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This Week’s Lunch: Turkey Black Bean Chili

By kerry · Comments (2)

Monday, January 9th, 2012

A couple of months ago, I decided that I’d test out a new way of dealing with lunch. Throughout my professional career I’ve gone back and forth with bringing lunch and eating out. Over the past year, I’ve gone mostly in the direction of the latter. It gets expensive to eat out all of the time and can be less than healthy. My plan was to start making one big entree on Sunday and portion it out for the week.

This has been one of the best ideas I’ve had in a long time and has stuck as a new habit. I’m saving money and eating better. It takes a couple of hours on my Sunday, but it’s time well spent.

This week, I made this turkey black bean chili perfect for these cold winter days.

Turkey Black Bean Chili

All of our lunches packed up for the week!

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced small
4 poblano peppers, diced small
3 jalapeno peppers, diced small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato paste
6 tbsp chili powder
3 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 lbs. ground turkey
1 lbs. dried black beans, soaked overnight
1, 10 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 medium zucchinis, diced small
12 oz. dark beer
4 cups chicken stock

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until they get soft.

Add the tomato paste and spices and stir together. Everything will combine together and look like a paste. Stir in the ground turkey and break it up.

Add the beans, tomatoes, zucchini, beer, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 2-4 hours until the black beans are soft.

Comments (2)

Categories : Comfort Food, Healthy, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Soup, Turkey

Sandwiches & Sweet Potato Cupcakes

By kerry · Comments (0)

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

Sometimes things are really busy at work and I get home and just don’t want to cook. It’s a strange feeling because I almost always want to cook. Last Tuesday we decided to make sandwiches. My favorite kind of sandwich is an Italian sandwich — especially with a little proscuitto! I made a little roasted red pepper salad to go with them. Along with some stove-popped popcorn, and some carrot sticks, it made a perfect, delicious, and quick weeknight meal.

Balsamic Roasted Red Peppers

1/2 jar roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
1 quarter small red onion, sliced very thin
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper, to taste

Easy roasted red pepper salad.

Italian Sandwich w/ Balsamic Roasted Red Peppers

Perfect, simply weeknight dinner.

This past weekend, we had two parties in one night. We attended an early Thanksgiving feast at Ronit and Ty’s; it was their yearly friends Thanksgiving and Ty has been throwing this for 13 years! I’m pretty sure we’ve gone to at least 6 of them. Lots of food and fun! Then we had to jet to party #2: Kevin’s birthday. We had a great time at both shin digs.

I never, ever want to go to a party empty handed — I always need to bake or cook something. In this case, I make two batches of Sweet Potato Cupcakes. I got the recipe idea from Martha Stewart’s Cupcake cookbook. I tweaked it slightly by adding cream cheese frosting along with toasted marshmallows and caramelized pecans (the cream cheese frosting was my idea; marshmallows and pecans from Martha.) I also added a couple of extra spices to the dry ingredients: ginger and cloves. These were DELICIOUS. Super tender, moist, and spicy. They also looked awesome (the caramelized pecans looked sparkly!) This is the second cupcake recipe I’ve made from her book — her yellow cupcake recipe was just as delicious, so I heartily recommend this cookbook.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

Yum! Sweet potato cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, toasted marshmallows, and candied pecans!

2 cups roasted, mashed sweet potatoes, cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups miniature marshmallows
Candied pecan pieces (see below)
Cream cheese frosting (see below)

Preheat over to 325. Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Beat in mashed sweet potatoes and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture in three batches, beating until completely incorporated after each.

Fill cupcake papers with batter to 3/4 full. Bake for about 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack before frosting.

To decorate, spread each cupcake with 1-2 tablespoons of cream cheese frosting. Top with 5-6 miniature marshmallows. Torch the marshmallows with a kitchen torch being careful not to melt the cream cheese frosting. You have to be quick. The marshmallows might catch on fire (like when roasting over a campfire!) Just blow out the flame as you go.

Sprinkle with crushed candied pecans.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Reduce to low and add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and then vanilla. Mix until smooth and combined.

Candied Pecans
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Heat sugar and water to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; cook until syrup comes to a boil. Boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is light amber. Remove from heat. Stir in pecans with a wooden spoon to coat completely. Immediately remove pecans from caramel; spread in a single layer on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let cool completely before using or storing; break into small pieces, if necessary.

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Categories : Bar Food, Comfort Food, Cuisine, Dessert, Italian, Recipe, Sweet Potato

Red Bean and Rice Cakes

By kerry · Comments (0)

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

It’s been awhile. I know. I get so behind with blog posts. There have been lots of dishes cooked and places visited since my last post. But for now, here’s a recipe that I created for a dinner that I cooked for our friends Josh and Melissa. They watched our dog when we went to New Orleans in March and asked us only to repay them in food. Great deal for us!

