White Bean and Lime Chili

The weather is finally starting to feel cold here in Nebraska. I'm not complaining, mind you, but it takes some serious cold to start getting me in the mood for some of my hearty winter food. This White Bean and Lime Chili is a cold weather go to favorite of mine. I'm going to get the groceries tomorrow, and this is on my list.

One of the things I love about it is how light and fresh it tastes, while still being hot and filling. It is a good way to use the underused white bean. It also features millet, which is one of my favorite grains to cook with. It has a fun texture that I think you will enjoy. If you don't have millet on hand you could substitute in brown basmati rice, soaked and rinsed quinoa, or possibly barley. It just wouldn't be exactly the same. Learn about Millet here.

White Bean and Lime chili

9 Cups vegetable broth (or nine cups water with 2 TBLS better than bullion vegetable bullion)
1 Onion diced
1 C carrots diced
1 C celery diced
2 C cabbage finely diced (using purple cabbage makes for a fun color in the soup)
1 red pepper
1 small can canned green chilies
6 cloves garlic minced
1 TBSP sea salt
1 TBSP Cumin
4 Limes
2-4 C cooked or canned white beans
1 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 C dried millett
1 can corn

Bring broth to boil- add onion, carrot,celery, and millett. Boil for 7-8 minutes then add remaining ingredients and boil 5 more minutes.

Turn heat off and add:
Juice of 3 lemons or 4 limes
2-4 cups cooked white beans
1 C fresh cilantro
1 Can of corn

Let sit with lid on pot until Millett is fully cooked. When ready, Garnish individual bowls with: diced fresh tomatoes ,more cilantro, diced green onions or chives, or diced avocado. My kids love to dip tortilla chips or warm tortillas in this also.

Enjoy it with some people you love!

Happy New Year 2012

I don't know about you, but as soon as the holiday food clears out of my refrigerator, the first thing I want to do is get back to my basics. For me this would be a crock pot full of beans. This year I could tell that my children were also delighted to get back to the hearty filling food of vegetables and grains.

Last night we had a great meal of vegetable fajitas soaked in lime juice and olive oil with cumin, oregano, salt, and cayenne pepper then broiled on high a for a few minutes. We rounded this out with salty beans, avocados, corn tortillas, lettuce, and this fun Chipotle restaurant knock off Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe. It was DIVINE! My little chickies marched off to their long day of school today with cilantro rice and bean burritos all snug in their lunch box.

I hope you can find a night next week to enjoy the flavorful cilantro and lime rice with people you love.

Cilantro Lime Rice
Found on Food.Com adjusted to my liking :0)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
2/3 cup brown basmati rice (Soak and Rinse for less nuttiness)
2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lime
2 tsp better than bullion chickenless chicken flavor
Directions:
1In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil over low heat, stirring occasionally.
2Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute.
3Add water, bullion, and salt, bring to a full rolling boil.(Some people have had success with 1 cup of water, but when I've made it with 2 it worked for me).
4At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes.
5Add in the cilantro and fluff rice with a fork.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/chipotle-copycat-lime-rice-recipe-147335#ixzz1ibQWuah8

Balsamic Tomato Couscous

Speaking of having an abundance of garden fresh tomatoes (...no? See post below)...

I made THIS great couscous the other night. It was really very good. My two year old ate it up and my husband was happy to see that I had doubled the recipe so there would be plenty for him to take for lunch for the rest of the week.

Couscous is surprisingly higher in protein then people usually think. 1 cup of cooked couscous has 6 grams of protein. Surprised that this light and fluffy grain could have so much power packed in it? I was. (it's also a good source of selenium and has many other vitamins and minerals to offer...just so you know). I just always thought of it as pretty weak because it's just so dainty on the plate. But don't be fooled by its pretty appearance, couscous can hold its own.

Now, back to the recipe.

I did make one slight change to the recipe. I didn't use nearly as much balsamic as the recipe called for (although I think it would have been delicious...I LOVE BALSAMIC!) before I was feeding 4 children...all 3 and under and also vinegar and this pregnancy do not agree with each other. So I just marinated the tomatoes in the dressing and then I drained them quite a bit before adding the couscous.

We served this with roasted carrots and potatoes, steamed asparagus and whole grain bread on with vegan butter spread. It was a delicious dinner!

Balsamic Tomato Couscous

2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups uncooked couscous
3 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
5 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring broth to a boil. Then add the basil and garlic and stir.
2. Add the couscous, cover the pan and remove from heat. Let sit 5-10 minutes.
3. Seed and chop tomatoes and transfer them into serving bowl.
4. In a small bowl mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper, pour over tomatoes. Toss.
5. Fluff couscous with a fork and then add to serving bowl. Toss together coating everything in the dressing.
6. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or cold.

ENJOY!