Monday Recipe - Sweet Potato Chili and Quinoa Risotto

Thanks to a massive plumbing problem, I was home on Friday, and since the plumbers were done by 2:30 (after having fished some lovely paper towels out of the pipes, whatwhat?), I had time to go to Target and grocery shopping. I had been concerned I wasn't going to have enough time for everything this weekend, and the plumbing (while a hassle of epic proportions) made my life easier.

So my Halloween involved a spinning class, laundry, and cooking. I made two recipes. One was a sweet potato chili inspired by a post on Cranky Fitness a while back, and the other inspired by Leah from her comments in my weird food combo post last week.

And I know you all look at me strangely when I type something like this, but I haven't tried the chili yet. I cooked up a big pot of it, and it finished cooking at 11:30p, so I put it in the fridge, and then was so busy this weekend never got a chance to try it. But I'm having some for lunch this week (and sorry in advance to my co-workers reading this...I'll try not to stink you all out of the office...)

Quinoa "Risotto"
5 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into small pieces
1/2-1 lbs chicken, cut into small pieces
1/2C feta (approximately)
quinoa (not too much, just enough to soak up the tomato juices)
dash of cinnamon
dash of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes

Above quantities are estimated, I didn't actually measure them when I was cooking.

Put oil in a pot and cook chicken until cooked on the outside. Add tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes release their liquid. Add quinoa. Cook until the quinoa has soaked up the tomato juices and become chewy instead of crunchy. Add feta and spices.

The quinoa binds it together a bit and makes it feel like it's risotto, but it's a whole grain, healthy version of it. It's also very tasty when reheated.

Sweet Potato Chili
1 lb beef and or lamb (I used 1/2 of each) - optional
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (or food processed, I love my food processor)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you're going vegetarian)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 zucchinis, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans cooked kidney/black beans (I used one of each)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried oregano
Chopped fresh cilantro - optional (I forgot to buy it, so I didn't add it)

Heat olive oil in heavy pan over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the meat and pepper flakes and stir until cooked on the outside. Add 1 cup of the broth and the sweet potato. Cover pan and reduce heat. Simmer until sweet potato is almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes (with the juice), beans, garlic and spices. Add the zucchinis and the rest of the broth. Simmer uncovered until the chili thickens and the sweet potato is very tender. Adjust seasonings as needed. Add cilantro to the bowl when serving. You could also add a sprinkling of parmesan if so desired.

Fun New Foods: Quinoa

Breaking out a new series of posts! I'm going to highlight a "new" food in each of these posts. In some cases, you might say "uh...Leth....that's not a new food, I've been eating that for ages!" Especially if you read health and food blogs frequently. But then the very next person to come along will say "well what the hell is that funky food you're talking about?!" So here goes.

Quinoa (keen-wa or ki-no-ah, I say the former)

This is my favorite carb at the moment (well, in addition to the multi-grain date bread I eat every day). It's in the whole grain family, kind of like barley but with less of that "I'm eating this because it's healthy and not because I like it" factor. Quinoa is small, circular grain that's cooked up like rice (only faster). It's especially tasty cooked in chicken broth, but is nearly as tasty cooked in water and with a little salt and pepper sprinkled on it. It goes well with meat and in soup (I used to
make soup with barley, which was kind of coarse and bland. Now I make soup with quinoa and it's much lighter and tastier). It's not as good with something bulky, such as eating with eggplant parm or ratatouille (those are better with pasta, in my opinion).

Ok, so it looks kinda gross up close. But see that little bumpy thing at top, and the fact that it's darker around the edges? You can't see all that detail when you're eating it, but the bump and the dark edges are visible and it looks like cute little swirlies on your plate. So if you get a kick out of cool shapes (yeah, I admit it, I'm kind of a nerd sometimes), then you'll get a kick out of quinoa.

What's good about quinoa from a health perspective? Well, it's a whole grain, which means that it's higher in dietary fiber, antioxidants, dietary minerals, vitamins and protein than refined carbs. Manufacturers often have to fortify refined grains to make up for the loss of vitamins and minerals. Also, whole grain carbs are digested (and enter the blood stream) more slowly. This helps avoid the cycle of eating a plate of (refined) carbs, then getting hungry soon after (caused by a spike and dip in blood sugar).

The Good Stuff
1. Quinoa is a whole grain, so it hasn't been as processed, so it's taken fewer resources to make. Thus, a smaller carbon footprint.
2. As a whole grain, it will fill you up for longer and not spike your blood sugar.
3. It's tasty.
4. Higher in vitamins and nutrients, and therefore better than refined grains in protecting against disease and promoting overall health.
5. You get to confuse people when you go into stores and ask for it and they say "whatwhat?"

The Bad Stuff
1. It's harder to find than your more run-of-the-mill grains. But you can always request it - I put in a request with my local farmstand, and just a few weeks ago noticed that they finally were stocking it. I bought a bag on principle (I didn't need any more), just to support the decision to stock it. Previously I had to go out of my way to another store to buy it.
2. People look at you funny when you ask for it, then they send you to look at the rice. Or they try to correct your pronunciation.

Quinoa is definitely my new superfood. It's my go-to grain, my side carb of choice. If you haven't tried it, then go for it!