Recipe: Crockpot Spicy Queso Beef Chili (but cooked on stove and made vegetarian)

 

Crockpot Spicy Queso Beef Chili 

HalfBakedHarvest.com

4.9 stars

Really good chili recipe that we made vegetarian. It's similar to the SmokyTofu Chili recipe in flavor but has a higher heat level because of the hot chiles and a slightly different flavor. I wish I could taste them side by side to taste the differences. 

Ingredients: ground beef (but see Impossible Beef and tofu sub below), yellow onions, poblano peppers, crushed fire roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, diced green chiles, broth, cream cheese, mixed chili beans, hot sauce, butter, chili powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, salt

Toppings: cheddar, cilantro, green onions, avocado, Greek yogurt

Tips:

• Used 1 package of Impossible Beef and 1 block of firm tofu instead of 2 pounds of ground beef
• Used 2 Tbsp of hot sauce instead of 1/3 cup 
• Used unsalted butter + salt instead of salted butter
• Used 2 cups of vegetable broth instead of the "2-3 cups of chicken or beef broth"
• Didn't add in the cream cheese
• Didn't add in the cheddar in the chili -- used as topping instead
• Added 1 can of black beans 
• Serve with Frito dipper chips

Recipe: Breakfast-for-Dinner Burritos

Breakfast-for-Dinner Burritos

Martha Stewart Living, May 2022, p.55

4.8 stars

I love having breakfast for dinner!!! These breakfast burritos were super easy to make (especially for a quick weekday meal) and flavorful. 

Ingredients: tortillas, eggs, bacon, Yukon Gold potatoes, scallions, hominy, cheddar, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper, salsa or hot sauce

Tips

• Yes, use the amount of scallions it calls for!
• Added New Mexico chile powder to add some flavor/complexity to the potato mixture
• Definitely add salsa on top -- nice addition

Recipe: New Mexican-Style Breakfast Burritos

New Mexican-Style Breakfast Burritos
Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2021, p.78
4.6 stars

Potential ski-trip breakfast recipe! This is similar to what we make when we're skiing -- a hearty burrito, except this recipe definitely has a "New Mexico" taste/flair to it because of the New Mexico chiles in the sauce.

Sauce Ingredients: New Mexico chiles, garlic, Mexican oregano, all-purpose flour, Kosher salt

Burrito Ingredients: tortillas, sausage to your liking, eggs, cheddar, russet potato, New Mexico green chiles, unsalted butter, garlic powder, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips:

• Used plant-based sausage
• Couldn't find New Mexico chiles so used New Mexico chile powder
• Added white onion to the sauce
• Couldn't find New Mexico green chiles so used a can of hot Hatch green chiles
• Cooked the potato, plant-based meat and Hatch green chiles together
• Made "tacos" instead of a burrito

Recipe: Spicy White Bean Casserole with Calabrian Chiles

Spicy White Bean Casserole with Calabrian Chiles

Better Homes & Gardens, Dec 2021, p.172

5 stars

This was so surprisingly good! To be honest, we had put off making this recipe because it said the total time to make it (including baking was 1 hr 20 min). It took just an hour.

While we're eating and leaning toward more vegetarian/plant-based, this recipe did have a little bit of pancetta for umami which was necessary (just 3 oz).

Ingredients: cannellini beans, broccoli florets, panko, pancetta, yellow onion, Calabrian chiles or peppadew peppers, chicken broth, heavy cream, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, olive oil, lemon, garlic, dried oregano, basil, red pepper

Tips:

• Used 1.5 lbs (a bag and a half) of frozen broccoli. Note: Try using non-frozen broccoli next time which may make the dish less "soupy"
• Couldn't find Calabrian peppers so used red pepper
• Substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth

Recipe: Frittata-rama

Frittata-rama

Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2018, p. 132

4.8 Stars

I personally LOVED this frittata. Partner-chef-hubby-non-blog contributor the grandcruman prefers other frittata recipes that are baked. 

Regardless, the ingredients in this dish were delish: bacon, potatoes, cheese, eggs ... the perfect lunch/brunch frittata!

Ingredients: eggs, sharp cheddar, chopped bacon, onion, Yukon Gold potatoes, Swiss chard, olive oil, salt, pepper

Notes/Tips:

• Used kale instead of Swiss chard; had to cook the kale separately first
• Because we used more leafy greens (for us, kale) than was called for, we should have added more eggs than just the 8 

Recipe: Chicken-and-Gnocchi Bake with Broccolini

Chicken-and-Gnocchi Bake with Broccolini

marthastewart.com

4.4 Stars

Really good easy weeknight GNOCCHI dish! We've had some gnocchi fails so this was an "in-a-pinch" gnocchi dish using pre-made (fresh/frozen ones) -- with Gruyere, one of my favorite cheeses. The dish was bubbling (as you can see) coming out of the oven. Great ski dinner recipe!

