An Ode to the Chili

I absolutely LOVE chili - eating them, growing them, cooking with them, decorating with them, you name it!  Whether you're just adding a pinch or really giving some heat to your dish, chili kicks it up a notch!  There are so many different varieties of chilies and nearly every country thinks their chilies are the best in the world.

A few of my favorite dishes featuring this beautifully spicy fruit:

• Grilled Tuna and Mango Salad
• Spiced Pumpkin Soup
• Chimichurri
• Pork Skewers with Thai Dipping Sauce
• Thai-style Grilled Whole Snapper
• Roasted Squash with Chili Citrus Sauce
• Tom Yum Goong
• Grilled Pineapple Skewers
• Gingered Apple-Squash Soup

 Must stop... my mouth is watering...

Find these and many more chili recipes on http://www.therecipediva.com/!

Gingered Apple-Squash Soup

It seems to be snowing everywhere- I thought I'd be leaving the snowy, winter weather when I head to Virginia from Chicago tomorrow!  However, an early morning call from my mom informed me that there is already snow on the ground waiting for us.  AND we can expect quite a bit more this weekend! 

I'm definitely looking forward to a white Christmas this year so it better be delivered!!  I can, however, deal without the subartic temperatures in the midwest. 

In the meantime, I'll be holed up inside slurping this delicious soup.  The addition of chili is a MUST!! 

Gingered Apple-Squash Soup

This is a great soup to make in large batches.  I like to make a double match and keep some extra in the freezer as a quick and easy meal over the next couple of weeks.

Get the full recipe!

A Traditional Gazpacho

I recently posted a recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Soup, a perfect remedy for the early autumn weather.  Being that it's spring in North America and they've already had some ridiculously hot days in Virginia, my favorite pregnant sister requested something a bit more appropriate for the temperature, a cool and refreshing gazpacho.  When a pregnant woman has a request regarding food, you must oblige right?

It actually worked out for me as well.  We have reverted back to summer this past week in Melbourne so a gazpacho was just what I needed.  In addition, any food that can bring me back to the days of living in southern Spain, I will gladly take on!

I kept the recipe pretty traditional.  There are a myriad of varieties, but I suggest starting out with the basic recipe then getting creative and adding different vegetables, herbs, possibly grilled shrimp, but it's going to be hard to beat the classic version!  Oh yeah, do NOT skip the olive oil-soaked croutons, they are a must to get the full effect!

Gazpacho

Ingredients

6 tomatoes

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped *

1 green pepper, roughly chopped *

1 onion, roughly chopped *

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup EVOO, plus 1 tbsp (use a good one, it's worth it!)

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

salt and pepper

3-4 slices day old french bread

*If desired, reserve just a bit to mince and use as garnish

Directions

1. To peel tomatoes, prepare a large bowl of ice water.  Cut a small cross in the bottom of each tomato and add tomatoes to boiling water for 30 seconds.  Refresh in ice water and peel immediately.  Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise to squeeze out the seeds.  Roughly chop 3 tomatoes and set aside.  Puree remaining tomatoes and transfer to a large bowl.

2. Add chopped tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, onion and garlic to a food processor and pulse until they are finely minced.  Add to bowl.

3. Add 1/2 cup olive oil and vinegar to bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Stir to thoroughly combine.  Refrigerate atleast 2 hours.

4.  Before serving, cut bread into cubes then heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat.  Toss bread cubes in pan until golden. 

5. Ladle gazpacho into bowls and garnish with minced veggies and olive oil 'croutons.'  Head out to your back deck and enjoy.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

The autumn weather was definitely upon us over the weekend here in Melbourne.  I love the change of seasons when you start craving those hearty, savory foods that seem to take the edge off of the chill in air.  Nothing says fall more than the vast varieties of squash and pumpkins that quickly become available as the leaves start to turn.

This soup is perfect for a chilly day, I even added a bit of chili to really get our blood flowing! 

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

2 lb pumpkin or winter squash, deseeded, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp curry powder
2 bay leaves
2 chilis, finely chopped (more or less depending how spicy you want it)
2 cups chicken stock
S&P, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is soft. Stir in the chilis and spices and cook for 30 seconds. 
2. Add the cubed pumpkin and cook for 3 minutes, stirring continuously.
3. Add the stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  If the mixture is too thick, add more stock or water. 
4. Puree soup in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return soup to pan and stir over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with a dollop of yogurt and a couple cilantro leaves.  This soup could also be served chilled for a hot day.  I'm sure I'll be craving it all year round!

Easy Lenten Meal!

No, it's not Friday, but in a moment of insanty, I chose to give up meat for Lent... this is not going to be an easy 40 days.  I almost always incorporate meat in my meals so this will force me to expand my horizons a bit and create some new meatless dishes that will still be satisfying.  Not that last night's dinner really 'expanded my horizons' but let me set the scene... can't eat meat, temperatures have cooled drastically for a couple days, slightly sore throat, fridge full of veggies, homemade chicken stock in the freezer... maybe you know where I'm going with this?

