Crockpot Chile Chili

The weather is starting to get chilly here in Mid-Missouri and there is nothing better (at least in my opinion) to eat when it is blustery than a hearty soup, stew, or chili. So I decided to make chili!

I like my chili to be really spicy - well, if I am honest, I like EVERYTHING to be really spicy, but Brett has complained many times that the reason he does not like me to make chili is because it is too hot. I decided to be nice and use chiles for flavor, and just a little bit of heat and we ended up with this super tasty chili that we enjoyed with Fritos!

















Sorry for the horrible picture. Hopefully someday I will figure out how to use my camera.

The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Crockpot Chile Chili
1/4 cup Anasazi beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup cranberry beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup pinto beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup navy beans, rinsed
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed +
2 pasilla chiles, stems removed and rinsed
2 ancho chiles, stems removed and rinsed

4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 habaneros, seeded and minced *
2 gypsy (or other sweet peppers), seeded and minced *
2 yellow onions, chopped *
4 large tomatoes, cored and chopped *

2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed *
1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed *

cumin
cilantro
salt
pepper

(Start this chili in the morning.)

Combine beans and dried chiles in a crockpot and let simmer on low all day.

Before you go to bed, add all the vegetables except the sweet and regular potatoes.

In the morning, add the potatoes, and season to taste. Let cook for an additional hour or so or until potatoes are soft.

This chili was super tasty and would also be excellent with tortilla chips or on a baked potato. Mmmmmm.

'Til next time.

Two Bean and Lentil Chili with Local Veggies and Baked Sweet Potato Wedges

The cool evenings of fall make soup, stew, and chili some of the best types of food during this time of year. This post is about chili. I love chili, it is really versatile and can be made savory, spicy, and even sweet-spicy if you really want to mix things up a little bit. This time of year is also a wonderful time for those of us who like to eat local in the Midwest - we still have some of the goodies from the tail-end of summer (like tomatoes and fresh, hot peppers) as well as the staples of fall (sweet potatoes, winter squash) to work with. This meal was made for dinner last Sunday - the filling chili and tasty roasted sweet potato wedges were the perfect pairing with Sunday night football. Wahoo!

I also love how easy chili is. I had some beans on hand in the fridge, some fresh things, and I just shucked it all together in a large pot and let it cook for a couple of hours. Brett isn't the biggest fan of chili, I think I've mentioned before that I burnt him out on chili since it was one of the first homemade dishes I learned how to make. He really liked this batch and even happily ate the leftovers for lunch. That was how I really knew he liked it - he ate it again for lunch! He swore you couldn't tell that this was vegan chili.

The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms















Yummy, chili!















Baked sweet potato wedges.

Two Bean and Lentil Chili with Local Veggies
Makes about 5-6 cups of chili.

1 cup kidney beans, cooked
2 cups black beans, cooked ****
1 cup green lentils, rinsed
4 cups of water
4 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and minced *
1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced ***
2 "yummy" orange peppers, seeded and minced *
2 serexican chiles, seeded and minced ***
2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced ***
1 Spanish red onion, minced *
6 tomatoes (we used 3 red, 3 yellow), chopped *
6 cloves of garlic, minced *
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
black pepper
salt

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Season to taste - but be careful, you can always add more seasonings later. Simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours.

Baked Sweet Potato Wedges
1 large sweet potato, scrubbed and cut into wedges *
1 tbsp safflower oil
a couple of pinches of black pepper
sea salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Spray a baking dish with safflower oil.

Toss sweet potato wedges with safflower oil, pepper, and salt.

Place on baking dish in a single layer.

Bake, uncovered for 15 minutes. Flip wedges over. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Sprinkle with more salt if desired.

I will try my best to get the garden update posted tomorrow. It was really windy here yesterday - too windy to get decent pictures, so hopefully the weather will cooperate tonight. I am also feeling a little icky. I hope I'm not coming down with something. That would really suck.

'Til next time.

