Chili-Mac: Gluten-Free

I love chili. When my daughter was home sick with a stomach bug, I took the opportunity to break out the chili fixin's for myself.

Weird thinking, I know, but when there is a bonus day off from work (not saying her being sick was a bonus, mind you), I feel inclined to go big with my cooking. She doesn't eat chili and said the cooking smells wouldn't bother her, so I figured since I had to make really bland stuff for her to eat, I'd make myself something extra spicy. I also made oven-roasted jalapeno peppers (recipe will be appearing shortly, needs some adjustments...). Clearly, I was not having any of the bland food myself.

For years now, I've been using a mix for the spices, from Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit, which I highly recommend. There are no chemicals or weird fake-foods in the box, just cayenne pepper, corn masa flour, cumin, garlic, ground chili peppers, onion, oregano, paprika, salt. It's just easier to have everything put together for me, especially since I may not have all the ingredients on hand, most importantly, the corn masa which you use towards the end of cooking to thicken the chili.

I'd like to talk about chili-mac now. It's not a dish I grew up with. Maybe it did exist in NY, but it never made its way to me. The first time I encountered it, I was in southern Illinois with my then in-laws at Steak 'n Shake. It seemed to me like an ingenious combination. Why not use pasta as your vehicle of choice for chili? It's a pretty good combination of textures, and the cheese just sinks into the pasta every so nicely.

While I cooked the chili, I looked around for some corn tortillas to serve it with, only to come up empty. Instead, I chose a rice pasta as my base for the chili, making this the first time I've made chili-mac in my own kitchen. There is no cheese in this version, as I'm primarily dairy-free (except for butter, can't leave that behind), but you should feel free to add some nice sharp cheddar and maybe even some sour cream to finish off this great dish.

Gluten-free Chili-Mac

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Heat a large non-reactive pot over high heat.
  2. Add the olive oil and half of the minced shallots.
  3. Cook for 1 minutes. Add the ground meat.
  4. Brown on all sides, about 15 minutes of cooking time.
  5. Drain the fat from the pan.
  6. Add the tomato sauce, water and spices.
  7. Cook for ten minutes. Add the drained black beans.
  8. Slightly cover the pot. Cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  9. While the chili is cooking, take the masa flour and mix with 1/3 cup warm water.
  10. Add to the chili to thicken it. Make sure the corn masa flour is not clumping in the chili, break it up with a fork as you stir it into the mix.
  11. Cook for five more minutes.
  12. Place the prepared pasta into individual serving bowls.
  13. Top with chili (and cheese, if you're into that).
  14. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

Spring = Salad....Salad Dressings Galore

As  featured on The Fruit Guys website

Salad dressing has been on my mind lately. I think it's a sure sign of Spring, what with all the nice greens beginning to show up in the farmer's markets.

In my head, I keep hearing my brother singing a song he made up "All My Dressings", but I can't remember the rest of it. I think this was something he started singing to one of his many nieces and nephews or his kids as pre-dinner entertainment. Salad dressing and I were never best friends. The reappearance of my brother Chris' song, has, however, prompted me to think some more about dressings. I generally like an undressed (naked, if you will) salad. I'm not sure why I have this aversion to dressing, it certainly has nothing to do with calories. There was a time when I did like dressing. I do remember a good vinaigrette that Gran Fran and Joe would make which I ate when we were kids. That said, I'm beginning to wonder if all of the packaged dressings that people offer me are the turn off. There are too many flavors mixed in that take over the taste of the lovely greens.

I set myself a mission: to find not one, not two, but three dressings that I could rotate through my salads. This coincided perfectly with my recent thinking about how to increase the flavor in my salads. In combination with adding fruits, nuts and sometimes rice noodles to my salads, dressing seems the next logical step to bring up the flavor.

A mustard vinaigrette dressing always plays a part in my Salade Nicoise. I know that I can use that same dressing on any number of salads, or even over some warm boiled potatoes. One down, two to go.

Cole Slaw is a big favorite of mine, especially my homemade version. The dressing doesn't have to be exclusively for cabbage, even though it goes so well with it. I figured I could try it with a heartier green, like spinach, add some cucumbers, nuts and shredded carrots and have myself a great salad. I was right.

Dressing number three came to me in my half-sleep the other day, just waking up after a long night of dreaming about food. Those dreams paid off because I came up with an Asian-style dressing that includes orange juice, ginger and sesame oil. A winner when put over romaine lettuce with rice noodles, almonds and orange slices.

I think the vinaigrette and the Asian-style dressing can double as a good marinade for meats, too. So looking forward to trying them out on a variety of salads and reporting back!

My friends came to dinner the night after I made these dressings. It was really great to be able to say, for once, that I did have not one, but three dressings to offer them. They were all a big hit. I'm going to think up a few more dressings before too long. I think I actually *do* like dressing.

Mustard Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 clove garlic minced finely
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  • Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl, using either a small wire whisk or a fork to fully incorporate all the ingredients

Use this vinaigrette on everything from a side dinner salad to a salade nicoise.

Creamy Salad Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon celery salt
  • Black pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
  3. Add your favorite salad and enjoy.

You can make a traditional cole slaw just by adding two cups of shredded cabbage and some julienned carrots. Or, simply pour some dressing over well-washed spinach, cucumbers, carrots and sunflower seeds.

Asian-Style Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 3 teaspoons sesame oil
  • ½ teaspoon honey
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  • Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.

This dressing is fantastic for a mixed green salad featuring hardy vegetables like red bell peppers and green beans.

You can also add rice noodles to showcase the dressing’s flavor and some cilantro as garnish.

Kale. Who Knew It Could Be This Easy?

Spring is here. At least in SF. It's got to be close to 70 degrees here with lovely clear, blue skies. A perfect day for a walk over to our local farmer's market.

There was a nice kale salad in our lunch this past week, so I decided to try my hand at cooking some. I've used kale in soups before, but never any other way.

Many varieties of kale showed up this week at the farmer's market. I got some and then stared it in on my kitchen counter for a good long time. I realized that I had no idea what to do with it. Since it seems very fibrous, braising seemed like a good idea. Then I remembered how we always cooked sausages in boiling red wine before putting them into the tomato sauce when I was growing up. Maybe red wine was the way to go.

It most certainly is the way to go with kale. I don't know if there are purists out there who have a particular right way to cook these hearty leaves, but I recommend that you give the red wine a try.

Once I had the kale cooked down, I thought I'd try two different final dishes with it. I served it alongside boiled potatoes straight from the pan with some of the braising liquid and garlic.

And, I made a pesto-style preparation, by pureeing the cooked kale, garlic and braising liquid in the food processor. Both were good, but I preferred the pesto-style, since I'd never tasted kale this way before.

Red Wine-Braised Kale with Boiled Potatoes

  • 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
  • 1 cup Red Wine
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled
  1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
  2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
  3. Add the oil and water.
  4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
  5. Turn the heat back to high.
  6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
  7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
  8. Serve over the boiled potatoes, being sure to scoop up some of the cooking liquid to pour over the potatoes.

Red Wine-Braised Kale Pesto with Boiled Potatoes

  • 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
  • 1 cup Red Wine
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled
  1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
  2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
  3. Add the oil and water.
  4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
  5. Turn the heat back to high.
  6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
  7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
  8. Put the cooked Kale and its cooking liquid into a food processor.
  9. Process until all leaves and stems have been chopped up and incorporated into a mixture.
  10. Serve over the boiled potatoes.

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.