White Chicken Chili

When I saw this recipe on Closet Cooking, I had to try it. It was the perfect way to use my leftovers from last night's roast chicken. I don't know why, but I thought that a white chili would somehow be less flavourful but it was pretty robust! I couldn't find canned chopped green chilies, but I found a jar of salsa verde, so I used that instead.

Here's the recipe copied from Closet Cooking:

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 tablespoon cumin (toasted and ground)
2 (4.5 ounce) cans chopped green chilies (I used salsa verde)
2 jalapeno peppers (sliced)
3 cups chicken (cooked and shredded)
2 (19 ounce) cans northern beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon masa (or cornmeal)
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-8 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cumin and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the green chilies, jalapenos, chicken, beans, chicken stock, oregano, salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Mix the masa into the milk and then mix it into the chili and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Chicken Enchiladas

When I go grocery shopping, I seldom go down all the aisles. But since baby fell asleep in the shopping cart, I wanted her to nap so I took my time.

I ended up getting some inspiration to make Mexican food. I used a lot of shortcuts in this recipe so it was easy to throw this together.

Ingredients

8 flour tortillas

1 box Spanish rice cooked to directions

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced

1 onion, sliced

1/2 red pepper sliced

1/2 green pepper sliced

1 package Fajita sauce mix

2 cups shredded cheddar/jack cheese

Mexi-ranch sauce

Mix together:

1/3 cup ranch dressing

1/4 cup salsa

2 tbsp sour cream

Directions

Cook rice according to boxed directions. Meanwhile, stir fry onion, chicken strips and peppers until cooked through. Add fajita seasoning to package directions.

Spread half of the mexi-ranch sauce to the bottom of a baking dish.

Fill tortilla with a sprinkling of cheese, some Spanish rice and some of the chicken fajita mixture; roll tightly and place in baking dish seam side down.

Once all tortillas are filled and rolled, top with the remainder of the mexi-ranch sauce and rest of the shredded cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes until cheese is bubbling and browned.

Chicken Fajita Bowl

This dish was inspired by my craving for chicken fajitas and my lack of motivation to go to the store and pick up tortillas. This recipe serves 4 (perfect for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunches).



Ingredients
2 chicken breasts sliced
2 peppers sliced (red & orange)
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tomato chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 lime zest and juice
1 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos
2 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Saute the garlic in a hot skillet until fragrant. Add cumin, chili powder, lime juice, lime zest and chicken and stir until coated and cooked through. Add onions, peppers, jalapenos and tomatoes and saute until tender crisp. Stir in sour cream to create a sauce. Serve over rice and top with cheddar cheese and extra sour cream.

This was a very good concoction. When I stirred everything together in my bowl it looked like this...YUM!!

The BEST Chili con Carne

I LOOOOOOVE homemade chili, and though I still think my mom is the master, this recipe is just amazing. And super easy too. It has a surprising secret ingredient - cocoa. I introduced the recipe to my co-worker, Tetiana and at first she was VERY skeptical (Her reaction was, "Chocolate in chili is just disturbing!!") but she has already made it twice since I gave it to her! I think that's a pretty good sign!



Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 red peppers, chopped
500g ground beef (one packet)
3 pickled jalapeno chiles, seeded and finely chopped (2-3 tbsp)
2 tbsp chili powder
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can tomatoes, chopped
1 can white kidney beans rinsed and drained
Directions
Brown ground beef in a large pot
When cooked through, push the meat to the edges of the pot to create a hole.
Pour olive oil in hole and saute onions and garlic until softened and translucent (5 mins).
Add red pepper and saute until tender crisp (5 mins).
Stir in jalapenos, chili powder, cocoa, salt coriander, oregnao tomatoes with their juice; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer stirring occasionally until slightly thickened (15-20 mins, though sometimes I like to leave it longer for richer flavour!).
I like to eat this over rice or sprinkled with cheese. If I'm feeling ambitious later, I might just make Mandy's cornbread!