New Year, New Food, New Approach
I have taken a break for the past month to reflect on where I am in life, this space and a fresh approach. Coincidentally the government of Canada’s new food guide was released yesterday and it too is a new look at how we should regard our food.
https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/
I especially appreciate the references to mindfulness, cooking at home more often (avoiding fast and processed food) and eating more often with others-in essence “en” joying eating and food. Now, I have always professed that there is much joy (and love) in food. For me there is both joy in the preparation and in the sharing.
I also received a beautiful gift this week. I fessed up on Instagram that a good friend and I have girl crushes on Joanna Gaines and that same friend gifted me with Joanna’s beautiful new cookbook: Magnolia Table-a collection of recipes for gathering. I have yet to try one of the recipes but I am enamored just the same by what she shares of food and her family in the Introduction.
Last evening I co-hosted a training evening and we kicked the evening off by breaking bread together. I knew that I was cooking for up to 18 people so I made a vat of my favourite chili. I adapted a Zest Cooking Solutions (Sister #3) recipe. Where it called for a Veggie Ground Round I used ground chicken and I also boosted it with yellow corn for colour and kale for nutritional oommph. Unfortunately I did not take any photos of the recipe preparation or the end result because in truth I didn’t know last evening that today would be the day that my personal reflection was done and I was back to blogging.
- cooking spray
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, shredded in the food processor
- 1 red pepper, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 can black beans, undrained
- 1 can kidney beans, undrained
- 1 can whole tomatoes, emulsified with hand blender
- 2 T tomato paste
- ¼ c salsa
- 2 T chili powder
- 1 t cumin
- 1 t oregano
- lb ground chicken
- half a package of frozen corn
- half package of frozen kale
- half a bunch of fresh cilantro
- Spray the bottom of a large pot with canola or olive oil
- Place onion quarters, red pepper quarters and garlic in the food processor to finely dice
- Shred carrot with the food processor shredding disk
- Add carrot, onion, pepper and garlic in the pot and saute for 3-5 minutes (until onion is translucent)
- Add the ground chicken and continue to stir until chicken changes from pink to white
- At the this point I added the spices and put the pot in the fridge overnight
- The next morning I set the pot on low heat and added the undrained beans, emulsified tomatoes, tomato paste and salsa to the pot.
- Once it is heated thoroughly add the corn and kale.
- Heat to desired temperature (I let the chili simmer all day)
- Serve with cilantro sprigs
Please forgive me for the small m in Mexico. I mean no disrespect but I cannot figure out how to edit it without deleting and starting over again.
I doubled the recipe for the large group. The dish could have been served with crushed taco chips but I decided to make some cheesy corn muffins to go along with it. It was a hit!
Kath’s quote: This meal embodied comfort and safety to me. It felt like home. To this day whenever I eat spaghetti, that warm, fuzzy feeling hits me and I feel like all is well in the world.” -Joanna Gaines
Love never fails.
