Quaker’s Chicken Barley Chili

This recipe comes from the back of a Quaker Barley box. It is one of my favorite things to make. It is extremely idiot-proof, delicious and it makes a ridiculously large quantity. Mike and I can eat it for days without tiring of this hearty stew. It also freezes well. I serve it with lots of fresh chopped cilantro.

(1) 14.5 oz can of diced stewed tomatoes, undrained
(1) 16 oz can/jar of tomato sauce or salsa
(1) 14.5 oz can of fat free chicken broth
1 cup Quick barley
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin or paprika

Combine these 7 ingredients in a 6-quart saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

While those ingredients are simmering, cook:

3 cups (1.5 pounds) of chicken breast. Cut up chicken into small cubes/pieces.

After the 20 minutes are up, add to the pot:

(1) 15 oz can black beans, drained
(1) 15 oz can white whole kernel corn, undrained
+ the chicken you just cooked

Increase heat until it comes to a boil, then reduce and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until barley is tender.  

Serve topped with light sour cream and/or cheddar cheese if desired.

Makes 11 (1 cup) servings.

 

Vegetarian Chili

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves (minced)

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

1 small yellow squash (or zucchini), cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into half moons

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon Tabasco

1 cup pale beer or vegetable stock

1/2 of a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes

1 14 ounce can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup spicy vegetarian refried beans (about 2/3 of a can)

salt

 

Preheat a large soup pot over med-high heat and add the vegetable oil.  Add the onions, bell pepper, squash, and garlic.  Season the veggies with the cumin, chile powder, hot sauce and 1 teaspoon of salt and saute for 5-6 minutes to soften and lightly brown the veggies.  Deglaze the pan with the beer or vegetable stock (this means just add the liquid and scrape the pan so nothing sticks).  Add the tomatoes and kidney beans and stir.  Thicken by stirring in the refried beans and simmer for about 10-15 minutes over low heat.  Enjoy!

 

Keri attests to this recipe’s deliciousness. It is from Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals.

Feijoada

Feijoada (from the LLL Whole Foods for the Whole Family cookbook)
submitted by Casey
2 c. dried black beans
8 c. water
2 c. leftover cooked sausage and ham
1 t. oregano
1 t. (or less) salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 onions, chopped
chopped fresh parsley to taste
2 T. oil

Rice:
1 onion
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 T. oil
2 1/2 c. uncooked brown rice
5 c. boiling water

Soak beans in water to cover overnight, drain.  Combine with 8 c. water in large saucepan.  Simmer for 1 hour.  Add sausage, ham, oregano, salt, and 1 clove of garlic.  Simmer for 1 to 2 hours longer or until beans are tender.  Saute remaining clove of garlic, tomatoes, onions, and paresley in oil in skillet.  Add 1/3 of the bean mixture, mash and mix well.  Return to the saucepan; keep warm.  For rice, brown onion, tomatoes, and garlic in oil in skillet.  Add rice and boiling water.  Cook over low heat for 45 minutes or until rice is tender.  Spoon mound of rice onto each plate.  Top with serving of meat and beans.  Serve with hot sauce.  May substitute pork, lamb, chicken, or beef for sausage and ham; may use stock instead of water.
Yield:  8 servings

White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Alternate name - “Thank Goodness for the Kitchenaid”

Don’t like white chocolate?  Hate pecans?  Don’t prefer oatmeal cookies?  Don’t worry, you’ll still like these.  They disappear in a second and I get asked for the recipe at least twice no matter where I go with them.  They’re pretty sweet (I decrease the sugar regularly) and forgiving.  I suggest going scant on the salt, soda and powder and using a cookie scoop (I go slightly heavy on the vanilla as well).  The dough is very, very thick and chunky - if you do these by hand use your sturdiest spoon/spatula or just your hands.  Don’t overcook them - just barely brown on the bottom is best.  I never grease the cookie sheets - I use parchment (and re-use it till I’m out of dough - I make two batches of these normally).  And if I’m having trouble with overbrowning I’ll bake at 325 for 11-12 minutes. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats, white chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Rugelach

Rugelach Recipe

Here is the best recipe I found to make rugelach, cresant shaped food that Jewish grandmother’s love to make and serve. I like to use mini chocolate chips instead of raisins. I also like to roll the rugelach in cinnamon sugar before baking. 

