauce for our steak dinner this weekend. But I got greedy & needed a change of pace from the pasta. No chimichuri for Blondie. But, there was leftover chili. Not that I wanted to share.
This is not your mom’s spicy tomato-y chili. There are not so many beans in here that you will be suffering, just enough to give it some body. The heat is not a slow cooked one, but a bright, fresh, tangy heat.
There is coriander in this recipe which lends a bright, lemony flavor to the chili. Don’t leave it out, it really makes the peppers sing. Fresh cilantro is also key – if you don’t have any, just leave it out. The dried stuff doesn’t work here. You can swap the turkey for shredded chicken, but don’t use ground chicken. It just isn’t moist enough.
| White Turkey Chilli |
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Recipe Type: Entree
Author:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 50 mins
Serves: 4
This easy chili comes together in about 30 minutes with minimal effort. It is spicy & light enough for a summer dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey, browned
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 serrano peppers, seeded & chopped
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded & chopped
- 1 anaheim pepper, seeded & chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled & chopped
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 can navy beans (or other white beans), drained
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Saute the peppers and onion in the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Cook until the onions become translucent.
- Add the garlic, coriander, cumin and cayenne and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).
- Add chicken stock and beans. Cook for about 30 minutes.
- Add cooked turkey & half the cilantro. Cook for about 5 minutes more (the meat should be heated through.
- Add half the cilantro and lime juice. Cook for about 1 more minute.
- If you like a smoother chili, blend with an immersion belnder for about 30 seconds, or place half the chili into a blender.
- Garnish with remaining cilantro and sour cream (or greek yogurt).
Notes
This is so easy, it almost makes itself. It also freezes well and keeps for a few days in the fridge. It is pretty low calorie, and fairly light. If you want a vegetarian version, use 2 cans of beans, omit the chili and use vegetable stock.
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1.2.4
Sweet & Hot Chicken Thighs
When I am not baking (which, in preparation for this month’s gluten free ratio rally, I have been doing each night), I am usually cooking something delicious for dinner before I do things like design gluten free flour reference charts and illustrate children’s books.
I saw chicken thighs while out grocery shopping and decided that I had to make something with them. I don’t buy meat often because it is just me eating it, and it just feels like too much hassle. But the chicken was calling to me.
I also had some University of Illinois honey (so famous that it made the Colbert Report) that I got as a Christmas gift and it was beginning to crystallize, so I knew I was going to make a hone chicken thigh.
And really, what good is chicken without sauce? No good. And since eating mayo is not so good for you, I blended it with yogurt & cilantro for a refreshing, tangy dipping sauce.
| Sweet & Hot Chicken Thighs |
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Recipe Type: Entree
Author:
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 7 mins
Total time: 12 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 T cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 t chili powder
- 1/2 t cayenne
- 1 t granulated garlic
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/4 c plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 c canola mayonnaise
- 1/2 c chopped cilantro
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Turn on broiler and prepare broiler pan.
- Whisk together the honey, vinegar, chili powder, cayenne, garlic and salt & pepper to taste.
- Brush chicken thighs with sauce and place under the broiler.
- After 5 minutes, turn over and brush with sauce. Return to oven.
- During this time, whisk together mayo, yogurt, cilantro and salt & pepper to taste.
- Take them out, turn them over and brush with sauce again.
- After 1 minute turn and brush the thighs one last time.
- Return to oven for 1 minute.
- Serve with a dallop of yogurt sauce on the side.
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1.2.4
Sweet Pepper Pesto
After the Gluten Free Expo, I went straight to Whole Foods and bought a loaf of Rudi’s Gluten Free Multigrain Bread. I really hate gluten free bread. And I mean, I really hate it. I refuse to eat sandwiches any more because of my intense dislike of it. I don’t even like the popcorn bread that my dad makes that every one raves about. Maybe it is all in my head, but I digress. I had a grilled cheese sample at the expo and I was sold.
There is this great little restaurant in town that makes an awesome grilled swiss with pesto sandwich that I remember from my glutinous days. It was simply delicious. I wanted to recreate that experience tonight. But, the basil plants that I have are not doing so well because it is too wet and I was out of roasted red peppers. So, a pesto recipe was born.
I then used it to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I have to say, this might be my favorite discovery from the Expo.
| Sweet Pepper Pesto Grilled Cheese |
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Recipe Type: Sauce
Author:
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Serves: 2
Sweet peppers, sweet onion and italian herbs make this fresh pesto delectable.
Ingredients
- 4 small sweet peppers or 1 large
- 1 small sweet onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 Tablespoon dried basil or 10-12 leaves fresh basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 slices Rudi’s Gluten Free Multi-grain bread
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 Tablespoons soft butter
Instructions
- Chop onion into quarters. Peel garlic. Remove stem ends and seeds from peppers. Combine in food processor or manual chopper along with herbs. Pulse until ingredients are finely chopped. Add olive oil and pulse until desired consistency is reached. I like mine chunky, but some people prefer theirs to have a finer dice.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and butter one side of each slice of bread. Put 2 slices butter side down in the heated skillet and sprinkle on enough cheese to cover the slice (I used about 1/8 cup per slice). Spread pesto on top of cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with the second slice of bread, butter side up. Place a heavy frying pan on top and cook for about 4 minutes. Remove frying pan, flip sandwiches and put the frying pan back on top. After about 4 more minutes, the bread should be golden and toasted. The cheese should be melty and gooey. Remove from skillet, cut in half on the diagonal and enjoy.
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1.2.4