In the Southwest, we have more recipes than we need for toothsome green chile—all of them purporting to be the very best. And they are. Each and every one. I promise. Continue reading
Crock-Pot
Slow Cooker Pumpkin-Black Bean Chili with Alyce’s Green Onion Cornbread
The blog, along with Dave,”the babies,” and I, will be on vacation until late in October. Until then, make my easy Slow Cooker Pumpkin-Black Bean Chili. Happy Fall!
I’ve been making pumpkin chili off and on for years now… It seems to be my fall go-to for chili because ,#1 I’m not happy unless there’s chili in the freezer and, #2 making different kinds of chili changes up the menu and wakens the palate. Today’s version creates a pretty smooth, but not-too-spicy chili that doesn’t taste pumpkiny, but still has all the potassium, fiber, nutrients, and overall health goodness pumpkin offers. Pumpkin is also low in calories: go, pumpkin! If you are partial to chunky Pumpkin-Chicken Chili, try my stovetop version made with boneless chicken thighs and lots of vegetables like zucchini, along with both pureed and chunks of pumpkin. Continue reading
Slow Cooker Green Chile Beef Stew with Bacon on Cheddar Potatoes
I cooked Monday for Inter-Faith Hospitality network (IHN) families; it’s something I’ve done for years at more than one church. It’s a way of living life that makes a lot of sense to me; I like to cook and there are people who need dinner. Here in Colorado Springs at First Congregational Church, we bring already cooked or nearly finished complete meals to a church kitchen where families without physical homes gather, eat dinner with us, and then spend the night. A group of churches and temples work together and the homeless people spend a week at one place and then move to another while awaiting jobs and/or permanent housing. It gives all of the congregations a chance to participate without burdening any one financially or otherwise with the full-time housing of the ever-changing group.
Continue readingMeatless Mondays–Green Chile-Vegetable Crock Pot Soup
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| Vegan and Gluten-Free |
On Monday mornings, I read the Sunday New York Times. (Read Mark Bittman’s article on bread in yesterday’s NYT magazine–beautiful.) I’m totally perverse. Occasionally I snuggle up on the couch for a Sunday afternoon with it, but I work Sundays…
and after I eat a late lunch that I never cook, I typically read something a wee bit ephemeral like the current book club book, a Diana Gabaldan novel, a P.D. James or a Dorothy Sayers (I’m re-reading all of her mysteries this winter). Right now I’m stuck, really stuck on a book called, FROM HERE, YOU CAN’T SEE PARIS, by Michael S. Sanders (2002, Harper Collins) I’ve read a lot of books about living in France (Isn’t there a plethora?), and enjoy them all, but this guy describes things so vividly I feel not only like I’m right there, but perhaps I’m the one writing or maybe participating in some way. Quite touching, quite moving, quite arms-open-wide-here’s-how-it-feels.
There are times on Sunday that we go for a long walk with the doggies; we live near the Mississippi River and there’s a beautiful, miles’ long parkway with walking-bike trails. In the winter, it’s the only time we go to The Mall of America, despite the fact that it’s ten minutes away. Great place to walk in bad weather if it’s not too crowded; I seldom buy anything but lunch.
Anyway, that’s why I read the NYT on Monday after I do my power walk (which now includes four minutes of running a day–I keep edging it up–go bones) and have breakfast. (Breakfast today is a chopped Minnesota Honey Crisp Apple with 1/2 cup Fage No-Fat Plain Yogurt and a tablespoon of my own granola, which is terribly good for you!) Dave’s back in his home office or traveling, and I rarely blog on Mondays…except today…so I can just sit and enjoy the paper at my leisure while I catch up on laundry.
Today’s a little different…when I just had to share a simple, flexible, 0-1 Point WW chile vegetable crock pot soup on a meatless Monday. I would easily say this is 0 Points, but I’ve put in a sweet potato and it may make the second cup count as a point; I’m no Weight Watchers expert. I’ve had such good responses to my 0-Point Vegetable Soup a la Provence, that it spurred me to make another soup to keep me on my fitness program and to have at-the-ready …
LUNCH FOR THE WEEK.
Whether or not it’s cold where you live, this is a warm-up; the chiles and hint of chile powder take the vegetables out for a run while you do whatever all day long. You then have lunches–no temptation to go for take-out– or can freeze this in one or two-quart containers so that you don’t get bored with it. If you’re not watching every calorie P and Q, you might have a few tortilla chips and a little grated cheddar on top. Feeding a family or an individual who likes a larger, heartier meal? Serve two cups of the soup ladled over a half or whole cup of hot brown rice– or even 1/2 cup each pinto or black beans and rice. I like to blend just part of this soup and return it to the crock pot so that it has a thicker appearance and texture. Try this:
slow cooker green chile-vegetable soup
8-10 servings
Cook’s Note: Switch the vegetables around to accommodate what you have or like. Be sure any purchased or canned ingredients are labeled “gluten-free,” if needed. If you’d like a vegan version, just leave out the cheese garnish.