Since we were in the Big Easy, I was inspired to create these red bean and rice cakes. They combine everything good about red beans and rice in a compact little package. Because Melissa is vegetarian, I used a soy sausage, but meat eaters can certainly substitute a good andouille sausage.

Red Bean and Rice Cakes
Serves 4

3 tbsp. olive oil
Â½ large onion, chopped small
1 large green pepper, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning*
6 oz. soy smoked sausage (andouille preferable, but I could only find soy chorizo), crumbled
1 can, red beans, drained
2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup bread crumbes
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic. Cook on medium to medium-low heat until soft, but don’t let the mixture get brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, and sausage. Cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Add red beans to the pan and stir to combine.

Put half of this mixture into a food processor and process until it’s a smooth paste. Return to pan and stir to combine with the remained, unprocessed mixture.

Stir in brown rice and bread crumbs.

Let this mixture cool in the refrigerator for about an hour. Portion into 8 servings and create round cakes out of each portion

Set up a breading station with flour, eggs, and bread crumbs. Cover each cake in a thin layer of flour then egg then bread crumbs.

Add about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil to a deep sided pan. Heat to about 350 degrees. Shallow fry each cake by cooking to golden brown on each side. Drain on a rack with paper towels below. Serve with remoulade sauce.

* I like Joe’s Stuff cajun seasoning mix, but there are tons of different mixes out there. Just use your favorite. Joe’s Stuff has less salt than other cajun seasoning mixes, so if you have a salty one, use half of the seasoning listed in the recipe and add more to taste if needed.

Remoulade Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/8 cup flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

Whiz all of this up in a food processor or whisk together in a bowl (make sure you chop the parsley fine if you use this method.)

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Categories : Appetizer, Cajun, Comfort Food, Cuisine, Healthy, Main Dish, Recipe, Rice, Starch, Vegetarian

Parmesan Pasta with Peas

By kerry · Comments (0)

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

Sean and I were driving home from Albany the other night and we were hungry. Of course, I had to make a pit stop at the one rest area on the Mass Pike that only had McDonalds. So, instead, we got some Chex Mix to tide us over. By the time we got home, there was only time to throw together something quick and this did it. It was super easy to make with basic pantry items — and it was super delicious. Just what we needed after a long drive.

Sidebar: I love frozen peas. As a kid I always hated peas — I grew up with canned peas and I hated the mushy mouthfeel. Imagine my surprise when I tried fresh peas for the first time as an adult. They were so delicious. I find that frozen peas taste closer to fresh peas than canned peas. They are easy to always keep on hand, cheap, and good to toss into everything from rice to soup to pasta. An easy, peasy way of getting some veggies, too.

Parmesan Pasta with Peas
Serves 2

6 oz. pasta of your choice*
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. shallots, finely chopped
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Salt and pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a big pinch of salt and the dried pasta. When the pasta is about 1-minute from al dente, toss in the peas. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Once the butter is melted and bubbly, add the shallots and cook 2 minutes or until soft. Toss in the cooked pasta and peas. Add parmesan cheese, parsley, and pine nuts. Stir to combine. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

* I used a combination of angel hair and pasta shaped like little snails because that’s what I had. Anything tubular or shell shaped works particularly well with this because it gives the peas a place to settle so you get peas with every bite. However, in a pinch, any pasta will work.

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Categories : Comfort Food, Cuisine, Healthy, Main Dish, Pasta, Peas, Recipe, Side Dish, Starch, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Asian-y Noodles with Grilled Chicken

By kerry · Comments (4)

Monday, August 25th, 2008

I thought of this recipe on the way home today. Sean and I didn’t have very much in the fridge, but I knew we had some cabbage and some chicken that we needed to use up. I always have tons of flavorful pantry items (spices, vinegars, sauces, etc.) so it was easy to throw together. It turned out great. The noodles themselves were great served at room temperature — perfect for a warm evening like tonight.

You can serve this as a main dish with chicken (as written here) or shrimp; you might also serve as a delicious vegetarian dish by forgoing the meat all together.

Asian-y Noodles with Grilled Chicken

For Dressing:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp. toasted sesame oil
4 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
Juice of a lime
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. siracha sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

For Salad:
1/2 lb. fettucini
1/2 small head green cabbage, thinly shredded
1/2 small head red cabbage, thinly shredded
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp. chives, chopped
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 large chicken breast
Toasted almonds

Put ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl; whisk to combine.