Click on Nanny and Jonah for the link!

 

Jicama Salad by Elise

This one is not mine. But I do love jícama and I’ve been wanting some hearty salad recipes lately (Jen’s lentil salad-add idea has me pursuing this even further).

Jícama will always remind me of my grandma. She used to serve it as an appetizer with orange wedges, thickly julienned, and tons of lime juice, salt & a dash of chile powder (but not too much).

We eat it more like fruit in Mexico and traditional piñatas have them inside (yeah, ancient mexican secret: you never dive for stuff when it first breaks!!) But I’m excited to welcome it into my life as a veggie!

From this site:

<snipped from the site…>… if you are serving the salad on its own, then you may want to add a little olive oil or some chopped avocado to the salad so it is balanced in and of itself [or use as a side salad to balance another dish].

Ingredients

• 1 large jicama (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, then julienned or cubed (easiest to work with if you cut the jicama in half first)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 a large cucumber, seeded, chopped
• 1 navel orange, peel cut away, sliced crosswise, then each round quartered
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup lime juice
• Pinch of cayenne
• Pinch of paprika
• Salt

Optional

• 1/2 avocado chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Method

1 Toss together the jicama, bell peppers, red onion, cucumber, orange, and cilantro in a large serving bowl. Pour lime juice over all. Sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne and paprika. Season generously with salt.

2 Let sit a half an hour before serving.

Serves 4.

If you have time, do visit her site. There some great stuff in there!

Super-fast lentils

This is the “OMG I didn’t have time to cooooook!!!!” dish that I brought to a potluck at Keri’s. It turned out to be ridiculously tasty for the effort spent. It takes about 15 minutes, and serves many as a side dish.

• 2 bags of Trader Joe’s precooked brown lentils
• 1 tub of Trader Joe’s precut mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions)
• Olive oil

Heat some olive oil in a broad-bottomed pot or large skillet. Saute the mirepoix for five to ten minutes, until the onions are clear and you’re getting some browning happening. Dump in both bags of lentils. Stir thoroughly and heat through. Pour on a little extra olive oil for flavor and texture. Serve warm.

This recipe could be used as a base for, oh, a million variations — a soup (add broth), a meaty stew (add browned meat and some liquid), a salad (mix with diced salad vegetables), a dessert topping (just kidding)… use your imagination!

Warm chicken taco salad

This takes about half an hour to prepare, and serves anywhere between 2 and 4 people. It’s a very flexible recipe, requiring neither dairy nor soy, though both are listed in the ingredients.

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 bag Trader Joe’s “Soycutash” (frozen corn, edamame, red peppers) or non-soy succotash
• Diced tomatoes and other raw veggies to taste
• Cheese, sour cream or unsweetened yogurt, etc. to taste — optional!
• Bag of tortilla chips
• Salsa
• Taco seasoning (I get mine from Penzey’s, but wherever is fine)
• Lime juice
• Oil

First, cut the chicken breasts against the grain into strips or chunks. Put them in a glass or ceramic bowl and mix them with some taco seasoning, oil, and a few squirts of lime juice. Marinate for anywhere between 10 minutes and several hours (in which case you should refrigerate it, obviously!).

Next, prepare the bowls. Tortilla chips go in first, then tomatoes and other fresh veggies. If you’re using cheese, put that on top, so that the hot ingredients go on top of it and melt it. Mmmm.

When you’re ready to cook, brown the chicken in a skillet: heat up a few Tbsp of oil, place the strips carefully into the hot oil with tongs, and let sit until the edges of the chicken are white and opaque. Pull up with tongs and flip them over. Cook for a few more minutes until a test strip is done in the middle.

Meanwhile, put a little oil in another skillet, heat it gently, and pour in some of the frozen succutash (as much as you want). Sprinkle in some taco seasoning and a squirt or two of lime juice. If you want, you could put in some salsa, even a little minced garlic… Heat through and turn off the stove.

Finally, spoon the hot succotash over the cheese in the bowls, and then lay strips of hot chicken over that. Garnish with salsa, and sour cream or yogurt as desired.

Burrito Casserole

Okay, it’s not exactly a recipe, but that’s because my husband does not cook with recipes. Here goes:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package of approximately 10 (big) tortillas. We like the Trader Joe’s tortillas.
• 2 16oz. cans of refried beans. We buy vegetarian ones since the others have pork products in them.
• 1 16oz. can black beans, drained.
• 2 onions, chopped
• Garlic. We use a ridiculous amount, probably 1/4 c. minced.
• 1/2 can of salsa (”whatever you have left in fridge” - Aaron)
• 1 lb. shredded “Mexican” cheese. We buy whatever is on sale.
• LOTS of cumin
• Basil, oregano, cilantro if you want to feel “authentic”

INSTRUCTIONS

• Saute garlic, add onions, cumin, basil, oregano, optional cilantro.
• In same pan, add black beans and a few moments later add the refried beans.
• Stir in salsa, cook for a bit.
• Take this filling and make burritos. A large spoonful or 2 of filling for each tortilla, add some cheese (I personally would add about 1/2 the cheese to the filling as it cooks, but Aaron doesn’t.), roll tortilla. Set tortillas in a 13×9 pyrex/baking dish, seam side down. Layer if necessary.
• Pour remaining cheese on top of burritos.
• Bake in 350-ish oven for about 45 minutes.

This will freeze and reheat wonderfully.

Pseudo Meat Pie

Bill loves any meat-anything. So here goes one of my versions for him.  (Remove all dairy ingredients for a dairy-free meal)

Ingredients:

• 2 Pillsbury Pie Crusts (though i would have topped it with 2 more and I’ll make my own next time?)
• 3/4 lb. ground beef (i like it organic & really lean - at least 90/10)
• 4-5 small red potatoes (cut in small squares so they cook faster)
• 1 small/med onion -finely chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves -smashed and finely diced
• 1 cup [frozen or fresh] peas
• 1 cup [frozen or fresh] green peppers (I would have loved to have yellow and/or orange)
• 1/2 cup [frozen or fresh] corn
• 1 cup [frozen or in a jar] artichoke hearts
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I use a Mexican blend for more flavorful cheese) + 1-1.5 cups (yes, i looove cheese) for topping (or skip it and top with crusts)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan
• salt, pepper, other seasoning salts to taste (i.e. celery salt, garlic salt, etc. - i dash a little of it all!)
• enough oil to brown meat and sautée vegetables

Preparation:

• Pre-heat oven to 375°F
• Brown meat in med-high heat, add seasoning salt & pepper
• Line your Pyrex or butter it, then place your crusts
• Add onions and garlic - mix around till fragrant
• Add potatoes (and I’d add carrots and broccoli now if I had them) and turn heat down to med-low
• Keep adding veggies to the pan (peppers, corn, artichokes and peas in my case)
• Mix and continue to season (I season every time I add something else, pretty much :P) letting them cook a little by covering them with a lid for about 10 more minutes or so, then turn off
• In a bowl, combine cheeses & sour cream
• Fold mixture into meat & veggies once the meat mix has cooled off a little bit
• Happy dumping into the pyrex! Spread evenly
• Since I had no other crusts to top it, I added a whole layer of cheese as its topping. (If topping with crusts, don’t forget to brush them with some egg to make them shiny and poke them with a fork to let them breathe)
• Bake at 375°F for about 20-25 minutes? I broiled at the end to gratinize (or to get the crust golden. Clearly, i achieved a darker tone, more like charcoal!:-O )

I’m hesitant to post the photograph (as I just think my food photographing skills just plain suck)…

But just to let it be a learning opp for someone else - it don’t have to be purty to be reeeeal tasty!  Also, it’s pretty versatile. You can use any veggie combo and even add cranberries or raisins (I just forgot them). Listed under vegetarian b/c you can easily replace the beef with TVP, seitan, or whatever you may fancy. As far as being soy-free, just be sure the [commercial] pie crusts and seasonings don’t have it hidden?

Hope you enjoy!!

Emma, Bill & I did!  Max said he doesn’t like “meat pie” and won’t even go near it this time around, but funny how I remember him eating 2 bowlfuls of it the last time I made it!