I absolutely love homemade soups and they are so easy!  I always make a big batch so we can enjoy some leftovers!  After a few easy steps, we had a hearty and healthy pot of soup to enjoy for a couple of days.  For this vegetable soup, I literally used all of the veggies that I could find in the fridge - celery, zucchini, green beans, cabbage, corn... there aren't too many standard veggies that won't fit the bill . I started the soup by sweating some onions and garlic, and stirred in the celery after a few minutes.  I then tossed in a big bowl of veggies, cooked for a few minutes, and covered with chicken stock.  After bringing to a simmer, I added a can of tomatoes (undrained), a can each of drained and rinsed red kidney beans and cannellini beans, threw in a couple bay leaves, seasoned, and simmered for about 30 minutes.  I had a few fresh tomatoes as well so I seeded, chopped, and threw those in last minute.         

I found some whole wheat pasta in the pantry so I decied to add it to the vegetable soup to make it a bit more filling .  I like to cook my pasta separately and add to each serving as I HATE mushy pasta in soup.  I threw in a few leaves of spinach just before serving so they would wilt slightly but maintain the shape and flavor. 

The point of this story is that you don't need a recipe.  Play around, use what you have, be creative.  I also find it very important to taste as you go.  As my stock was homemade, I added a bit more salt than I probably would have if I had used store bought stock that already contains quite a bit of sodium. 

I am looking forward to enjoying some delicious and healthy vegetarian meals over the next month or so.  Feel free to share your favorites!

Why Thai?

Why NOT Thai?!  I absolutely love Thai food as the dishes are often lightly prepared but have very complex flavors - a balance of sweet, spicy, salty and sour. 

To bring a little taste of Thailand into my kitchen, I made a spicy pot of Tom Yum Goong, a hot and sour prawn soup.  As I wanted to make it very spicy, I needed a side to take some of the heat off my tongue so I could get threw the bowl.  I did my own take on khao dome, coconut rice sticky rice in banana leaves.  I've seen this made by steaming plantains in with the rice, but I had picked up some beautiful ripe mangos at the market and wanted to incorporate these into the dish.

Everything turned out great and I look forward to more experimentation on my next culinary trip to Thailand!  Check out the recipes below!

Tom Yum Goong

Ingredients

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, skins intact *
6 cups water or stock
1/3 fresh galangal, peeled and chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
4 kaffir lime leaves, stem removed and quartered
1 can straw mushrooms, halved
1 1/2 tbsp roasted red chili paste
2 tsp fish sauce
3 thai chilis, sliced
1/3 cup cilantro chopped
1/3 cup green onion, sliced
2 tsp lime juice

* if you have time, buy shell-on shrimp, simmer shells in water for 1 hour and strain to make broth for step 1

Directions

1.  In medium saucepan, bring broth to a boil and add galangal, lemongrass, and lime leaves.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Strain and discard solids and return broth to saucepan.
2. Add mushrooms, chili paste, fish sauce and chilis and bring to boil.

3. Stir in shrimp, green onion, and cilantro and cook for 3 minutes until shrimp are done.  Stir in lime juice and serve immediately.

Khao Dome with Mango

Ingredients

1 cup glutinous rice (sticky rice)
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 package banana leaves, washed, trimmed
1 ripe mango,  sliced

Directions

1. Rinse and drain 1 cup rice several times to remove any debris.  Add cold water to cover and let sit overnight (or at least 4 hours).
2. Add coconut milk and sugar to saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until dissolved.
3. Stir in rice and cook until it resembles a porridge, stirring throughout.  Remove from heat and cool.

4. Take sheet of banana leaf sliced to about the size of a sheet of paper and place a heaping spoonful of rice inthe center.  Fold as you would wrap a gift and place seam side down into bamboo steamer.  Repeat with all leaves.  Steam for 40 minutes

5. To serve, open leaves to expose rice and topped with mango slices

On the 10th Day of Chrismas, the Recipe Diva made for me...

Southwest Chicken Chili

Not to toot my own horn, but you MUST make this soup.  It was DELICIOUS!  My biggest mistake was not making more! 

With all of the wintery weather up here in Chicago, I wanted to make a hearty but healthy soup with a bit of a kick!  I figured my diet will be starring turkey and ham for the next few days, so chicken was my protein of choice.  It ended up being sort of a mix between tortilla soup and chili but it worked!  Enjoy!!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, roasted and shredded

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 can fire-roasted tomatoes

1 can tomatillos, chopped

1 box (32 oz) organic chicken broth

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 cans white beans drained

S&P

Directions

1.  For chicken, purchase and shred roasted chicken or season 2 chicken breasts, toss with olive oil, roast until cooked through and shred. 

2.  Heat olive oil over medium high heat and sautee onions and garlic for about 3 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients including chicken and simmer for 15 minutes.

 Served with sliced avocado, sliced limes and torn cilantro.

Modify this recipe according to your own tastes!