Boil the fettucini noodles for about 10 minutes until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water until the noodles are cool to the touch. Drain well. Toss together with the cabbage, onions, chives, and carrots until all ingredients are mixed together well. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper (or, you could also marinate in teriyaki, hoisin, or any other asian-type sauce.) Grill until temperature reaches 165 degrees and slice.

To serve, place some salad in a large bowl. Top with sliced grilled chicken. Garnish with sliced almonds and sesame seeds.

Comments (4)

Categories : Appetizer, Asian, Cabbage, Carrots, Chicken, Comfort Food, Cuisine, Fish, Healthy, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes

By kerry · Comments (2)

Thursday, October 4th, 2007

I love sweet potatoes. They seem to be one of those “wonder” foods. They’re full of vitamins, fiber, and they’re really tasty! Last night I made these with dry rubbed pork chops — a really good fall meal.

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1 large sweet potato, diced
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. chipotle in adobo, chopped fine
1 tbsp. butter
1 oz. apple cider, warmed
salt and pepper, to taste

Steam the sweet potato until it’s fork tender (mashable). Toss into a bowl and add the other ingredients. Mash away. You might want to add more chipotle or adobo sauce if you can handle the heat.

Next time I make these I might also add a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground ginger. Yum!

Comments (2)

Categories : Comfort Food, Cuisine, Healthy, Potatoes, Recipe, Side Dish, Starch, Sweet Potato, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Potato Leek Soup

By kerry · Comments (3)

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

From Lisa:

“Do you have a potato soup recipe? I had some at a restaurant last week, and instead of big chunks of potato in a cream sauce, it was like mashed potatoes, but thinner. Smooth, but it stuck to the spoon a little. It was a little cheesy too, and topped with bacon. Mmmm. One of my favorite cold weather foods.. except that it’s been in the 80s here. I’d like to try making one with leeks too, except I don’t know what to do with a leek. Chop it? Blend it? Bash it up Jamie Oliver style? And what part of it – top, bottom, the whole thing?

Vegetables confuse me.”

So I came up with a potato soup recipe for her. It’s actually pretty easy and fast. It’s very smooth like a potato bisque, but if you’d like it more chunky, just puree it less at the end.

The hardest part is cleaning the leeks. Leeks grow in the sand and the roots tend to be very sandy and dirty. The dirt gets trapped between the layers of the leek, so it’s important to clean the leeks thoroughly.

The easiest way to do this is to cut off the dark, green tops of the leeks and discard them. They’re too tough to cook with.

Then cut the root end off and split the leek down the side so you have two halves. Separate layers a bit and put them in a container of water. The water should be at least 5 inches. When you put the leek into the water, give it a good swish, and then leave it alone. The sand should fall to the bottom of the water in the container. Then you can take the leeks out, dry them out, and chop them

Potato Leek Soup

6 slices of bacon
1 leek, medium dice
4 large russet potatoes, medium dice
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 quart milk, warmed
1 quart chicken broth, warmed
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a medium pot, add the diced potatoes and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are very tender (they’ll just about fall apart when they’re done.) Drain and set aside.

In a large, non-stick stock pot, cook the bacon until brown and crispy. Set cooked bacon aside and discard all but 2 tbsp. of bacon fat.

Over medium heat, add the leeks to the bacon fat and add a pinch of salt. Cook until soft, but not browned, stirring often for about 10 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic powder. Stir in the milk and half of the chicken broth. (I warmed these up in the microwave until hot to the touch but not boiling.) Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes.

Take the soup off the heat. Here’s where you’re going to puree the soup. You can do this using an immersion blender — just stick the blender in and whiz away. Mine broke, so I pureed it in the blender in batches.

I got another pot and put the pureed soup into a holding pot. Be careful pureeing in the blender. You will need to keep the top pour shoot open so that the steam can escape — and only fill the blender up halfway. Blend until smooth. There might be a couple of chunks left, but that’s ok.

Once the soup is pureed, pour back into the original pot (it’s already warm!) and bring back to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add as much of the leftover chicken stock as you’d like until the texture is how you like it. At the end, stir in the sour cream. Do not bring back to a boil after adding the sour cream.

Top with pepper and crumbled leftover bacon. A tablespoon of chopped green onions would also be a nice garnish.

Comments (3)

Categories : Comfort Food, Cuisine, Leeks, Potatoes, Recipe, Soup, Starch, Vegetables

Sometimes you just need comfort…

By kerry · Comments (1)

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

I’ve got a little secret: I love Ramen. Sure, it’s poor, student food, but there’s something about the ultra-processed, super-salty soup that I love.

