Sweet Potato Chicken Chili

Switching the chili up a little today. I meant for this to be sweet potato turkey chili but I forgot to buy ground turkey. More often than not I forget the main ingredient when I'm shopping but today  I'm glad I forgot turkey because it was really good with chicken. This dish is so hearty and very filling. 

Sweet Potato Chicken Chili

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded

2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up

1 lg onion chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

Peppers- sweet and not a whole bunch of them I used 1 cubanelle and a few mini peppers

2 carrots diced

2 celery diced

2 jalapeños diced

1 can crushed tomato

1 box chicken stock

Salt, pepper, cumin, ancho chili powder, cilantro and parsley. 

Sauté veggies (minus potato) in a bit of oil until tender, season and add potatoes. Sauté a minute, add tomato and stock. Bring to a boil, add chicken, reduce to simmer. Simmer uncovered for approximately 45 minutes until chili thickens. Add fresh herbs at the end. 

In crafty news:

I'm cranking out more cute baby hats! Crochet is my fall sport. 

Multi-functional spaghetti squash

I abandoned the grey hat and whipped up this cute one on my night off. I can't wait to see the newborn that will be wearing this! It fits perfectly on this spaghetti squash but I had other plans for it. 

The day before grocery shopping results in my most inventive cooking. Leftover cheese, an open box of chicken broth, a small amount of spinach...

Cheesy baked spaghetti squash

1 squash

1 chopped onion

2 cloves crushed garlic

Olive oil

Chopped spinach

8 oz cheese (I had mozzarella and provolone)

Handful of grated Parmesan 

1/4 cup flour

1.5 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup light cream

Salt, pepper, red pepper

Preheat oven to 375, cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. Sauté seasoned onion and garlic in oil until wilted and browned. Add flour and cook for a minute. Stir in chicken broth, bring to a boil and add cream. Toss in spinach and shredded or chopped cheese until smooth. When squash is done, (keep oven on) scrape it out of skins with a fork and combine with cheese sauce. Spray a 9x13 pan and transfer squash, sprinkle with parm. Bake 20 minutes and broil top for a few minutes if it doesn't brown. This would be a good enough meal on its own for me but I'm serving it with some chicken and a salad. 

Chicken Paprikash

Quick dinner today and it's one of my husband's favorites. Traditional paprikash is done slowly with chicken on the bone, no time for that today. I buy the good Hungarian paprika in the red can, the hot isn't too spicy and has a very subtle smoky flavor for this dish. 

Chicken Paprikash

2 boneless chicken breasts

1 cup chicken stock

1/4cup flour

2 tbsp. butter

salt, pepper, hot paprika

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 large onion sliced

8 oz. sour cream

fresh parsley chopped

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and set aside. Sauté onion and garlic in butter until they are slightly brown and wilted. Remove from pan and brown the chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper, you may need to add a little oil or butter. 

Add the onions back in and season with a few tbsp of paprika, add flour and cook a minute. Stir in broth until the liquid thickens. 

Toss in fresh parsley and start stirring in sour cream until you have the consistency you like. 

Cook until sauce thickens again. I served this with egg noodles and roasted broccoli today but rice or any green veggie is just as good. 

30 minutes of uninterrupted time and this baby stocking cap will be done, so I'm figuring 4 days will do it!

Panecotte...sorta

I don't think I have ever made this the same way twice. I have no Italian blood (that I am aware of) so this is not by any means an authentic recipe. Traditionally panecotte is escarole, white beans, pancetta, bread and cheese. Today's version has some hot Italian sausage, fresselles (store bought) and I added a few other veggies for added flavor. Note: escarole is very sandy, I chop it into 2" pieces and soak in cold water. Drain and repeat until the water at the bottom of the bowl is clean. 

Panecotte 

1-2 bunches of escarole cleaned and chopped 

1 onion diced

2 small carrots diced 

2 celery stalks diced 

4 cloves garlic chopped 

Olive oil

2 links Italian sausage, casing removed

Crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper

Chicken stock

1 big can of white beans

Splash of dry white wine 

1/4 cup Grated cheese

2 ounces Mozzarella sliced or shredded

Half bag of fresselles 

In a large frying pan, sauté sausage in a bit of oil until browned. Remove sausage and set aside.  Add diced vegetables and garlic and sauté until they are cooked down and brown. 

