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Turkey Chili

turkey chili

As I mentioned earlier, we chose to have our turkey this Thanksgiving in the form of turkey chili. We thought it would be a low-key way of incorporating the traditional bird into the meal, plus we are just big fans of chili. I’m happy to say that it worked out really well – delicious and virtually no stress in working with ground turkey, compared to a whole bird.

I actually made this with beef a while back, and I remember us liking it that way, too. So, if turkey isn’t your style, beef works well.

For a long time, now, I’ve been searching for a simple and tasty chili recipe, and I’m thrilled to have developed one that works well for our tastes. This isn’t a blow-your-head-off spicy chili, though you could probably add enough heat with chiles to make that happen if you’d like. It’s not a super thick chili (which has its appeal), and it’s not an overly soupy chili (a style of chili I find utterly unappealing) – for me, it’s just right.

My boyfriend loves it, and has been singing its praises on a daily basis since Thursday. I expect this will make its way into the monthly rotation, especially now that it’s getting cooler (though today it was 70 degrees in NYC!). I could also see doubling this recipe and freezing a bunch of it for quick meals after a long day.

Continue reading “Turkey Chili”

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Braised Red Beans

One morning this month I put some red beans in a bowl to soak while I was at work.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do with them, but I thought I’d check the internet that day for some inspiration.  Let me tell you – when you do a search on “red beans recipes” about all you’ll find are recipes – endless numbers of them – for red beans and rice.  Now, I like red beans and rice, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t in the mood for that dish.

So, I decided to put together flavors that I know work well together – onions and carrots as a base, some thyme and red wine for flavor, extra virgin olive oil for additional richness.  I wanted to use some of my home-cured bacon, too, as beans and bacon are a perfect match.  The following recipe is what I came up with.

I loved these beans so much – they were a fitting winter meal.  Rich and creamy – you could serve them with some kind of whole grain, but they were delicious all by themselves.  They were also extremely tasty as leftovers.

One more detail – I made these on a weeknight after work, so they are doable as a weekday dinner.

Braised Red Beans

2 slices thick cut bacon
1/2 large onion, small dice
1 medium carrot, peeled, small dice
3/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 cup cooked red beans
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water
10 springs fresh thyme
salt and pepper
grated parmesan (optional but recommended)

Soak the red beans in water and 1 tsp baking soda for 8-10 hours. Drain and rinse, and boil in fresh water until cooked through. Lightly salt them in the water. Drain and set aside 1 1/2 cups of beans (feel free to cook extra and freeze them for future use).

Set a large saucepan over medium high heat. Dice the bacon and put it in the hot pan with a touch of olive oil. Cook the bacon until it has rendered its fat and has started to become crispy. Add the diced onion and carrot and cook until they soften a bit in the fat. Add the thyme leaves and several pinches or turns of black pepper. Cook for about 30 seconds more.

Add 1/2 cup red wine and deglaze the pan. Add the red beans, olive oil and 1/4 cup red wine. Add the remaining 5 sprigs of thyme – whole sprigs, do not take off the leaves – to the beans. Add the water. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pot and let everything cook for 1 1/2 – 2 hours.

Remove the whole thyme sprigs and discard. Season the dish to your liking with salt and pepper.

Serve with grated parmesan.

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

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White Bean, Escarole, and Meatball Soup

As the weather continues to cool down, I am more and more in the mood for soup.  I love eating it and making it – it’s a great platform for creativity, too.

Last week, I had some beautiful escarole from my CSA share, so I wanted to do something with it.  White bean and escarole soup – which I have enjoyed many times over the years – immediately came to mind.  Easy to make, light yet filling, plus I had everything I needed on hand.  However, I wanted to up the nutrition in it since I was going to have to make it with water instead of stock (I had no stock on hand and prefer not to use the boxed/canned stuff).  Adding meatballs came to mind!  I enjoy them in Italian Wedding soup, so why not add them to my white bean and escarole soup?  The flavors seemed compatible.

We get this sweet Italian turkey sausage from the CSA that we just love, and I had some on hand and thought it would make for some tasty meatballs.  I actually hadn’t made meatballs before, but thought they couldn’t be too difficult – meat, eggs, some kind of binder.  However, I decided to check in with The Art of Simple Food, Alice Water’s book on cooking basics, just to see if there was more to meatballs than what I imagined.  Good thing I did, because there were a few other ingredients involved . Fortunately, they were easy to find, and they made my meatballs truly amazing!

The meatballs held up in the soup and added a lot of flavor to things.  And like I said, they kept their shape and didn’t fall apart, a scenario that had crossed my mind. And the flavors indeed did go with the escarole and white beans. Total win.