I was sick this weekend and so I reached for the Ramen. I added some frozen peas and corn to make it “healthier” and added some egg at the very end of cooking — this is a trick I picked up from my dad. It didn’t heal me, but it sure helped make me feel better for a little while.

Sean let me have the Ramen and he reached for his idea of quick, comfort food: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (the Blue Box.)

Comments (1)

Categories : Comfort Food, Cuisine, Food Products, Misc.

Creamy chowder without the calories?

By kerry · Comments (3)

Saturday, March 3rd, 2007

Christine is full of good questions:

“Have you ever cooked with that milk thatâ€™s low-fat but supposedly tastes richer? I love chowder, but am trying to lose a fewâ€¦ Iâ€™m wondering if that milk would do anything weird when cooked.”

I’ve never actually used the richer-tasting lowfat milk, but I thought I’d try and create a chowder without all the fat. So I created this spicy corn chowder. I used Hood’s Simply Smart 1% Lowfat milk. I used cornstarch to help thicken the chowder at the end in order to knock out some more fat. The chowder came out thick, creamy, and delicious!

Spicy Corn Chowder
Serves 6.
250 cal., 3g fat, 4g fiber

2 lbs., frozen corn
1 tsp. olive oil
4 green onions, white parts minced and green parts sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large jalepeno pepper, seeds and membranes removed and chopped finely
2 roasted poblano peppers, skins and seeds removed and cut into 1/4 x 1/2 strips
4 cups Simply Smart 1% Lowfat milk
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1 tsp. smoked spanish paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. cornstarch whisked with 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spread frozen corn in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until some of the corn begins to turn brown. Stir the corn every 15-20 minutes for even browning.

Roast the poblano peppers. You can do this directly over the gas burner if you are lucky enough to have a gas oven. Use tongs to flip the peppers as they get charred and the skin starts to bubble. Otherwise, you can put the peppers in the oven with the corn until they are charred. You’ll want to turn the peppers in the oven during the cooking process.

Once roasted, put the peppers in a plastic container with a lid and let them cool. Once cool enough to handle, pull off the skin which should come off easily — this doesn’t have to be perfect, you might wind up with a little skin still attached to the pepper. Remove the stems and seeds and cut into 1/4″ x 1/2″ strips.

In a large pot over medium heat, sweat the white part of the green onion, jalepeno pepper, and garlic in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes.

Add the poblano pepper strips and corn. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, chili powder, and paprika.

Stir in the chicken/veggie stock and milk. Bring to a simmer. Add the cornstarch and simmer and cook until the soup is thick — about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To get a creamier soup, use an immersion blender to blend some of the corn and liquid. This will give your soup a thicker body. If you don’t have an immersion blender, take about 1 1/2 cups of the soup and use a blender to blend until smooth. Add back to the soup.

Stir in reserved green onion tops.

Comments (3)

Categories : Advice, Appetizer, Comfort Food, Corn, Cuisine, Food Products, Main Dish, Recipe, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Speedy Roasted Garlic

By kerry · Comments (1)

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

Who doesn’t like golden brown, soft, spreadable garlic? Not many people I’ve ever met. The problem is that to roast garlic in the oven takes FOREVER to get it to just the right creamy consistency. And, once it’s perfectly roasted, there’s still the matter of getting those cloves out of the bulb. It’s messy and almost impossible to get it all out and on to your bread.

Here’s a method I picked up from my last cooking class (one of the best things about school is that I get all sorts of great little tips from the chefs.) I did this for the first time last night for Valentine’s dinner (nothing says lovin’ like crazy garlic breath!) and it turned out perfectly!

Speedy Roasted Garlic

1 bulb of Garlic, cloves peeled (but still whole)
Olive oil, enough to cover the garlic in a small pan
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Salt & pepper, to taste

In a small pan, add garlic and enough oil to cover the garlic. Place the pan over a low flame. Let simmer until the garlic cloves become golden brown and soft. You’re looking for low, slow heat here. You’ll see some bubbles, but you don’t want the oil boiling or spitting at you. You’re garlic will likely be to the perfect state in about 1/2 an hour (without taking up valuable oven space!)

Once golden brown, move the garlic cloves to a small bowl. Pour in some of the (now really delicious & garlicky) oil. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir gently to combine.

Spread the garlic over crusty bread and dip in the flavored oil. Alternately, mix into some mashed potatoes or mashed white beans or a vinaigrette…or anything that needs some garlic! You can hold on to the garlic oil for a few days, but it will go bad after long.

Comments (1)

Categories : Comfort Food, Cuisine, Culinary School, Italian, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetarian