This dish is perfect for a football party, a quick family dinner, or a make ahead, grab and go lunch. I made this chili for some friends last Fall and literally had people asking me to make it in very large batches to deliver to their homes! I hope you like it :)

Fresh Corn and Black Bean Chili
Serves 8

1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
diced fresh jalapeno to taste
1 lb ground turkey breast (optional)-if you omit add 2 extra cans of black beans
1 t salt
2 t chipotle powder
2 t chili powder
2 t cumin powder
1 t ground coriander
1 1/2 T brown sugar
2 cans black beans
4 ears of corn (cut off the cob)
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 cans chicken stock

In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onions, peppers and jalapeño for about 5 minutes. Now, add the ground turkey, salt, chipotle powder, cumin, chili powder, coriander and brown sugar. Cook until the turkey is cooked through…use a large spoon to crumble the turkey as it cooks. Now, add the black beans and fresh corn. Stir well and cook for about 3 minutes. Last, add the tomatoes and chicken stock and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

This chili is wonderful topped with fresh cilantro and a dollop of sour cream. It stores well in the fridge!

This soup is great any time of year. The hearty lentils help it to feel warm and comforting in the fall and winter…the beautiful orange color and light flavors make it a lovely spring and summer dish. There is no need for meat- no need for sides- this soup provides all of the protein, veggies and carbs you will need to fuel your body- in a very tasty way!

Mediterranean Lentil Soup
4 servings

onion 1 C, chopped
carrot 1/2 C, chopped
celery 1/2 C, chopped
garlic 3 cloves, minced
ginger 1 inch, minced
1 T tomato paste
1 t salt
1 t curry
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t cumin
1 C red lentils
2 C water
1 C chicken stock
In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, celery and onion and sauté for five minutes. Now, add the garlic and ginger and cook for another 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, salt, curry, turmeric and cumin.

Add the lentils, water and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.

This chili recipe is one of my favorites. Its incredibly easy but it tastes like you slaved away for hours! It’s both light and filling at the same time…its hearty with lots of delicious flavor from the hominy and green chillies and full of protein and fiber from the chicken and white beans- its definitely a crowd pleaser and it freezes really well…what’s not to love?!

White Chicken Chili
8-12 servings

1/2 C onion, chopped
1 C celery, chopped
1 C potato, chopped
1 t salt
1 t cumin powder
1 lb ground white meat chicken (you can use turkey too)
1 T sugar
4 cans white northern beans
2 cans white hominy
1 small can diced green chillies
1/2 t pepper
2 cans chicken stock

In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onion, celery, potato and salt for 5 minutes.

Now, add the ground chicken and ground cumin and cook for 5 more minutes.

Now for the easy part! Add the sugar and then the cans of white beans, the hominy, green chillies, the pepper and the chicken stock.

Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Store in the fridge or freeze for later use!

This warm weather is really throwing me off! Instead of craving my usual soups and warm creamy dishes- I’ve been eating a lot of fresh veggies and stir fries. Last week, we finally got a taste of “normal” winter weather and I was inspired just long enough to come up with a yummy new chili recipe! There is lots of protein and fiber from the turkey and black beans- and tons of yummy sweetness and vitamins from the sweet potatoes. The chipotle powder adds a great smokiness and the green chilies contribute the perfect amount of spice! Lets hope that we get some cold weather soon because this chili is the PERFECT, EASY meal for a cold winter night! This meal literally took me 10 minutes to throw together and it is perfect for making in large batches and throwing in the freezer.

Smokey Sweet Potato & Turkey Chili

1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 lb ground turkey breast
1 t salt
2 t chipotle powder
2 t chili powder
2 t cumin poqder
1 1/2 T brown sugar
2 sweet potatoes, 1/2 inch cubes
1 can black beans
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 small can diced green chili peppers
2 cans chicken broth

In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onions and green peppers for about 5 minutes.

Now, add the ground turkey, salt, chipotle powder, cumin, chili powder and brown sugar.

Cook until the turkey is cooked through…use a large spoon to crumble the turkey as it cooks.
Add the sweet potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Now, add the black beans, tomatoes, diced chilis and chicken stock.

Mix everything together- bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cover.

Cook for about 40 minutes- until the sweet potato is cooked through.

It feels like just yesterday I was ringing in the New Year with Gavin, my brother and Katie…and here we are about to do it all over again! This year was FULL of wonderful adventures, great times with friends and family, lots of travel and tons of yummy food! So, in honor of this lovely year ending (and to stick with the theme of every stinkin’ TV show, website and blog) here are my favorite recipes from 2011.