I chose to sprinkle my soup with grated parmesan, which I got some from the Italian deli near my apartment, for some extra flavor, and that was an excellent decision. It’s delicious – savory and nutty without being overly salty.

This soup takes about a half hour to put together once the beans are cooked and the meatballs are done.

White Bean, Escarole, and Meatball Soup

The meatballs could be your own favorite recipe, or this wonderful meatball recipe from The Art of Simple Food. I made a half recipe and ended up with about two dozen leftover meatballs, and used them for the following few days in pasta and just as a snack.

3/4 cup dry white beans, soaked with a little base (I use baking soda), yielding 1 1/2 cups cooked. Alternatively, you could use one 15 oz. can of white beans, rinsed.
1/4 cup diced onion
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 head escarole, washed, cored, and chopped into 1 inch strips
4 c. water or chicken stock
two dozen small meatballs (about the size of a rounded teaspoon)
salt and pepper
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Rinse the beans, and cook in water until done. Add salt to taste, then drain.

In a large pan, saute the onion in olive oil and a little salt until transluscent. Add the beans and cook in the onion/oil mixture for 5 minutes. Add the escarole and cook until it wilts.

Add water or stock and cook 5 more minutes.

Add the meatballs, and simmer for 15 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon into bowls and top with parmesan. Enjoy.

Makes 4 main course servings.

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Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens

balsamic garbanzos mustard greens

I’m a big fan of leafy greens – kale, chard, collards. I just love them! However, I’ve had a hard time warming up to mustard greens – they are often just too peppery-spicy for me, and eating a whole plate of them can be a challenge.  We got mustard greens in this week’s CSA share, so I wanted to find a way to prepare them in a tasty way.

mustard greens

While searching the internet, I came across a recipe from a most unlikely source: the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen website. While I am neither a vegan nor a fan of fat free cooking, the idea of ameliorating the peppery mustard greens with balsamic vinegar was appealing. And I love chickpeas. I decided to see what I could do to take it out of the “fat free vegan” realm and make the dish healthier and more nourishing.

greens onions garlic

Turns out it was pretty easy! I replaced the vegetable broth with pastured chicken broth I had made earlier in the spring, added some olive oil, and made sure to use naturally fermented soy sauce. I also used coconut sugar in place of refined sugar, or agave (which I don’t use or trust).

The balsamic vinegar really does help out with the peppery-ness of the mustard greens.  The garbanzos are sweet and mild, and the sauce was really yummy -tangy and a little sweet. The whole combination is really delicious.  I would make this again for sure.

It was also great the day after – I took it for lunch topped with a couple of fried eggs.  It was so tasty!

Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens
Adapted from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
10 ounces mustard greens
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons chicken broth, preferably home made
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon naturally fermented soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon coconut sugar
1 cup cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Remove any large stems from the greens and discard. Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

In a large skillet or wok, heat a tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté the onion until it softens, 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and red pepper and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Add the mustard greens, 2 tablespoons of broth, and cook, stirring, until greens are wilted but still bright green, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the salt, if using. Remove greens and onions from pan with a slotted spoon and place in a serving dish, leaving any liquid in pan.

Add the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and coconut sugar to the liquid in the pan (if there is no liquid, add 2 tablespoons of broth). Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by about half. Spoon the chickpeas over the greens and drizzle the sauce over all. Finish by drizzling another tablespoon or so of olive oil over the dish.

Serve warm, with additional balsamic vinegar at the table.

Servings: 2

This post is participating in Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade, and the Two for Tuesday Blog Hop hosted by A Moderate Life.

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Sprouted Lentil Soup

sprouted lentil soup

So, last week I showed you how to sprout lentils, and also mentioned how they make for a delicious sprouted lentil soup.  I made such a soup last week; it was a perfect dish for a cold winter night, and my household enjoyed it immensely.

The original recipe specifies using lentils du puy, a lovely little french lentil.  To be honest, I’ve never tried sprouting these lentils, but I think it would be worth a shot.  I used brown lentils, which are more common.

My favorite moment when making this soup is toward the beginning of the cooking process.  Onions, leeks, and garlic cook with thyme and cumin, and it smells amazing.  They don’t call them aromatics for nothing!  I feel like I could eat just that sometimes.

onions, carrots, celery

The soup recipe came from an old copy of Food & Wine, in an article about Bobbi Brown, the founder of the cosmetics company bearing her name.  She originally got the recipe from the  Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.

I halved the recipe; a full recipe will make 8 pints of soup!  You can, of course, double what I indicate below, as it would be an excellent way to feed an army of people.  This soup tastes even better the day after.  It also freezes beautifully.  Enjoy with a red wine of your choice (perhaps the same kind you put in the soup).