When they are done pour a splash of dry white wine to deglaze the pan. 

Now put that bottle in the fridge because you are going to drink that with dinner. 

Next, add the sausage back in (omitting any grease that drained from it), and it's time to cook the escarole. I put it in wet because I feel it aids in the process, but be careful of splattering. Season with salt and both peppers and toss into mixture until it is completely wilted. 

Add drained beans and a cup or so of stock and continue to cook on medium for a few minutes. Preheat your oven to 350. Transfer everything to a baking pan. Crush up fresselles in your hand and press into the top. They will soak up a lot of liquid so make sure you have enough in the pan 

Next add some sliced or shredded mozzarella and sprinkle a generous amount of grated cheese over the entire pan. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes until brown and bubbly. 

Today we also have mystery dessert from the freezer

In the fall I made a bunch of tarts using jams that I canned over the summer. Simple graham cracker crust and crumble topping with oats and brown sugar, only I didn't label them. 

This might be peach. Or apricot... Or peach apricot. 

Soup of the day

Hearty Tomato Red Lentil Soup

Today is grocery shopping day which means that I need to get creative with today's dinner. I work at night so dinner gets made in the afternoon, so yeah dinner is already leftovers when my family eats. 

This soup comes mostly from my pantry and would be even more delicious with fresh tomatoes and herbs. I love tomato soup and enjoy switching it up. The addition of red lentil pretty much goes unnoticed as far as taste is concerned but it is very satisfying because of the protein packed lentil. You can easily adapt this recipe to your liking by swapping vegetable broth for chicken stock to make it vegetarian and also change the flavor with herbs. I love tarragon in tomato soup but basil, cilantro or parsley would be nice as 

well. 

3 large onion chopped

3 celery stalks diced

3 carrots peeled and diced

1tbs olive oil

Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

2 cups dried split red lentil

1 box chicken or veg stock

1 can whole tomatoes diced

I can tomato paste

Additional water

Dried or fresh herbs to taste

Sauté mirepoix in a large soup pot with oil until just tender at medium heat. Toss in lentils, stirring to coat with oil for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, paste, stock and a few cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes or so, stirring every few minutes so that the lentils don't stick. Adjust seasoning and add herbs. 

I'm going to buy a crusty baguette and serve with a green salad, perfect January dinner!

On the menu today

It is a freezing cold day here in Connecticut and that's a perfect day to turn the oven on. I have been using my slow cooker three times a week lately...thank you Pinterest, but not today. I ran into Stop & Shop yesterday and saw that they had a big sale on red peppers and ground beef, I knew immediately what was on today's menu! 

Stuffed Peppers (with steel cut oats)
Oatmeal, in stuffed peppers? Don’t knock it until you try it! I use steel cut oats in place of bread crumb. Cut oats are very low in fat, high in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals and also makes the pepper stuffing very light and moist. I may be wrong but they might even be gluten free.

1 lb ground beef- lean*
½ dry cut oats cooked according to pkg.
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic crushed
Fresh parsley chopped
Peppers- 3-4 large red or green, 6-7 small cubanelles
2 cups marinara sauce
¼ cup grated pecorino or parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella (I use reduced fat)
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef with garlic, onion, salt & pepper. Drain off fat. Mix with cooked oats, parsley and grated cheese. Cut the large peppers in half, lengthwise like boats, removing the stem. Cubanelles can be left whole after removing stems and seeds.

Fill peppers with stuffing and place in a 9x13 pan. Spoon sauce over each pepper, letting it seep in between and around the peppers. Top with shredded mozzarella and some grated cheese.

 Cover loosely with foil and bake at 375 for 35 minutes**. Remove foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until peppers are tender and cheese is all melty and bubbly. Adjust temp and time according to your oven, mine has a mind of it's own.
*Normally I would use extra lean ground beef and mix it raw with an egg and add it to other stuffing ingredients; however, the 80% lean is what was on sale and I just don't like how greasy it tastes when I make it that way so I have browned it prior to stuffing. This will give you a looser finished stuffing. Both ways taste great, you decide how you will like it best.
**This recipe is great for freezing and can also be cooked in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hrs using less sauce and removing the lid for the last half hour to let some of the moisture cook out.