Santa Fe Chicken Chili (Gluten Free Goddess)

Good morning!  Long time no post. 

I don't have gluten issues, to my knowledge, but a coworker does and she raved about this to me.  So, last week I decided to give it a try.  It's very easy, and I wonder if it would be even easier if you baked the yam ahead of time - easier cutting.  I liked it a lot and the yam is a nice touch.  Don't forget to get FIRE ROASTED tomatoes, not regular diced tomatoes.

I have to wonder though - isn't chili pretty much gluten free anyway?

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/01/santa-fe-chicken-chili.html

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You can easily make this recipe in your favorite slow cooker or Crock Pot, following manufacturer's instructions for chili or soup using cooked (canned) beans. Add the cooked chicken and lime juice near the end of cooking time, to keep it tender and fresh tasting. Vegans take note: make this vegan with your favorite veggie "sausage" or crumbled "burger" instead of chicken.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-1 teaspoon ground cumin, to taste
1/4-1 teaspoon ground cayenne or chipotle pepper, to taste
1 sweet potato, peeled, diced
2 15-oz. cans pinto or white beans, rinsed, drained
1 28-oz. can Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes, with juice
8-oz. (1 cup) chopped roasted green chilies- mild or hot
2 cups chicken broth, more if needed
1 tablespoon balsamic or apple cider vinegar
A small drizzle of agave
2 heaping cups cooked chicken pieces- hand torn looks nice
Juice of 1 lime, or to taste

Instructions:

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and warm the olive oil; cook the onions until they are soft and translucent. Add the garlic and spices and stir for a minute.

Add the diced sweet potato, beans, tomatoes, green chiles, broth, balsamic vinegar, and agave. Stir gently to combine it all.

Bring it to a simmer and lower the heat; cover and cook the chili for 30 minutes or so until the sweet potatoes are tender. Add a touch more liquid if you need to. Add the cooked chicken and some lime juice.

Taste test and adjust the seasonings - more heat? More lime? A tad more sweetness? Good chili has a balance of these flavors.

Warm through and serve when you are ready.

If the chili thickens too much thin it with broth; if the chili becomes too thin cook it longer with the lid off to reduce the liquid.

 

Kinda Sorta Tom Ka Gai

My friend Mellen emailed me this recipe and I made it last night.  Sooo easy - hardly any chopping at all.  Her recipe is first and I included my changes below it.  It turned out really well and seems more like soup than a thick sauce. 

1 poached chicken breast, shredded
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small onion, sliced thin
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 can (or a bit less) coconut milk (NOT the sweetened kind - made that mistake once!)
1 stalk lemon grass, tender, chopped fine
1 can Thai red curry (could use any kind)
1Tablespoon fish sauce
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
Cilantro for garnish. Chopped peanuts if you like, too.

Sautée the onion and pepper, then dump everything in and stir it well and simmer for 1/2 hour or so. Serve over rice or rice noodles.

What I changed:

I put three chicken breasts in a huge skillet with a fair bit of olive oil and steamed it in there for 30 minutes.  I took them out and put them in a covered container. 

I used an entire red bell pepper.
I used maybe 2 cups of chicken broth.
I used half a small jar of Thai red curry paste.
I forgot to buy cilantro.
I remembered to buy peanuts but forgot to use them as a garnish.
I cut one breast into tiny pieces and threw it back in the soup mixture for the 30 minute simmer.  It was lost in all that liquid, I could easily have used two or three breasts.

Excellent soup over rice.  The only thing missing to make it actual Tom Ka Gai appears to be ginger. 

Curry Chicken Casserole

Here is the first meal I made by using the new apps I have on my iPod Touch!

I downloaded a ton of free apps last week.  One of them was the McCormick's recipe finder.  What a stroke of genius this is!  It's a database directly on your Touch  - in other words, you don't need to be hooked into the internet to use it. 

I also downloaded Epicurious to my Touch, but, to use that app you have to be near wifi.  Not a big deal, because once you have the recipe on the screen it's there and then you can go to the grocery store, but, the McCormick's database is a lot handier because if you are walking around the store, utterly stumped, you can look up a recipe (browse OR search) and then you have the handy-dandy shopping list in your pocket!

Here is the recipe (NUMBER ONE in 2010)

1 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil and just poured into the large frying pan what I felt was appropriate)
1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into 3/4 inch strips
1 medium onion, chopped (mine was kind of big)
1c sliced carrots
1 c chicken broth (I ended up using the whole can)
1/4 c flour
2 t curry powder (MCCORMICK, since this is their recipe)
1/2 t salt (didn't use, as the chicken broth has plenty)
1 medium Golden Delicious apple (I used Granny Smith)
1/2 c frozen peas
1/2 light cream OR coconut milk (I used coconut milk).

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat.  Add chicken, onion and carrots, cook and stir for 5 minutes or so.

2.  Mix flour with curry powder and salt, add in chicken broth and whisk.  Add to skillet, bring to a boil.  Stir in apple.  Reduce heat to medium, cook and stir two minutes until sauce is thick.  This is where I added the rest of the broth, because it cooked down too far for me.  Stir in peas and cream/coconut milk.

3.  The recipe called for either a 9 inch deep-dish pie dish, or, a two quart casserole.  I think I had too many ingredients (I tend to just kind of eyeball things, or throw in more than needed) and I ended up using a 13x9 inch cake pan.  Anyway, pour the mixture into your container!

4.  It said to top with the pie crust.  Well, I had a much bigger container than it called for, so, I draped both pie crusts over the 13x9 inch cake pan and actually they both fit pretty well - one on each end.  By the time it cooked you could not tell there were two of them.  It did call for slitting the top, I forgot.  Oops.

5.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Mine was in a few minutes longer, but it was fine. 

Enjoy!