Lentil Chili Nachos

This was a really good dinner. I had something like this when I was in DC after graduating from college last year and the chili was way too flavorful and salty, but I loved the idea of a lentil chili nacho. Not only was this delicious, aside from the chips (which aren’t too bad), this was a very healthy, and easy to make meal.

Note: This makes a lot of chili, a lot. After I had filled our plates, I froze a quart, and put the other half quart of chili in the fridge for lunches this week. If you don’t like leftovers, you can always cut the recipe in half. It may also seem like there are a lot of hot peppers in here - this chili is not spicy at all (this was confirmed by Brett who is not a spice freak like me), however, if you are very sensitive or cooking for children, you might want to omit one of the jalapenos and the habanero.















This was Brett's plate topped with guacamole, olives, tomatoes and jalapenos.

This was my plate topped with guacamole, jalapenos, red onions, olives and tomatoes.

Lentil Chili Nachos

Lentil Chili:
2 cups dried green lentils
6-8 cups water

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, minced
1 habanero, minced
1/4 red onion, minced
1/2 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1-2 cans no-salt added tomato sauce (depending on how thick you want your chili)
chili powder
a couple large pinches chipotle chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
Mexican oregano
salt

Toppings (this is what we used - you can top it with whatever you want):
black olives
jalapenos
tomatoes
diced onions
guacamole

blue corn chips

Wash lentils well in a wire mesh strainer. Combine with water in a large pan, bring to a boil, and cook until lentils soft, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the rest of the veggies. Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium pan and cook the peppers, garlic, and onions until soft.

Once lentils are done, drain and rinse them. Transfer them to a large pot. Add the cooked veggies, tomatoes with chilies and tomato sauce. Add seasonings to your liking.

Keep on low heat and simmer for about an hour.

While the chili is simmering, it is the perfect time to get your toppings prepped.

Once chili is done, make a large ring of chips around a plate. In the center, layer the chili, whatever veggies you desire, and guacamole.

Having the ring of tortillas and dip in the center keeps the chips from getting soggy.

'Til next time!

Midwestern Spice Chili

I have been craving chili for awhile, but had avoided making it until I could come up with something creative, as I have, over the years, pretty much ‘chilied’ myself out. You see, chili was one of the first things I learned how to cook back when I was still an omni, so I made it all the time and wore myself out on it (and Brett too!). Then I came across SusanV’s Gold Rush Chili and thought it was a good starting point. I modified it to our tastes, and this is what I came up with!

A little note of warning though, if you don't like spicy food, either cut out or cut down the roasted hot peppers and cayenne.

Midwestern Spice Chili
1 cup kidney beans, cooked
1 cup navy beans, cooked
1 cup black beans, cooked
15 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1/2 butternut squash, cubed and roasted
1 sweet potato, peeled, cubed and roasted
jalapenos and other hot peppers, roasted and sliced
1/2 bell pepper, roasted and diced
1/2 cup corn, cooked
1/4 onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup water
regular chili powder
chipotle chili powder
Mexican oregano
cumin
cayenne (of course)
black pepper
salt

Heat water in a large pot, add onions and cook 5 minutes, add garlic and cook another few minutes or until veggies are soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Spice to your liking and simmer over low heat for a half hour to an hour for the flavors to meld.

This makes quite a bit of chili. We had our fill for dinner, portioned out two servings for lunch and then froze the rest. You could also just cut the recipe in half.

I also thought I’d leave you with the ‘recipe’ for one of my favorite snacks: mixed nuts and dried fruit. I call it a ‘recipe’ because there is no actually preparation really involved other than mixing the ingredients together in a bowl. But I thought I’d share this snack as it’s delicious, healthy, and filling.















J's Yummy Snack Mix

(Note: All my ingredients were organic and purchased from the bulk section. It cost less that $5 to make a HUGE container full of this.)

roasted peanuts*
raw almonds
raw sunflower seeds
raw cashews
dried mango
dried cranberries
raisins
dried cherries

*This is the only nut I bought roasted and salted as I wanted a little salitness in the mix. You could just use raw peanuts too if you wanted.

Mix everything together and chow down.

So yummy!

'Til next time!