- 1/2 cup white wine or water
- 2-quarts vegetable stock, gluten-free
- 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 7-ounce can chopped chiles, undrained
- 3-4 drops hot sauce (I like Tabasco)
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 sweet potato peeled, large dice
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 each yellow squash and zucchini, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
- 1 parsnip, peeled, sliced thinly
- Handful of chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 cup corn, frozen or fresh
- 1 teaspoon each kosher salt and ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon each: fresh ground black pepper and chili powder (or to taste)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- tortilla chips (gluten-free) or grated cheddar cheese, if desired for garnish
Add all ingredients to a 6-7-quart crock pot. Set on high and cook four hours or set on low and cook 7-8 hours. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Remove about 1/3 of the soup to a deep pot or large bowl and puree using an immersible blender (or in batches in the food processor or blender) and return blended portion to crock pot. Stir well. Serve hot as is or garnish with grated cheese or tortilla chips, if you like. If desired, serve over hot brown rice. Cool and refrigerate leftovers within two hours for up to three days in tightly-covered containers or freeze as long as 4-6 months
Stove-top soup: Bring all ingredients to a boil in a 10-quart soup kettle. Lower heat to a healthy simmer and let cook 30-40 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Follow rest of directions above.
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Interested in more crock pot/slow cooker or soup recipes? Check out Kalyn’s Kitchen Slow Cooker from Scratch or Lydia Walshin’s Soup Chick dot com. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: While this recipe appears to easily be both vegan (without the cheese garnish) and gluten-free, I am not a dietary expert. Please be sure of your ingredients if you are on a special diet and consult a dietician with any questions.
Election Day Turkey-Lentil Crock-Pot Chili
If you’re like me, you’ll be all over MSNBC Tuesday night like icing on wedding cake. Like blue on jeans. Like red on Merlot. Like chocolate on chips. Oh well, whatever you’re on, you might want something done and done to get you through that long night. Just, please, God…let be over and clean and obvious. No hanging anythings and the Ohio machines all working fine.
I already made my chili and froze it. I just run that 4 quart container under hot water in the morning til it “pops” and then gently slide the frozen chunk into my crock-pot on “low” for the whole day. (Make sure and add a little water to the crock-pot before the frozen chili.) But since you didn’t know ahead of time…. Try this spicy, filling crock-pot chili that only asks you to….
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| 1. Saute two onions, four cloves of garlic, 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, and 3 stalks of celery ( all chopped) in 2 tablespoons olive oil. (I do all the chopping in the food processor.) |
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| 2. Brown 2 pounds turkey Italian sausage (1 pound each hot and sweet or to taste.) in another skillet. |
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| To speed things up, I do it at the same time. |
Pour the vegetables and meat into a 6 quart crock-pot and add:
2 28-ounce cans chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon each: dried basil and oregano
1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin and fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons each: Dijon-style mustard and lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional (if you didn’t use hot Italian sausage)
1/2 cup red wine (or chicken broth)
2 cups water
1/2 cup green or brown lentils (well rinsed and picked over)
1 15-ounce can each: black beans and pinto beans (drained and well rinsed)
Stir well, taste and adjust seasonings. Turn crock-pot to low and cook 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Serve hot with tortilla chips and grated cheese.
two-dog kitchen and around the ‘hood
please help
Hurricane Sandy Relief: Donate to Food Bank for NYC … right after you vote!
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| On the back porch: still ripening cherry tomatoes Dave picked 3 weeks ago. |
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| African chard from Wendy’s garden. I’m eating this in my egg-white omelets. |
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| Basil growing in the south DR window. |
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| My eastern garden smoke bush. |
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| Burning Bush–great fall color |
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| More of Wendy’s sage–picked last week and in water in a glass. |
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| Up close chard. Still eating from the yard in November. Thanks, God. |
Sing a new song,
Alyce
Sorry to be late in posting…I hate leaving my blog sit stale. Family illness has kept me away. Things are on the upswing now…
And I’m so glad the election is (hopefully) about to be over. Please pray for those without homes, heat, and power on the east coast. Our daughter now has power in New Jersey, but many don’t.