How to cook Homemade Beanless Chili

So much for daily blogging huh? I know, I know! I have to re-think my blogging schedule. I think it's in part due to me losing my cooking mojo for a minute....no cooking=no new recipes, ya dig! Sincerest apologies again, that said, let's get this show on the road!

Chili, chili, chili! I love it, but don't love beans, so I decided to just omit it and this is also my first time making chili and it turned out not bad at all! It's very easy to make and you only need one pot and a little less than an hour!

To make homemade beanless chili, here's what you'll need:
I pack ground beef (80/20: 20 meaning 20% fat and 80% beef)
1 s red onion
1 m fat juicy tomato ;-)
2 garlic cloves
1 knorr cube
1 tsp Goya Adobo seasoning
1 tbsp ground red pepper
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp tomato paste (just for color)
1 tbsp Canola oil (vegetable or olive works too)
1 scotch bonnet pepper or habanero
3 cups water
Handful fresh cilantro
Crackers (for serving)

Pre-heat pot on stove over medium heat
Add oil to pot
Add ground beef
Add seasonings (minus tomato paste and cilantro)
Stir and let brown a little
Chop up onions and garlic, add to beef in pot
Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes
Chop up tomatoes, add to beef
Add 3 cups water, cover and let cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes
Add tomato paste and knorr cube, stir, let cook for about 30 minutes
Add whole habanero, stir in chopped cilantro, let gradually reduce (don't let all the liquid dry out, it should be thick but have some liquid to it)
After reducing, it should look similar to this (at this point, if you can find the habanero, remove it or leave it in, totally up to you!)
Serve with crackers as a garnish
Voila!

Mamma mia! This was superb, I kid you not! It was SO good with the crackers, you absolutely and positively need to try this...seriously! I like to call this my 'African chili,' mainly because I think it's so not really the traditional way of cooking chili.

I prefer using fresh ingredients instead of canned food with all those preservatives, so instead of canned tomatoes, I used fresh tomatoes. The only canned item I used was the canned tomato paste and it was used just to get that 'deep red' chili color.

The cinnamon was just an extra addition, I got carried away when adding the seasonings, but it worked out really well, so no harm done! You could also use ground turkey instead of ground beef, but keep in mind that it's leaner and by extension drier, so you might need to help it along early on with some tablespoons of water.

You can add grated cheese, sour cream or yogurt as a garnish too, but all that (for me) takes away from the way I like my chili, but if you're making it, omit and add to personalize it to your taste! You can even eat it over rice or pasta, on a hot dog in the bun, over some fries...the possibilities are endless!

This gets an A+ in my books, so hope you try and like :~)


Enjoy...

Healthy Eating Tips #005

#005: Does your plate always look tan and/or brown (think fries, burgers, mac and cheese etc)? Try adding some color (in the form of fruits and vegetables!) into your meal as a healthier choice.

Cooking Tips & Tricks #008

#008: Make your own homemade fat-free stock/broth by chilling the stock first after boiling your meat or chicken. This way, the fat rises to the top and solidifies. At this point, you can then remove the solid mass before cooking with the stock/broth. (The solid fat usually has an orange like color).

Healthy Eating Tips #004

#004: Trying to eat healthy and have a hard time deciding what to eat for lunch? Try restaurants that offer a soup and sandwich combo. Opt for a low-calorie soup (like chicken noodle) and you'll fill up faster with the soup and cut your caloric intake.

I'm a huge fan of Panera bread and they offer this combo almost everyday, just get yourself a menu to go so you know what to order ahead of time instead of hemming and hawing in the store!

Sauteed Green Beans with Walnuts (Picture Tutorial)

This should probably be called 'Boiled Green Beans' seeing as I actually didn't saute them, but boiled green beans just sounds so off, no? However, you can easily saute the beans after boiling, I'll state how at the end of the recipe, note ingredients with the asterisk/star, so this will be like a two-in-one recipe, kinda...

This is a really simple recipe, takes almost no time at all and is healthy to boot!

To make sauteed/boiled green beans, here's what you'll need:

Handful of green beans
Water
Salt
Handful chopped walnuts
*Olive oil (Canola will also work, even vegetable or butter)
*Chopped/minced garlic
*Chopped/minced ginger
*1/2 tsp Goya Adobo seasoning (either use this or salt, but not both; substitute for 1 maggi/knorr cube)
*1/2 tsp Black pepper

Thaw green beans (if they're frozen)
Rinse green beans (to remove dirt etc)
...and cut off tips of green beans; set aside
Fill a pot halfway with water
Add enough salt so it's shockingly salty (you don't want to undersalt as this needs salt; when you taste it, you'll know when it's shockingly salty ;~)
Let salted water boil over medium heat
Add green beans
Boil for 5-10 minutes until firm yet tender (or as long as you feel is necessary, 15 mins maybe, but not too much longer or else you'll lose the 'green' benefits!)
Once done, drain the water from the beans
Add beans to plate
Sprinkle some walnuts over
Voila!
*At this point, to make sauteed green beans, simply do the following:

In a fry pan, add 1 tbsp Olive/Canola/Vegetable oil or butter
Add chopped/minced garlic and ginger (1/2 a tsp should do, if this is too much, add a pinch instead)
Let heat up over medium heat (you don't want the oil to heat up first, so the flavors of the garlic/ginger infuses into the oil)
Add seasonings; reduce heat to low
Add drained green beans
Quickly stir fry
Add chopped walnuts into pan and stir OR just sprinkle on top of beans after plating
**Conversely, you could use bacon fat: just fry up some bacon and instead of discarding the bacon grease, use that in place of the olive oil
**You could also chop up the bacon and sprinkle it over the beans

Eat alone or serve with fish , breast or pork chops; basically something lean OR serve it as a side to a main meal like mashed potatoes or sweet potato chunks. However you serve it is really up to you!

I served it with fried whiting fish...(you could also drizzle some olive oil over the beans if you wish)
It's much healthier to boil the beans as opposed to sauteeing it, (especially if you add bacon...yum! but not very waist line friendly!)

Either way you decide to prepare green beans...

Enjoy...

Cooking Tips & Tricks #007

#007: If you buy fresh lemons and limes and have a problem with them lasting, try filling a bowl halfway with water and add the lemons/limes to it, then store in the fridge. It keeps the lemons/limes fresher for a longer period of time.

Please Donate to Help Victims of Haiti's Earthquake

This is a very sad period for Haitians. Watching the news reports is very saddening and I can't say that I understand the magnitude of their suffering because I don't. It's easy to watch the news and feel sorry for them, but at the same time, we're so far removed, it's really hard to imagine the devastation. I mean, an entire country is in ruins.

I feel mostly sad for the elderly and children and it's heartbreaking to see mothers crying for their lost children. I know this is a cooking blog but at the same time while we're poring over recipes and pictures, these Haitians don't know where their next meal is coming from.

I've included a banner for Wyclef's organization, Yele Haiti above and all you have to do is text 'YELE' to 501501 and $5 is automatically added to your phone bill. Most of us buy lunches that are more than that amount and those that smoke spend even more on a pack of cigarettes I'm sure. You can also click the banner to be taken directly to a secure donation link still on his site. I've done the same and I hope you do something too.



If you're Nigerian, you might think Nigeria is in shambles and is a shame and utter embarrassment, but in all honesty, compared to what Haiti is going through right now, we have it pretty good.

Please pitch in where you can. (CNN.com/Impact is a good place to find other places to donate)