Ok……better late than never…….I have begun to eat with a little more mindfulness. Don’t worry, I will still make a whole bunch of tasty meals, and desserts…….you know the mindless ones, but today the word of the day is FRUIT.
I always think fruit looks really good in the grocery store, so I buy it. I bring it home with every intent of eating it instead of cookies, or ice cream…….well, we know what normally wins…….wha, wha, whaaa……
So, this time I decided if I made a recipe out of it, it would go into me……..it worked. I wanted it to be a fancy, but healthy dessert………instead it was my breakfast. I guess it can be dual duty……..an anytime thing.
It really did turn out pretty. I am all about my food having a picturesque quality……..well, because we take pictures of it, but also because, people eat with their eyes. You can have the tastiest thing in the world and if it looks……for lack of a better world yucky! In my experience, no one will even try it if it doesn’t look good.Continue reading “Sweet Yogurt Fruit Cup”
How should white chili look? Does chili have to have chili powder to make it chili? This was the question Tim and I had before we went on vacation. I say white chili should be all white, Tim says chili needs chili powder to be “real” chili. Since this was Tim’s recipe, and we had differing options on what makes a real chili, we decided that it would have chili powder with white beans and white meat…..chicken……..and Not Quite White Chili was born.
It may not be the classic white or regular chili, but it was really good. Spicy, chili taste with a lighter touch of chicken and white beans. This chili also is good for you…… low in calories and fat. We served it with a nice loaf of rustic bread for a hearty cool weather meal that is sure to please.
Normally, I would go on a bit more that this but, as much fun as our vacation was, I brought back the flu. So, as all of you enjoy this Not Quite White Chili, I will enjoy some much needed bed rest……..
P.S………look for some of my takes on those Vegas recipes we shared from our trip.
Place dry beans in a large bowl and cover with water. Let soak over night.
In a large stock pot, melt coconut oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until cooked through. Add onion, red pepper and remaining ingredients cook until onion is translucent about 5 minutes. Add beans and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hour or until beans are tender. You can also place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and extra cilantro if desired.
Notes
Prep time does not include soaking of the beans over night
Stuffed Peppers are a dish found in different forms, and with different names all around the world. Here in the good old USA, they are typically stuffed with a ground beef rice mixture with a tomato base. Recipes are all different, but most involve removing the seeds and membranes from the pepper, then boiling them, stuffing them, and baking them again, covered with cheese…….and they are great!
So, how do you improve on a good thing …….you make it better…….Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers!
We had a bumper crop of green peppers at the end of the gardening season……..beautiful shiny green and really large. They begged to be made into stuffed peppers.
Now, I suppose I could have made my good old Betty Crocker Cookbook recipe, but with the leaves changing and that smell of autumn in the air, why not try something……. autumny.
I’m am a huge fan of pearl couscous, and am lucky that our grocery store carries it in the frozen section……yeah! But for this recipe if you don’t have that luxury or you can’t find the pearl type, the regular kind will work just as well. The couscous was my sub for rice.
For veggies, I picked flavors I associate with fall……..fennel,squash,cranberries,and sage…….they blended with the couscous beautifully. Cooking all of it with chicken broth (if you want a total vegetarian dish you can use vegetable broth) and a touch of apple cider vinegar, gave it all a nice glazed quality.
Now, that whole boiling the pepper thing……..not so much. It makes them mushy in my opinion, and there is really no need to go to all that trouble. Just stuff them, and cover them with foil, it steams them instead.
Since the “stuffing” was not saucy, it needed a sauce…….my new favorite sauce…….Creamy Cauliflower Sauce. The only change I made was to use shallot instead of garlic. It was sooooo yummy over these Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers. I keep trying to think of ways to use this tasty sauce!
When I started this dish, it was not my intent to make it vegetarian, it just sorta happened. Lucky for all you vegetarians out there…..wait a minute, also lucky for those who are not………and if you are not, maybe after you try this dish you will be……….
Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the shallot and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add diced fennel and cook for another 5 minutes or until fennel softens. Add butternut squash, sage, cranberries, chicken broth, and cider vinegar and cook for 15 minutes or until butternut squash has softened and almost all of the liquid has cooked down. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Add couscous and pine nut to the mixture in the skillet. Stir to combine.
In a baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, place the green pepper halves. Stuff the peppers with the the couscous mixture. Cover with tin foil and bake in a 375* oven for 30-35 minutes.
To serve,place one pepper half on plate or in a shallow bowl and top with Creamy Cauliflower Sauce and garnish with chopped sage leaves if desired.
Notes
Pre time does not include making the Creamy Cauliflower Sauce
