White Bean and Chicken Chili

Yum! I haven't heated something up at work for lunch in a very long time and ALOUD gave an "oh yum." This soup caused me to do just that.

And I took a picture of it! All dolled up with a dollup of sour cream, and smatterings of green onion and cilantro. But, the camera is at home. With the picture. Insert frowny face here.

But here is the recipe with my alterations in parenthesis. I printed it off from All Recipes.

Cha Cha's White Chicken Chili

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers (I had jarred jalapenos, chopped, and only about 2 T)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (roasted from the store, or course)
3 (15 ounce) cans white beans (I used 2 cans of White Kidney beans, with one can smashed. And 1 can of Cannelini beans)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used the Kraft Mexican Shredded blend)



DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and white beans (including the smashed ones). Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the mixture from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

Pictures Coming Soon!!

I got a great deal on a canon digital camera yesterday. It was an early morning impulse buy, but it is for the good of Foodie Nation that I can take photos of my creations. (rhymed)

Last night was comfort food night. It was a cozy 62 degrees in my house when I got home, and soup and macaroni and cheese certainly sounded good!

Brocolli and Potato Soup (5-6 servings)
1 small onion chopped
1 smaller carrot peeled and chopped small
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 brocolli stalk, chopped
2 T butter
chicken broth to cover, about 3.5 cups
1 cup milk
1/3 cup Half and Half
1 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

In a pot, melt butter, and add onion and carrot, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook until softened. Add potato, brocolli, and broth (I did not add salt and pepper here, but you probably should). Simmer until potatoes are softened. Then cover for about 10 minutes over low heat. While simmering, take about 1/4 cup of the milk, and mix with 1/4 cup of flour; this is The Agent, the thickening agent.

Uncover the soup and add the milk, The Agent, and the cream. Bring to a simmer; let it simmer until it creams up. Add the cheese.

With soups, I just prefer to salt to my personal taste when I eat it. This was a little under salted upon serving, but I prefer it that way!

Second Course: Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Ham (6 servings)
2 cups dry elbow macaroni
1 can Fat Free Evaporated Milk
1 cup milk
3 T butter
1/3 cup flour
1.5-2 cups shredded cheese (I used white cheddar and swiss. Just use up what you have!)
1/2 cup deli ham chopped
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

Cook the macaroni.
Melt the butter, add the flour (The Agent), then whisk in the milk. Once creamy, add the Evaporated Milk. Mix in shredded cheeses. Once thick and looking like heaven, add the ham and bacon. Stir in macaroni. Turn into a buttered round casserole dish and bake at 375 until bubbly goodah.

Notes:
-I am NOT a breadcrumb topping kinda gal, so you won't see a topping on the mac.
-Block cheese, shreddeed on your cheese grater, melts the best.
-If you eat the soup first, it will fill you up more, and you will not need as much of the super rich mac and cheese.

Pork Meatballs II: How these little guys went from Cream Sauce to Soup

So, when cooking for two people, there are often leftovers. And making something like meatballs, you really need to have more than one plan. I mean, who wants to create a meaty mess for half as much outcome? If I make meatballs, I make a normal recipe's worth, and then freeze them. But since there wasn't a sauce with these meatballs, as they weren't "Italian", I had another idea.

Meatball, Tortellini and Spinach Soup
Ingredients:
20 meatballs (cooked)
frozen cheese tortellini (half the bag or two handfulls)
frozen chopped spinach (only half the package, as I used the OTHER half in the cream sauce below)
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
sald and pepper
1 T butter

In soup pot, saute the carrot, celery and onion (the trinity) in butter. Salt and pepper. Add spinach to combine. Add chicken broth and 1 cup water. Add meatballs Simmer until carrots are soft. Add tortelli, and simmer until cooked.

This all made about 4 servings. Great for lunch! And add parmesan cheese, if that is your 'thang'.