Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

3 cups black bean and corn salsa

1 pound ground turkey meat

1 cup rice

6 bell peppers

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup diced bell pepper

¼ cup diced onion

1 can mixed diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

3 tsp olive oil

shredded cheddar cheese, if desired

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1.   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut the tops off of the bell peppers. Remove the ribs and seeds from inside. 
3. Rub the insides of the peppers with 1-2 spoons of olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Put in a baking dish in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
4. Heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Saute the onions, garlic, and diced bell pepper. I get the diced bell pepper for this from the tops I cut off of the 6 peppers.
5. Add the turkey to the pan and brown.
6. Add salsa and canned tomatoes and chilies to turkey mixture. Stir to combine. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
7. Add cooked rice and Greek yogurt to turkey mixture. Stir to combine.
8. Divide the mixture evenly between the 6 empty bell peppers. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Remove peppers from oven. Top, if desired, with cheddar cheese. Return to oven for 10 minutes.
10. Serve hot with sides of additional salsa or Greek yogurt, if you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tips

The 6 bell peppers I made were really full - overflowing, in fact. There is probably enough here to decently fill 7-8 bell peppers if you so choose. 

You can use sour cream instead of plain Greek yogurt, any color bell peppers, and beef or sausage instead of turkey, if you want.. You can also use store bought or homemade salsa. Leave out the meat entirely for a vegetarian version. You can also substitute black beans for the meat. Leave the cheese and yogurt out for a non-dairy or vegan version.

Crockpot Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients: Vegan Option
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 cup celery
3 cups red beans (canned with liquid)
1-3 tsp Cajun seasoning (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp file powder
1-2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 – 1 tsp hot sauce, if desired
2 tbsp corn starch
4 tbsp cold water
cooked rice to serve

Ingredients: Meat Option
(Pictured Here)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 cup celery
3 cups red beans (canned with liquid)
1-3 tsp Cajun seasoning (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp file powder
3/4 lb chicken or pork Andouille sausage, sliced
1-2 cups chicken broth
1/2 – 1 tsp hot sauce, if desired
2 tbsp corn starch
4 tbsp cold water
cooked rice to serve

Directions
1. Begin to heat up your crockpot so you aren't putting the beans into a cold dish. Heat up the olive oil in a saute pan. Saute onion, bell pepper and celery until they begin to soften.
2. Put beans in the crockpot. Add broth to make sure the beans are covered with liquid.
3. Once the onion, bell pepper, and celery are softened, add them to the crockpot. Add seasonings (and the hot sauce if you want it) and stir well.
4. If you are making the sausage version, toss your sausage in the same pan you cooked the onions in until they start to brown. Then add the sausage to the crockpot.
5. Cook on high for 5-6 hours.
6. Put the corn starch into a jar or Tupperware container with a tight lid. Add 4 tablespoons of cold water. Shake to combine. Then add in 3-4 tablespoons of the hot liquid from the beans and shake again. This will help prevent clumps.
7. Add the corn starch mixture to the crockpot and stir to combine. Let thicken until the mixture is a the consistency you want it (a thicker mix will need to cook for a bit longer).
8. As the mixture is thickening, prepare the rice. Serve the red beans over rice.

Tips
1. You can use re-hydrated dried beans if you want, although you may need to add more liquid to the crockpot.
2. You can actually cook this over low heat on the stove as well.
3. This does have a bit of a kick to it with the hot sauce, so be careful if you're not a fan of spicy foods.
4. If you're having trouble finding chicken Andouille sausage, know that you may be able to find miniature ones in the refrigerated meat section of your store. That's what I used here. Yes, sausage purists, I know it isn't pork. It is still delicious.

A Dinner for the New Year: Chicken, Greens, and Black Eyed Peas

A traditional Southern New Year's dinner for many includes pork, greens, black eyed peas, and cornbread. The black eyed peas symbolize good luck. The greens (often collard greens) stand for money or prosperity and cornbread for gold. I've heard people say the pork represents a variety of things – progress and moving forward, a reminder to remain humble, health. Unfortunately, for me pork equates to nasty migraines, so we switched over to chicken for our New Year's meal. Some folks say eating chicken will make blessings fly in, so we'll go with that.

Black Eyed Peas

Ingredients
1 can black eyed peas
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp coriander
1-2 tsp olive oil

Directions
1. Put the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.
2. Stir onions, bell pepper, garlic, and spices into olive oil and let cook until the onions and peppers begin to soften.
3. Drain and rinse the black eyed peas. Add them to the pot.
4. Add chicken broth. Cover and let simmer for about an hour and a half.











Beer Chicken

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs)
3-4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 c beer (I went with Anchor Brewing's Christmas Ale.)
4 tbsp salt
1-2 tbsp oregano
2-3 tsp coriander
2-3 tsp black pepper
A few tablespoons of the liquid, onions, and bell pepper from the black eyed peas
water

Directions
1. Fill a large pot or bowl with enough hot water to fully cover the chicken. Stir in salt, oregano, coriander, and pepper. Put the chicken in and let it soak in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
2. Pre-heat oven to 450*F.
3. Remove chicken from the water and pat dry.
4. Cut butter into smaller pieces. Put some between the skin and the meat on the chicken (you may need to use a knife to pull the skin off the meat a little). Put the rest in the cavity of the chicken.
5. Truss the chicken. You can find lots of excellent directional videos online (who explain it probably far better than I could) and, if you look around, you can even find pre-trussed chicken at some grocery stores.
6. Smear a bit of butter on the bottom of a baking dish, just in case to make sure nothing sticks. Put the chicken in the pan, breast down.
7. Pour the beer over the chicken. I also added a few spoons of the liquid (with onions and peppers) from the black eyed peas, which had been cooking for about a half an hour at this point.
8. Cover with foil and put in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes. Then remove the foil, lower the temperature to 400*F, and bake for another 30 minutes. I took the opportunity to throw the cornbread in with the chicken to bake when I dropped the temperature.
9. Remove the chicken from the pan and let rest (I set it on a cutting board) for at least 10 minutes before cutting.











Kale

Ingredients
3-4 cups of chopped kale
6-8 cups of water

Directions
1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Throw the kale in and cook until softened.
3. Strain and serve.











Tips
We served all of this with cornbread on the side, of course.

Happy 2012!

Turkey and Bean Chili

Ingredients

1/4 lb ground turkey
2 cups (1 can) kidney beans
4 cups (2 cans) diced tomatoes (I used the canned ones with basil.)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup onion
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp mustard seed
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp A-1

Directions

1. Brown turkey in a bit of olive oil with onions, garlic, and dry seasonings. 
2. Meanwhile, microwave beans, covered, for 5 minutes in the liquid they come in. 
3. Mix turkey, tomatoes, beans, and other seasonings in a soup pan. 
4. Bring to boil. Simmer on low, uncovered, till thickened. 

Tips

1. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, crackers, or green onion.
2. Leave out the turkey and add more beans, if desired, for a vegetarian version.