Ingredients: Broccolini, fresh or frozen gnocchi, cooked chicken, Gruyere, Parmigiano-Reggiano, butter, garlic, all-purpose flour, chicken broth, Kosher salt, pepper

Notes:

• Used Rotisserie chicken

Recipe: Green Chile Enchiladas

Not a beautiful dish, but it's delish

Green Chile Enchiladas
Better Homes and Gardens, July 2020, p. 96
5 stars

I don't know who subscribed me to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, but I do flip through every issue and have found some valuable content. To be honest, I'm wary of their recipes compared to what I might find in Food & Wine and Bon Appetit Magazine maybe it's because I feel like BH&G caters to more mainstream food tastes, whereas, I really like complex, hot/spicy, non-mainstream flavors.

I was craving enchiladas and saw this recipe that came from Frontier Restaurant which was highlighted in the "Route 66" article as a must-stop place to eat in New Mexico (it's near the University of New Mexico). These enchiladas were so delicious. As I'm writing this, I'm hoping that blog contributor the grandcruman left some for me in the fridge for lunch. We have a couple of other enchilada recipes we've tried that I've blogged about which are good, but different styles; this one is definitely being added to our enchilada repertoire.

Ingredients: flour or corn tortillas, sharp cheddar cheese, ground pork, russet potatoes, canned diced Hatch green chiles, yellow onion, white onion, chicken broth, serrano, yellow cornmeal, garlic, olive oil

Notes:

• As noted in the recipe, there is plenty of leftover green chile stew leftover that you can freeze. (Note for us -- it filled a medium glass containers with a blue top.)
• It made about 9 enchiladas.
• Forgot the serrano so there wasn't a lot of heat even though we used half hot diced Hatch chiles and half mild. Need to remember the serrano next time!

Recipe: Spicy Baked Pasta with Cheddar and Broccoli Rabe

Spicy Baked Pasta with Cheddar and Broccoli 
Bon Appetit Magazine, Mar 2020, p. 27
4.5 stars

I was really curious about this recipe as the heading for the article/recipe was "A Very Persuasive Pasta -- Alison Roman couldn't find a baked pasta she liked. So she made one she did."  I would say she did a great job creating this dish. So good and flavorful. I liked the use of the sharp white cheddar and especially loved the crispy topping.

Ingredients: rigatoni, leeks, broccoli rabe or broccolini, sharp white cheddar, chives, fresh breadcrumbs or panko, heavy cream, extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper, Kosher salt

Tips

• Used penne instead
• Used kale instead of broccoli rabe

Recipe: Black-Bean and Sweet-Potato Stew

Black-Bean and Sweet-Potato Stew

Marthastewart.com

5 stars

Super healthy, satisfying, flavorful vegetarian Mexican-style stew.  You won't even miss that there's no meat in this dish, and the leftovers are great!  What "makes" the dish is the chipotle in adobo which again and again proves to add a nice layer of flavor and heat.

Ingredients: black beans, sweet potato, quinoa, white onion, poblano pepper, chipotle in adobo, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, cilantro, shredded cheddar

Tips:

• Added sour cream as you can see from the photo
• Can also add chopped avocado
• Serve with tortilla chips for crunch

Recipe: Sara's Game-Day Chili

Sara's Game-Day Chili
US Weekly, Dec 2, 2019, p. 44
5 stars (with additions)

Sara = Sarah Haines (I didn't know who she was.... she is a GMA3 ~ Good Morning America host).

The recipe as-is was bland -- we added cayenne, ancho chili powder and chili powder to amp up the flavor.  Overall, this is a really healthy chili to make during the winter.  I like that butternut squash and sweet potato is used in it (again, healthy!).  My sister really liked this dish as well. 

Ingredients: green bell pepper, red bell pepper, yellow onion, ground beef, butternut squash, sweet potato, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt pepper

Tips:

• As noted above, added cayenne, ancho chili powder and chili powder (without these, it's bland).
• Used already cubed butternut squash from the frozen section.
• Next time, cook for less than the 30 minutes noted in the recipe (the butternut squash and sweet potato were a tad overcooked).

Recipe: Instant Pot Red Bean and Quinoa Soup with Taco Fixins

Instant Pot Red Bean and Quinoa Soup with Taco Fixins
Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2019, p.14
5 stars

This tastes better than it looks, AND you don't need to have a InstaPot to make this.  We made this in a regular Dutch oven/pot with the tweaks below.  This is super flavorful with creaminess from the avocado, saltiness from the queso fresco, acidity from the pickled onions, spiciness from the chipotle in adobo, and so many more flavors!  It's also a HEALTHY dish -- plant-based and love that there's quinoa in it!  Good dish to make on a ski trip.

Soup: red onion, garlic, cumin, red beans, red quinoa, chipotle in adobo, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, lime

Assembly: red onion, red wine vinegar, Kosher salt, sugar, lime wedges, sliced avocado, sour cream, cilantro, queso fresco or Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, hot sauce, tortilla chips

Tips:

• Didn't use a InstaPot as noted above.
• Used 2 cans of red beans in stead of dried beans.
• Had tortilla chips on the side.