Sprouted Lentil Soup
adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

1/2 pound sprouted lentils
a generous glug of olive oil, plus more for serving
1 large onion
2 medium garlic cloves
3 large leeks, whited and tender green parts only, chopped
celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 tablespoon chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 celery ribs, cut into 1/4 inch dice
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock or water
1 pint crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons dry red wine
freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving

Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Add the onions, garlic, leeks, 1/2 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, the thyme and cumin, and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very tender, 15-20 minutes.

Add the celery and carrots and cook until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes.  Ad the stock/water, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and sprouted lentils to the pot.  Increase the heat to high, cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce the heat to moderate and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about an hour.

Stir in the red wine and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of parmesan.

Makes 8 cups.

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Sprouting Lentils

I love sprouting lentils.  It’s easy to do, fun to watch the lentils grow their little sprout tails, and by doing this their nutritional value gets a big boost.  Sprouting also makes them easier to digest by neutralizing the phytic acid, which is found in all grains and seeds.  Additionally, sprouted lentils provide two amino acids – methionine and cystine – that unsprouted lentils do not.

Throughout history, sprouting has been a traditional treatment of seeds and grains prior to eating.  The Chinese knew about the benefits of sprouting centuries ago, sprouting mung beans in order to prevent scurvy (germinated seeds contain vitamin C ).  In the West, myriad beers were made from sprouted grains.

lentils under water

lentils after first soaking

Your lentils must be organic; conventionally grown lentils will not sprout.  Sprouting should only take a couple of days from start to finish.  I like to use a colander as the vessel for my lentil sprouting.  Here is a reasonable timeline:

  • In the evening put the lentils in a bowl and cover with water.
  • The next morning, rinse the lentils in a colander, and shake out as much water as you can.  Leave the lentils in the colander, and place it on a plate covered with a towel.  Cover the lentils with another towel and set someplace where the lentils will be undisturbed.
  • That evening, repeat the process.  The next morning, repeat the process.
  • That evening, your lentils should have little sprouts coming out of them!

You can repeat this for a couple more days, depending on how long you want the sprouts to be.  For lentils, it’s best for the sprouts to be no longer than a quarter inch.

rinsed lentils

baby sprouts

So, how do they taste?  As delicious as unsprouted lentils.  Just like with any legume, it’s best to not eat them raw.  They are great lightly steamed, or used in my favorite way, in delicious sprouted lentil soup.

Happy sprouting!

sprouts up close

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Socca

socca round

Socca, too me, has always had an exotic aura about it.   From time to time I’d imagine what it might be like to eat it while lingering on vacation in the south of France, enjoying this chickpea crepe on a lazy afternoon in sea-salted air.

I wondered if it needed special ingredients that you could only get abroad.  Well, the answer is… no.  Turns out it’s simple, unpretentious food, made with only a handful of ingredients. My favorite!

I was inspired most recently to make socca after going through the little bags of flours in my pantry, and putting some of them in glass jars that I bought on the weekend. I had the majority of a bag of chickpea flour sitting on the shelf, left over from making baked sweet potato falafel a while back.  The flour didn’t all fit in my glass jar, so I thought why not use some of it up. Socca came to mind immediately.

socca batter in the pan

socca slice new

I first checked for the recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, but turns out that particular recipe called for an addition of a cup of white flour, something I wasn’t too keen on. So, I turned to the interwebs for guidance. I came across David Lebowitz’s recipe, which was simple and straightforward in its ingredients, and was exactly what I was looking for (and no white flour).

It was delicious!  Very easy to make, consisting of five ingredients that come together effortlessly.  It was well-received in my household, so much so that I plan to make it regularly.  This summer I’ll be eating it with an ice cold glass of rosé.

Socca
from David Lebowitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris

I found it to be easier to heat up the initial pan of olive oil on top of the stove instead of in the oven with the broiler. This also means there is one less scary grab of a hot hot hot pan handle.  Socca is also naturally gluten free.

1 cup (130g) chickpea flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (280ml) water
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
freshly-ground black pepper, plus additional sea salt and olive oil for serving

Mix together the flour, water, salt, cumin, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Let batter rest at least 2 hours, covered, at room temperature.

To cook, heat the broiler in your oven. Oil a 9- or 10-inch (23cm) pan (I use a well-seasoned cast iron skillet) with the remaining olive oil and heat the pan on top of the stove (you can heat it in your oven if you prefer).

Once the pan and the oven are blazing-hot, pour enough batter into the pan to cover the bottom, swirl it around, then pop it back in the oven.

Bake until the socca is firm and beginning to blister and burn. The exact time will depend on your broiler.

Slide the socca out of the pan onto a cutting board, slice into pieces, then shower it with coarse salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Cook the remaining socca batter the same way, adding a touch more oil to the pan between each one.

Makes about three 9 10-inch (23cm) pancakes