Three Bean Chili: the more you eat, the more you....

Chili is my go-to meal when I want a huge pot of leftovers for the next day atleast. In other words, two meals (or three) at the cost and effort of one.

This recipe has been perfected for a few years now. I am sensing a pattern with my cooking style, just throw a little of this and that and voila! Chili. Similar to my other recipes, this one goes along those lines too, it's very versatile and can be modified based on the spices you have available.

But in an ideal world, it'll have these ingredients:
3 cans of beans (red kidney, pinto, and black beans)
1 can of diced tomatoes (I like the kind with garlic and herbs already included)
1 small can of tomato paste
2 Tablespoons of chili powder
2 cups of broth
1 cup of water
2 Tablespoons oil
1/2 a small onion
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 tsp dry mustard
and a small sprinkle of red pepper flakes & cayenne
1/4 tsp salt
7 crunches (or turns of the shaker) of pepper
optional: shredded cheese, sour cream, frozen corn, green onions
1 cup brown rice

Recipe:
1. Make rice according to package (1 cup brown rice = 2 1/2 to 3 cups water). Cooks for 45 minutes.
2. Sautee onions in oil for about 10 minutes on medium until translucent or almost cooked. Add garlic and cook about 3 minutes more.
3. Add all spices and cook until fragrant on medium, about 2 minutes. Take a nice whiff of them spices, mmm....
4. Add broth, I use 2 cups and 1 veggie boullion cube. Add tomatoes with liquid remaining. Place on high heat. Meanwhile, rinse beans in collander to get sodium and preservatives off.
5. When boiling, add beans.  Place lid on top loosely. You can add some frozen corn if you'd like at this point too. Then cook for 30 minutes on low heat.
6. Pour chili over half a bowl of rice. Top with cheese, sour cream, green onions.

Here is a picture of tonight's chili that I made for our out-of-town guest coming tomorrow. I thought it might be a good idea to have on hand in case any of us get hungry and I don't have time to cook since we'll be out sight seeing and showing the town. Not the best photo, I promise to update with a close-up when we eat a bowl. I need to work on my photography skills.

On another note, I love this pot. It is definitely a keeper although I have been told it is ready to go to another universe due to chipping metal . But... I rather eat metal than part with it. I grabbed it from my grandmother's house before it was sold way back when and I have used it ever since. It's the perfect size for chili or split pea soup.

Polenta Fries and Beans

Polenta is amazing. Polenta has blown my mind. It is probably my new favorite ingredient in anything at all. It is so easy, it is so cheap, it is so wonderful. I could go on.

I used to think it came in those tube packages at the grocery store, but they lied. It's a big fat lie. Polenta comes from something called CORN MEAL, and it's found near flour or breadcrumbs in a pouch like flour. It's used for making cornbread but polenta - isn't anything corn tasting at all, really. It tastes like pasta to me, pasta dumplings. And all you do is add water, really. Like I said, cheapest, easiest meal ever. Oh, the big caveat being you have to wait hours for it to cool. But if you think ahead, it's no problem really.

Ways to make Polenta:
1. Under pasta sauce and baked
2. Rolled in to balls and fried golden
3. Cut in to strips and fried like fries (see picture)
4. Baked as a loaf and layered with cheese
5. Mixed with herbs, whatever your heart desires
6. Sauteed in butter but not too crispy
7. Mushy like grits (so says the packaging, I've never actually made this one)
8. Stuffed into tomatoes
9. Cut into pancake patties and fried
10. Etc.....

I have gone crazy searching polenta on pinterest. I think I have made it under pasta, as dumplings, as a sliced loaf, and tonight as fries. Four times I've made polenta, and I still have more left in the one package.

Directions:
1. Add 1 cup corn meal to 2 cups of water in saucepan.
2. Boil and stir vigorously. Don't walk away!
3. Turn down heat from high to medium-low.
4. Stir until thick and difficult to stir without sticking. If you choose, add some cheese and herbs (basil and parsley).
5. Transfer to dish of your choice (pie pan for baking, loaf pan for slicing, shallow brownie pan for slicing in to fries, etc.). Or if making dumpling balls, roll them up and cook right away.
6. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.
7. Slice it up, or shape it how you'd like. If baking, you don't need to slice obviously.
8. Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes or pan-fry/sautee in butter in a frying pan.
9. Top with cheese, salt, and pepper. Or pasta sauce, or accompanied by beans (as in picture). Whatever your heart desires. Polenta is so amazing. :)

Cherry Tomatoes

I grew up hating tomatoes and still hate ketchup, but recently I've become obsessed with finding dishes to use cherry tomatoes. Here are some previous creations and ideas for the cherry tomato lover in you.

Balsamic Marinated seen with potato salad and garlic green beans

Caprese (mini mozzarella balls, balsamic drizzle, and dried basil) seen with tuna corn salad

Sunburst orange tomatoes with shredded cheese seen with salmon croquettes and salad

Artichoke Tomato Mozzarella Pizza

Avocado Tomato Pizza

See Matt, I do eat tomatoes now.

I think the recipes here are pretty self-explanatory.

Some cooking tips:

• Pizza is an extremely cheap and easy meal to make. Buy the 50 cents pizza dough packets at Walmart (they are kinda hard to find and may require digging) that you just add water.
• There are a bazillion ways to make pizza. I use whatever is in the fridge, in these two cases avocado and artichoke were the lucky victims.
• Balsamic makes everything taste so much better. Just soak tomatoes in about 3 tablespoons vinegar for a few hours or overnight, serve chilled or bake for 20 minutes on 375 degrees.
• You'd be amazed what I've learned can come from tuna and salmon cans: croquettes, burgers, rangoons, melts, tunacakes, pizza topping, salad topping, and so on. At about $1 a can for albacore, it's worth the splurge.  For making croquettes (my favorite of the bunch), just think meatloaf. Add whatever you have in the fridge (like soy sauce, an egg, any other sauces, ranch, bbq, spices, etc.), mix up in a bowl, form logs/cakes/burgers, roll in breadcrumbs, and lightly fry in a skillet.