Recipe: Green Family Chicken Chili

We just changed the name of this recipe tonight.  When we first made it, last summer, we had lots of orange bell peppers and so the colors made us start calling this Flag of Ireland Chicken Chili.

But, alas, we are still waiting for our orange bells to ripen and used green bell peppers this time.

That is the nature of eating from the garden; your recipes will vary according to what is in season.

This is our favorite garden dinner.  And although we have made this without them, the real key to this dish is yellow pear tomatoes.  

I am sure I will post more later about these, our favorite heirloom tomatoes.  

Here is the recipe:

Green Family Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast

5 cups cooked navy beans

1 c chopped red onion

1 c corn

3 large sweet bell peppers; we like to use yellow and orange best, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 cayenne, seeded and chopped

1 red hot cherry pepper, seeded and chopped

1 sweet banana pepper, seeded and chopped

1 hot banana pepper, seeded and chopped

2 c yellow pear (or substitute other grape or cherry sized) tomatoes, cut in half

2 Tbs garlic, chopped

2 c chicken broth

2 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped

1 Tbs cumin (or to taste)

salt to taste

Cilantro, to taste

Sour cream, for garnish

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.  Place in a skillet and cook until chicken just begins to brown.  Drain.  Use a large pot and add the cooked chicken, beans, peppers, corn, garlic and onions, chicken broth, cumin and oregano.  Stir and simmer for approximately an hour.  Then add your little tomatoes, cut in halves, and a lot of chopped cilantro.  Cook this way on low for about 30 minutes, or until you can't stand waiting any longer.  Garnish with sour cream and cilantro.  Enjoy!  

This is the recipe we wrote down last night, as Mr. Green cooked it.  It is always really good.  When I cook this, I like to brown the onions and most of the peppers a little first, before adding them to the beans and chicken.  I also put the cayenne in the oven on 300 for about 10 minutes, until it is lightly toasted, and then I chop it finely and soak in a tiny bit of water about half an hour, before grinding it into a paste and adding to the pot.  Mr. Green contends these steps are unnecessary.  His is always delicious, so he must be right; I will probably skip these steps next time.

Cooking this dish a long time mellows the peppers.  While there is some heat, the sour cream tones it down and it is not too spicy, even for children.  This is about the only dinner we cook regularly that has our son asking for seconds.  

Please let me know if you make this, and how it turns out.

Garden Roast

I had thawed a chuck roast for dinner and we had the previously pictured bowl of vegetables for accompaniment.  This was on Thursday night, just after I left the previous post.  I didn't post right away because initially I thought it might be a little silly to blog about dinner, but after reflecting on this, I have determined that this is definitely worth sharing.
So,  I decided to cook the vegetables in with the roast in a covered dish in the oven.  So I placed the roast and sliced the onions and squash, trimmed and threw in the small handful of beans, and tossed in the grape and cherry tomatoes whole.  Then I harvested and chopped a lot of thyme and oregano and a little bit of rosemary, sprinkled some Greek Seasoning and a dash of worcestershire sauce.  Then I was going to add water, but on a whim poured in apple juice instead.

 then I took a picture before I stuck it in the oven- I knew it was going to be good!

Well, actually, I was a little worried about the squash.  I usually cook it in butter and I had no idea if it would work with roast.  Boy, did it, though!  The squash pieces were delectable.  But it is the grape and cherry tomatoes that made this roast dinner extraordinary.  My gardening guy called them "explosions of awesomeness."  My Capricorn son, who never likes anything, was trying to stick his fingers in the pan to devour the last tomato and there ensued a vigorous argument between three people, two of them adults, over who would actually get that last tomato! The pan juices and the apple juice combined with the herbs to make this truly the best roast dinner I had ever cooked or eaten.  If you have grape or cherry tomatoes in your garden (or if you don't, get some the next time you go to the farmer's market), you simply MUST try tossing them in with a roast so you can experience for yourself how these things work so beautifully together as something totally new.