As April looms ahead, however, I'm starting to fear that as much as I love the winter season it may never leave us. Every time I turn around lately it's snowing. Sometimes Sheppie (a fellow lover of winter) looks at me with her sad puppy eyes as if to say, "what is this snowy place in which you insist we now reside....and why do you keep sending me out in the elements without my trusty sweater?!" Clearly, I've failed her on many levels.
One area that my stock is starting to tick up in her eyes is with my eating habits. Several years ago, my FOTY was vegetarianism, or more accurately, pescatarianism, but as 2013 drew to a close I began to consider a pseudo-return to my carnivorous lifestyle. I mostly blame running for this. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get enough protein in me to keep from feeling exhausted whilst running. Not fun. So, come Thanksgiving, I decided to get back on the turkey wagon. It worked out well for me and I've since returned to chicken as well. I gave up turkey around the time it was growing in popularity as a substitute to beef-based, so now it's like a whole new world for me when I eat out!
And the cooking. My cooking has been taken to a whole new level. It's like the recipe flood gates have been open and the options runneth over. I have so many recopies I'm dying to try now, there almost aren't enough days in the week!
Since my cooking is often inspired most by the weather and my current mood, today's recipes pay homage both to the unrelenting cold and my newly discovered cooking options now that I'm back in the meat business. Get ready for a double dose of heart warming goodness.
3 Bean Sunday Chili
Ingredients
Original recipe found here
- One 28-ounce can diced no-salt tomatoes
- One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- One 15-ounce can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 1/2 small red onion, chopped
- 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup chopped bell pepper, color of your choice
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 Tbsps chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup white corn, fresh or frozen
Preparation
- Combine all ingredients except the corn into a large pot and cook over medium heat until the chili begins to boil
- Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Add corn and simmer for an additional 10 minutes
- Pour into bowls and top with cheese (mostly because I just love cheese) before serving
The colors in this meal were off the chain....
Plus I got to use my fun over the sink strainer/cutting board combo. I really don't break this gem out enough
A close second to my love of colorful foods is my love of veggies
This recipe was seriously so easy. Dump everything together at once and you're done
Can't wait to break this out for football season
Maryland Style Jambalaya
Ingredients
Original recipe found here
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1 small red bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 small green bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 lb turkey sausage, thinly sliced into rounds
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 (14 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
- 2 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning (this is where the Maryland aspect comes in, the original recipe called for Creole or Cajun seasoning here)
- 1 tsp thyme, crushed
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Preparation
- Heat 2 Tbsps olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat
- Add celery, onion, bell peppers, jalapeno and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and mostly cooked
- Add the remaining Tbsp of olive oil, chicken and sausage, and stir to combine
- Continue sauteing for an additional 5 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and mostly cooked
- Add the vegetable stock, tomatoes, rice, Old Bay, thyme, and cayenne, and stir to combine
- Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the rice is cooked, stirring every couple of minutes to ensure rice doesn't stick to bottom of pan
- Once the rice is tender, add in the shrimp and stir to combine. Let the mixture continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are cooked and no longer pink. When they pass the test it's dinner time!
The prep for this one required LOTS of chopping....and space
This was Bax's favorite part
She basically refused to leave the kitchen until she was certain the meat wasn't coming her way
And then the fun started!
And the colors. So many colors.
Preparing to be liquefied and simmer
No comments:
Post a Comment