Red Bean and Quinoa Chili

This is from Feeding the Whole Family Cooking With Whole Foods by Cynthia Lair. pg 151

1 cup dried kidney beans, soaked and drained
3 cups water, divided
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
1 TBLS EVOO
1 medium onion chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt divided (i used regular morton's)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 large green bell pepper chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
2/3 cup quinoa rinsed in warm water and drained (this is in the bulk food section)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 -2 cups organic tomato sauce (i used the 14 oz can)
grated cheese optional garnish

Place beans in a large pot with 2 cups water and 1 teaspoon cumin bring to a boil and simmer over low, covered until tender (about 1 hour). You can refrigerate these and finish tomorrow if you need to split the time.

Heat oil in 4 QT pot on medium. add onion, 1 teaspoon salt, garlic, green pepper, 1 teaspoon cumiin, and the rest of the spices (I used more than 1/8 cayenne) saute for 5-10 minutes.
add quinoa and stir, add corn, tomato sauce, and one cup water. simmer 20 minutes. add cooked beans, 1 teaspoon salt, simmer 10 minutes.
Top each bowl with grated cheese.

I think I may have added some chili powder too when I made this before.

HAM CASSEROLE

well this is sort of a sucky photo. Obviously Bon Apetit won't be employing me as a photographer any time soon.

2 cups of dry pasta (I use whole wheat rotini, but you may use any kind you like) cooked and drained, be sure to salt the water
one ham steak cut into bite sized pieces
one frozen bag of mixed veggies--I like the carrots, green beans, corn, lima beans, peas mix, cooked and drained

throw it all together with a can of cream of mushroom soup and seasonings -- I like Nature's Own but salt and pepper is okay too.

sprinkle with bread crumbs or parmesan cheese
bake at 350 for 25ish minutes.

Barley, BlackBean and Corn Burritos in the Crock Pot

This recipe is from the Southern Living Slow Cooker Cookbook 2005 version. The link is to my copy but there are newer versions. We ate this today and it was really good! We will have it again but I think I may just do it on the stove top because our weekday schedule isn't really conducive to crock pot cooking. Kyle had to work today and I forgot to put the stuff in first thing when we got up so I made adjustments. I cooked it for 1.5 hours on high and almost 2 on low so it would be done on time. Here is Reese enjoying his own mini burrito.
1 15 ounce can Black Beans rinsed and drained
1 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles undrained -- I used Rotel
1 cup uncooked fine barley
2 cups fat free less sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels (I used a whole cup)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 TBLS lime juice (I used lemon)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove minced
******************
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
tortillas
shredded cheese
salsa
sour cream

Place the first 11 ingredients up to the **** in the crock pot (3-4 QT) stir well
cover and cook 4-5 hours on low until liquid is absorbed.
stir in cilantro.

fill tortilla as a normal burrito and add your sour cream and salsa.

I used more spice than they said. I don't really measure. I used a palm full of cumin and chili powder plus a little extra for good measure and about a whole teaspoon of cayenne. I used a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic in a jar.

Kyle was surprised that just one burrito filled him up. He also said if he had not known in advance this was a veggie night he didn't think he would have noticed there was no meat.

Chicken and Pork Risotto

1/2 pound pork sausage
2-2 1/2 pounds cut up chicken (I think this means thighs, legs, breast--but I just cut up breasts into bite size pieces)
15 oz can Hunts Tomato Sauce Special (I use Del Monte Organic Tomato Sauce--because that's what I get at Costco.)
1 cup H2O
3/4 cup raw regular (this means not sticky) rice----I have not tried brown rice yet
1 tsp salt (I leave this out because I use a whole pound of sausage)
1 clove garlic minced
2 tbls grated parmesan cheese

Brown sausage, remove from skillet, brown chicken, remove from skillet, drain fat. Add remaining ingredients except cheese to skillet, stir.
return sausage and chicken to skillet, cover and simmer 35-40 minutes until all liquid is absorbed --watch it, I've over done it and then it sticks to your pan.
sprinkle with cheese.

The photo isn't all that attractive. It looks nicer in person and nicer if you have a piece of chicken on a bed of sausage and rice mixture. But by doing the bite sized pieces I only use 2 chicken breasts and get 4-6 servings. I think next time I may add veggies into it to make it a one skillet meal.

Spaghetti Sauce

Saute minced onion -- I use a full Mayan sweet and diced green bell pepper in a bit of olive oil with minced garlic -- I use about 2 heaping teaspoons of the refrigerated jar kind. Add sliced fresh mushrooms or a can if that's what you have. Add 2 cans 14oz tomato sauce and 1 can of diced tomatoes---sometimes I do 1 sauce, 2 diced---and 1 can tomato paste. Season with about a tablespoon or so (I don't measure I just add a mound from the palm of my hand) italian seasoning, a few shakes of oregano and basil and a teaspoon or so of sugar. Simmer, taste and add what you need according to taste.

If we don't have meatballs I use ground Italian Sausage, add it after the veggies and brown it before adding the sauce.

Peas and Cheese Tortellini

I pulled this from Rachael Ray's magazine. Sorry there is no date or page number.

1 pound frozen cheese tortellini
1 cup frozen peas thawed (I used more than a cup last time)
2 tablespoons butter (I made this with some fake spread like promise or smart balance and it didn't work out too well , I had to add some oil, so I'd say use real butter or margarine)
5 scallions white and green parts thinly sliced separately (when I made this on vacation I only had red onion--i just sliced it really small and it tasted good)
2 tablespoons flour
1 2/3 cups milk (I used 1% Horizon and it was good)
salt and pepper
1/3 grated parm cheese (i used the standby green can but the photo shows real grated parm cheese like flakes)

In a large saucepan of boiling salted water cook tortellini until al dente. drain

Meanwhile add peas, butter and scallion whites to another large saucepan cook over medium for 2 minutes. whisk in flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk and boil. stir constantly. stir in scallion greens, salt and pepper.

Stir in tortellini and 1/3 cup cheese into sauce.

Serve with sprinkled parm cheese on top.

Chicken Tetrazzini

original recipe:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
1 pkg 7 oz cooked drained spaghetti
2 cups cooked cubed chicken
1 3oz can mushroom
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

I prefer fresh baby portabello mushrooms when we have them and I put probably more than 3oz.
I also use a whole box of spaghetti.
I sometimes cube my chicken before cooking and sometimes not--can't decide which is easier. I season the chicken with whatever I feel like at the moment----mrs. dash table blend, healthy heart, nature's own seasoning and paprika---just whatever.
I also add more than 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

preheat oven to 350 degrees. melt butter in a skillet, stir in flour, seasonings, cook over low (will look like paste) remove from heat stir in broth, cream, return to heat boil, stir constantly. Stir/boil 1 minute or so. add cooked spaghetti, chicken mushrooms (if i use fresh i add them to the sauce and heat first).
Pour into 2 quart casserole (if you use whole box of spaghetti you may need a bit bigger) sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.