Chili, like tortilla soup, seems to be a dish that means different things to different people.  I started to enter a contest earlier this year where part of the instructions required a smooth consistency of meat to gravy, containing no identifiable vegetables at all.  And some people think of chili only being a dish served so spicy it demands several beers in rapid succession to keep your taste buds from being destroyed.  This turkey chili with black beans recipe is not very spicy – you can adjust the amounts of cayenne and chili powder to increase the intensity to your desire.  You also could add half of a minced jalapeno in with the garlic, similar to the method I use in my tortilla soup.  I prefer to spice mine at serving with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Enjoy experimenting!

Turkey Chili with Black Beans

2 tbsp olive oil

2.5 lbs ground turkey

1 large white onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic

5 tomatoes on the vine, chopped

1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 and 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

12 turns fresh ground pepper

1 and 1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 c. chicken stock

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Toppings: shredded cheddar jack cheese, diced onion, and crushed red pepper

Heat a heavy bottomed stock pot on medium heat.   Add olive oil and saute onion and bell pepper 8 minutes.  Add ground turkey, increase heat to high and brown thoroughly.  Add garlic, cook another minute.  Add tomatoes, spices and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.  Add black beans, simmer another 30 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

I came up with this recipe largely because I way over purchased fresh ginger in my efforts towards my making my own ginger ale, a work still in progress.  I don’t often cook with fresh ginger which is really a shame.   I minced mine by hand with a very sharp knife, but if you own a fine microplane grater, you should absolutely use that.  I just haven’t purchased one of those yet.  If you’re short on time, I’d recommend just cooking 1 c. of quinoa in 2.5 cups of water for 15 minutes instead of the two part method below.  I usually cook it that way and can’t imagine that it would make too much of a difference.  Quinoa can be bitter if not rinsed well – so I’ve heard, so far I’ve never run into this myself – so take caution to rinse extra well in a strainer before you get started.  I like my quinoa al dente – kind of crunchy tasting – almost like the texture of the teeny tiny brightly colored roe used in sushi, I forgot what they are called, I don’t eat sushi nearly as much as I used to.  If you’ve tried it and prefer a softer texture, just up your cooking time by about 3-5 minutes.

Quinoa, Black Beans, and Tomatoes in a Citrus Ginger Vinaigrette

1/4 c. fresh squeezed orange juice

2 tbsps fresh squeezed lemon juice

3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 tbsp yellow onion, minced (green onions would have been great!  I was out)

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp kosher salt

10 turns fresh ground pepper

1 c. organinc quinoa, rinsed very well in a strainer

1 c. canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1 c. canned diced tomatoes, rinsed and drained

In a bowl, combine juices, oil, ginger, onion, garlic, and salt and pepper.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, bring 3 cups water to a boil.  Add 1/2 tsp kosher salt and quinoa.  Let cook uncovered for 8 minutes, then drain into strainer.  Place strainer over a 1 inch of simmering water, then cover quinoa with a clean dish towel (fold to make small enough that the sides won’t catch on fire!), followed by the saucepan’s lid.  Steam quinoa for 7 minutes, then set strainer aside.  After cooling a few minutes, add quinoa to vinaigrette stir, then add black beans, and tomatoes.  Stir then season to taste with salt and pepper.

I’m a big fan of the slow food movement.  If you’re not familiar and don’t want to read that wikipedia article, my 30 second summary of what slow food means to me is based on creating foods from start to finish using natural, less processed, more local, more seasonal ingredients to cultivate healthy, whole meals which are good for your body, nourish your soul, and create great conversation.  Now I live a very moderate lifestyle, meaning attempting to use moderation in all (most) that I do.  And I certainly don’t mean to insinutate that I never go through a fast food drive through.  Some things catch my attention in the prepared foods market, like the woman I witnessed seeking pimento cheese at the grocery today.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but pimento cheese has about five ingredients.  If you buy it preprepared, there’s also going to be preservatives and other stuff, and it’s stored in plastic, and you have to throw away (recycle) the container.  I’m not overly concerned by getting sick from plastic or food preservatives, but I know it will taste fresher and better if I made it myself.  And I get the satisfaction of my time in the kitchen.  I realize that not everyone derives as much joy from food prep as I do, and to you fellow groceryer, I am in no way insinuating that a market should not exist for you to purchase prepared foods.  I just love what I do, and this is what works for me.

So the dip is quick and the pitas are not.  Though if you’d asked me last week how to make homemade pitas, I would have shrugged and my initial thought would be that it would probably require a special oven or at a minimum, special equipment.  Internet, I am here to tell you – that is not true.  There in lies the power of food blogging.  I write this blog for me.  I love that people enjouy reading it, but it started because I thought someday I might like to write a cookbook.  Before this year I’ve never written any of my recipes down, and my recipe box probably contains a sad 25 note cards.  Plus, I could talk about food, think about food, read about food, and create food all day long and that gets boring for my loved ones.  I read a lot of blogs in the past several years, but ironically, no food blogs.  I had no idea how large and crowded this community was.  It’s a phenomenal wealth of information available for you, the Internet, free of charge.  I think the end result will be that we’ll all wind up phenomenollay better cooks, and more and more people will realize the pleasure of dining intertwined with the pleasure of creating.  So thank you google, and thank you FoodieFarmGirl, and all the others to be unveiled during my adventures in pita making and beyond.

Cannellini Bean, Artichoke, and Fresh Rosemary Dip adapted from Farmgirl Fare

1 can organic cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 can artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind!), rinsed and drained

2 very large cloves garlic, chopped

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 c. finely grated fresh Pecorino Romano Cheese

1 tbsp chopped fresh Rosemary

ground sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Place first four ingredients in a food processor, pulse for 3 minutes, then turn to on for 3 more minutes.  Keep your food processor in the on position and drizzle olive oil through top to emulsify.  Pour contents to a bowl and stir in  rosemary and cheese until combined.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Chill for at least two hours, then serve on crostini or pita chips.