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

Braised Brussel Sprouts

Family Recipe Tomato Sauce

Toasted Zucchini Israeli CousCous

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Chili Verde

Butternut Squash Soup

Lemony Blueberry Muffins

Oatmeal Carrot Cupcakes

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

“Fried” Green Tomatoes

Carrot Ginger Dressing

Pumpkin Apple Stew

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pablano Corn Chowder

Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Fancified Deviled Eggs

As you can probably tell, Gavin and I have been in the mood for warm and yummy soups- if October was pumpkin month, I’d say November is soup month! So, grab a bowl and a cozy blanket- and enjoy!

Pablano Corn Chowder
serves 4

2 Cups pablano pepper, diced
2 Cups onion, diced
1 Cup potatoes, peeled and diced
2 Cups chicken breast, cut into small cubes
2 cans cream style corn
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can low sodium, fat free chicken broth
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t cumin powder
1 t salt
1/2 C milk (optional)

In a large pot, over medium heat, sautee the peppers, onions and potatoes for about 4 minutes. Then add the chicken and cook for another 4 minutes. Now, pour in the cans of corn, the chicken broth, garlic powder, cumin, and salt. Bring back up to a boil. Once the pot is boiling, turn the heat to low, cover, and allow to cook for at least 45 minutes, stirring (and scraping the bottom of the pot) ever 15 minutes.

The salad was amazing, but the star of my lunch show was definitely the warm, soothing and slightly spicy curried chickpea soup that I ordered. It was so good, that I went to the store and bought chickpeas so that I could make my own, lighter version! This recipe is super healthy (lots of protein and dietary fiber) but hearty and satisfying at the same time. And, it can easily be made vegan by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock!

Curried Chickpea Soup
Makes 4 large servings

2 large celery stocks, Chopped
1 medium onion, Chopped
2 cans chick peas, 1 can drained *save the juice of the other can
1 T curry powder
1/4 t ginger, ground
1/4 t coriander, ground
1/2 t cumin, ground
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t sea salt
2 T brown sugar
1 1/2 C chicken stock
1/2 C light coconut milk (or skim milk if you prefer)
2 C baby spinach leaves

In a large sauce pan, over medium heat, sauté the onion and celery for 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas, chickpea juice, curry powder, ginger, coriander, cumin, garlic, sea salt and brown sugar. Stir until everything is well combined. Now, add the chicken stock, cover the pot and cook on medium for 45 minutes. Add the coconut or skim milk and then stir in the spinach. The soup is ready to serve! I like to top mine with a teaspoon of raw coconut shavings.

This 80 degree weather is throwing me off! Last week, it was crisp, cool, and quickly becoming Fall- and I was craving warm, hearty soups. So, this week, I went to the store and stocked up on chicken stock…and lots of veggies to play around with some new soup ideas. Even though it is 80 degrees and I could basically be a wearing bathing suit outside, I have thoroughly enjoyed making these new soups.

My favorite soup concoction was pretty surprising…Gavin hailed it “the best soup he has ever eaten” and I ate like 4 bowls in a day! I already went back to the store to get more of the ingredients to make a big- freezer ready batch to last us through the cold months! I say all of this so that you will keep an open mind. The ingredients might sound a little funny together- but just trust me, they work!

The rich creaminess that the pumpkin brings balances so well with the spicy pablano pepper and sweet, slightly tangy apple. All of the Fall spices make the soup taste rich and bold- while still being incredibly healthy.

Pumpkin Apple Stew
serves 4

1 medium pie pumpkin (Trader Joes sells these, you can use 1 can of pumpkin puree if you can’t find a pie pumpkin), seeded, skinned and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pablano pepper, diced
1 large Fuji apple, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 large chicken breasts, chopped
4 C chicken stock
1 t salt
1/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground cumin
1 t chipotle powder
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1 T brown sugar

In a large pot, over medium heat, sauté with pumpkin, onion, pablano and apple until the onion starts to become translucent. Next, add the chicken and 1/2 of the salt and cook for about 3 minutes. Now, pour in the broth and all of the spics and mix well. Allow the soup to come up to a boil and then reduce the heat to low, cover it, and let it cook for up to 3 hours. The longer it cooks, the more the chicken will fall apart, the pumpkin will be creamy, and you will get a thicker consistency.

I served it with toasted pumpkin seeds. A grilled cheese with parmesan, and cheddar would be a lovely addition as well!

You can freeze it in serving sized batches for easy lunches and dinners.

