Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili

Trying some new recipes out, and this one was a winner. It's a good combination of flavors that we like with some new flavors added in.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili

Source: Adapted from Real Food Whole Life

Ingredients:
4 cups 1-inch chopped sweet potato (from about 3 medium peeled sweet potatoes)
2 (15-oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-oz) jar salsa

1 (15-oz) can Chili

1 (15-oz) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup vegetable stock
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
Optional toppings: fresh lime juice (recommended), avocado, guacamole, sour cream, chopped green onion, cilantro, or chopped jalapeño.

Slow Cooker Instructions
1. Place all the ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker, stirring to combine. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours, or until the potatoes are cooked through.
2. Add fresh lime juice (if using), and additional toppings, if desired.

Instant Pot Instructions
1. Place all the ingredients in a 6-quart pressure cooker, stirring to combine. Cover and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then quick release the pressure.
2. Add fresh lime juice (if using), and additional toppings, if desired.

Crock Pot Chili

Crock Pot Chili
Source: Cooking Classy

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion , finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic , finely minced
2 (14.5) oz cans diced tomatoes with green chilies*
3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water or beef broth
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Serve topped with:
Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese , sour cream, chopped red or green onions, cilantro, roasted peppers, or hot sauce
Optionally serve with:
fresh cornbread or biscuits , baked russet potatoes, saltine crackers or tortilla chips

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large and deep non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add onion and saute 3 minutes, then add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Pour onions into a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker.
Return skillet to medium-high eat, add beef and cook stirring occasionally until beef has browned. Drain most of fat from beef, leaving about 2 Tbsp in with beef (this is optional, I think it ads flavor but you can drain it all if you'd prefer). Pour browned beef into slow cooker.
Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water or beef broth, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cocoa powder, sugar, coriander and season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Stir mixture, cover with lid and cook on low heat for 5 - 6 hours.
Stir in dark and light red kidney beans and allow to heat through, about 10 minutes (if you want the soup to have more liquid you can add in another 1/2 cup water or beef broth). Serve warm with desired toppings (I say the cheese and sour cream is a must, everything else is optional).
*If you don't like heat then you can use canned tomatoes without green chiles since they are a little spicy.

Navajo Tacos

Growing up, whenever we had Navajo tacos it was quite the treat. My parents would fry up some scone dough - and we'd eat navajo tacos for dinner and scones for dessert. However, when we first got married - I tried to make frybread for dinner and ruined my favorite Aggie shirt. I've been wary of using frying oil ever since. Of course, I still do fry things on occasion - but that wariness in conjunction with our goal of eating healthier led me to this flatbread version of Navajo tacos. Honestly, it was just as delicious and much healthier than having the dough fried in oil. 

Navajo Tacos
Frybread Source: Adapted from Cook and Craft Me Crazy

Ingredients:
Biscuit Dough (found below)
Chili
1/2 lb hamburger (cooked)

Lettuce

Cheese

Salsa

Assorted toppings

Directions: 

Separate biscuit dough into six sections. Roll out flat. Sprinkle dough with cumin, chili powder, and salt. Place on George Forman and grill until golden brown. Cook hamburger and warm chili through. Top with chili, lettuce, cheese, salsa and other assorted toppings. Serve hot. 

Biscuits

Source:Adapted from AllRecipes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup shortening or butter
1 cup milk

Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles small peas. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times.

Indian Fry Bread
Source: Adapted from Taste and Tell

Ingredients:
5 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons oil
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2-4 cups additional all-purpose flour
oil for frying

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and the oil with the warm water. Stir in the yeast. Allow to sit for 5 minutes for the yeast to proof. Add in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix together. Add 2 more cups of flour, oil hands well and knead until dough is firm and begins pulling away from the sides of the bowl, adding more flour as needed. Heat at least an inch of oil in a large cast iron skillet.

Flour your work surface, then roll the dough into a long rope. Cut into 16 equal portions. Roll each into a ball and flatten into a disc. Keep the dough covered, and working with one or two portions at a time, fry in the hot oil until browned and bubbled. Flip and cook the opposite side. Drain on paper towels.

Hot Salad

This is another Peaden family favorite from David's youth. It is fairly healthy, very filling, and definitely delicious. It has all the components of a taco salad, while maintaining it's own unique style and flavor. The best part is that it is so easy to make. The only hard part is that it doesn't make very good leftovers (and we are definitely leftover-lovin' people.)

Hot Salad
Source: Sue Peaden

Ingredients:
1/4 lb ground hamburger
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Onion Salt and Garlic Salt (to taste) 
1 can chili con carne
1/2 cup salsa
Cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
Tortilla Chips
Lettuce
Medium Mixing  Bowl

Directions:
Brown the ground beef in a skillet. When almost done, season with salt, pepper, onion salt, and garlic salt to taste. After ground beef is completely cooked through, add can of chili and 1/2 cup salsa. (Sometimes I add more salsa - it just depends on my mood.) Cook until heated through.

Wash and dry lettuce and place in the mixing bowl until it is about 2/3 the way full (it shrinks a lot before the meal is ready to serve). Crush up tortilla chips and mix with lettuce. How many tortilla chips is definitely personal preference - but we like a lot of chips. Grate cheddar cheese and add to chip/salad mixture.

Combine chip/salad/cheese mixture with meat/chili/salsa mixture and serve immediately. You could add toppings like olives, tomatoes, or sour cream - but we eat it like this and we love it.

(One things that we have tried recently is to make our own "hot salads" where you just mix the lettuce, chips, and cheese in a small bowl and then add on your topping. It works for us, where there are just two of us, and it makes for better leftovers. However, when you are feeding a lot of people - it's better to mix it all up before hand because then you don't run out of the meat mixture - it's all mixed up in the right ratios already. Thats just our two cents.)

*I would like to try this with corn in the meat/chili mixture. I think it would be yummy.

Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

So, here is the deal - I love white chicken chili. I have been searching for "the" recipe for years. About 7 years to be exact. (We went to an event when we were engaged and had the most incredible white chicken chili. I've been trying to recreate it ever since.) For a while we used the McCormick White Chicken Chili Mix as a crutch, but I wanted something better and from scratch.

this. recipe. is. it.

Technically the original recipe was called green chili enchilada soup. But it fits the bill for what I want my white chicken chili to be. I guess it doesn't have beans. I'll add some great northern beans and then it will be legit.

White Chicken Chili
Source: Lil Luna

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
2 - 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
2 - 15 oz. cans mild green enchilada sauce
2 - 4 oz. cans diced green chiles
⅔ cup water
1½ TB cumin
1 TB chili powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
⅔ cup corn (if frozen, thaw out)
⅔ cup instant rice
1 - 8 oz. bar cream cheese (cubed)
salt and pepper
Monterrey Jack Cheese

Instructions

Place chicken broth, enchilada sauce, green chiles, water, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder in a large pot. Heat through, add shredded chicken, corn, rice, and cubed cream cheese. Simmer about 10 minutes or until cream cheese has melted and rice is done.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with Monterrey Jack cheese and assorted toppings (ie. avocado). 

(Crock Pot Instructions)

Place chicken broth, enchilada sauce, green chiles, water, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder and shredded chicken in crock pot on HIGH. Cook for 3.5 hours.
After cooking for 3.5 hours add corn, rice and cubed cream cheese. Stir and cook for half hour.
Add salt and pepper to taste and top with Monterrey Jack Cheese.