We are back in South Africa…back to our second home, and I am SO happy to be here! Right now, it is 2am in Atlanta and I am sitting in the sun on the patio…8am in Jeffrey’s Bay. Mornings like this really are a gift from Jesus. A precious reminder of how much he loves us, and how many blessings we all have. Perfect 70 degree weather, sun shining, waves rolling in on the beach…God is amazing. He is big enough to create the ocean in all of its power…but intimate enough to create the simple delights in life…banana trees growing in the back yard, beautiful little purple flowers growing up the side of the porch. Perfectly ripe mangos (its mango season here, YAY!) and perfectly sweet butternut squash.

I am a huge fan of butternut squash…and I think that some of the best grows right here in South Africa. It is bright orange, and so sweet. I pretty much try to put it in everything when we are here…but one of my favorite ways to really highlight the flavor and overall yumminess of butternut is creamy butternut squash soup.

I learned how to make this soup while we were in South Africa about 2 years ago. It is one of Ria’s (our South African grandma/fearless leader of Ithemba) specialties…she brought it over to our house for dinner one night and I totally fell in love. I did tweak the recipe just a little bit (hers calls for heavy cream, which does make it all the more creamy…but I don’t think much is lost subbing skim milk).

Butternut Squash Soup
8 Cups water
1 medium butternut squash
1 large white onion
2 cloves fresh minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1/2 or 1 teaspoon curry powder (depending on how much curry flavor you like!)
1/8 teaspoon cayanne pepper
1/2 Cup milk (I use skim)

Makes 4 servings
Place a medium sized pot, filled with the water, over high heat and bring to boil. Peel and half the butternut squash and remove the seeds. Cut it into 1 inch chunks. Roughly chop onion into 1 inch chunks.

When the water is boiling, place the butternut, onion and 1 teaspoon of salt in the pot. Allow to cook for about 15 minutes, until the butternut is very fork tender.

Drain half of the water out of the pot. Using a hand blender (or a regular blender…its just messier) blend the onion and butternut together until smooth.

Add the additional salt, curry powder, brown sugar, and cayanne pepper. Blend again. Place the mixture back on the stove over low heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes (it should be a little thinner than baby food). Next, add the milk and stir well.

At this point, the soup is ready to serve…but it is also a great make-ahead item…I think it tastes even better the next day.

Serving suggestions: I like to serve the soup with a salad or a grilled sandwich. Make a grilled cheese with your favorite white cheese…but add ham and some thinly sliced pear…the perfect lunch or dinner!

As I said before, we spent last weekend in the Mountains with some wonderful friends.  The weather was PERFECT…blue skies, lots of sun, but just chilly enough to really feel like you are in the mountains.  It was the perfect weekend for soups, stews and baked good…so I took full advantage of that!  On Saturday morning, we woke up and had a lovely breakfast, relaxed by the fire, and then decided to go for a hike up a nearby mountain…it was beautiful, refreshing and a super fun way to get a little exercise!  We hiked for a few hours and came home HUN-GRY…which was great, because earlier that morning, we threw our lunch together and put it in a dutch oven to cook all day!

That is the great thing about chili…it is LOW maintenance!   This particular green variety requires a little more TLC on the front end…but, that’s ok, because it is not your ordinary (full of starchy beans) chili…it is loaded with lovely lean protein and chok full of vitamins, minerals and most importantly, flavor!

Chili Verde

5 lb pork loin, fat trimmed, cut into 1 inch chuncks

2 Cups chicken stock

20 tomatillos, husked, washed and halved

4 poblano peppers, halved, seeds removed

4 large onions, chopped

1/2 Cup garlic, crushed

1 jalapeno, diced, seeds removed

1 serrano chili, diced, seeds removed

2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon oregano

2 teaspoons sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil (for easy clean up).  Place tomatillos, sprinkled with sea salt, on one sheet and poblano peppers, skin side up on another sheet.  Roast for about 30 minutes…until soft.

While the peppers and tomatillos roast, remove the fat from the pork loin and but it into one inch cubes.  In a large Dutch oven, sprayed with cooking spray, over medium-high heat, brown the pork, in batches, until golden brown.  Add 2 Cups chicken stock.

In a separate large skillet, over medium heat, sautee onions and garlic.

Place the tomatillos and roasted pobalnos in a blender and puree.  Add the sauteed onions and garlic and the tomatillo puree to the pork.

Stir in peppers (to make it as spicy as you like it), cumin, coriander, garlic powder, oregano and salt.  Cover, and simmer over low heat for at least two hours…you can let it simmer all day if you would like your pork to fall apart!  When you are ready to serve, in a separate bowl, mix 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup chicken stock to form a paste.  Add to the chili and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

This makes about 10 servings and it freezes really well!