Chicken chili

So, about a month and a half ago, I checked out the new South Beach Diet cookbook. I got the stuff to make one of the recipes (You might know I make a weekly meal plan, then shop exclusively based on that) a few weeks ago, but I accidentally turned the book in before I made the chicken chili. Thankfully it was all canned goods, so nothing went bad. So today, I took out all the ingredients and made my own chicken chili, loosely based on a recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen.

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breasts
4 tsp. EVOO
2 tsp. cumin (heaping, cumin is my favorite spice!)
2 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp. cayenne
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. butter
3 cups broth
2 cans of white beans
1 can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 can tomato paste
Tabasco brand Jalapeno sauce

While heating 2 teaspoons of oil in a frying pan on medium high, I mixed all the spices in a small sauce cup. I sprinkled each chicken breast with some spice mix, approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons total. Next, I browned the chicken on each side. When the chicken was done and removed to an extra plate, I put the rest of the EVOO and butter in the pan. Then, in went the onions, and I sprinkled those with the spice mixture (about 2 tsp.) When they were soft enough to pass the Jimmy test, I poured them in my soup pot. I deglazed the frying pan with a cup of broth, then poured the broth in with the onions, with the other 2 cups of broth. I poured in the beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, and remaining spices, and sprinkled about 6 drops of Tabasco Jalapeno sauce. While it warmed over medium high heat, I shredded the chicken and threw in the chicken. I let it simmer for a bit, but I was hungry so I took out a bowl and began eating. I sprinkled a little cheddar on top, and crumbled some tortilla chips on top. YUM.

Next time, I will probably drain and rinse the beans to reduce the sodium content. This chili wasn't too spicy, but had plenty of flavor. You could definitely increase the heat if you wanted.

Nanny's Pimento Cheese

Traveling with an aunt, uncle, and two cousins to Florida one summer, we stopped for lunch. Only, we didn't stop at a McDonalds or other fast food joint. My aunt made sandwiches from the pimento cheese my grandmother (Nanny) had made. I knew pimento cheese was that orange crap in the grocery store, but this wasn't orange, had a creamy consistency, and I thought I might be able to manage eating it, since it didn't look like a Happy Meal was in my near future. After one bite, I was hooked. Since then, I have loooooved to go to my nanny's and find it in her refrigerator. The week before my wedding, she brought me some and I had it for lunch every day.

I have searched and searched for the proper methodology to make pimento cheese. Google is no help. Nanny told me the ingredients were Velveeta, mayonnaise, and pimentos, but I didn't think I could just stir in a brick of Velveeta and a jar of pimentos into a jar of mayo and be done. This past weekend, I asked her EXACTLY what she did (my grandma is also one of those "a pinch of this, a dab of that" cooks if that explains anything) and she told me. I just made my own, and it is great! I also lightened it up a bit...I don't know how South Beach Friendly it is, but I would think it is Phase 2 friendly on a sandwich, and possibly Phase 1 friendly as a dip for veggies.

Pimento Cheese--the 3 P recipe
1 Pint of Duke's Light Mayonnaise (I shun any other kind)
1 Pound of 2% Velveeta
1 jar of Pimentos (diced)

1) Melt the Velveeta in a double boiler
2) Meanwhile, put Duke's and pimentos in the bowl you plan to store the pimento cheese in.
3) When the Velveeta is completely melted, mix it into the Duke's and pimentos.
4) Refrigerate and enjoy on sandwiches or with crackers or veggies

Brown Rice Risotto

Who doesn't love risotto?! With a creamy texture and ability to absorb flavors, it's one of my favorite foods. Unfortunately, something like 99.5% of recipes call for a white rice. Because it's such a great dish, with lots of leftovers for lunch the next day, I have been looking for a way to make it more healthy according to South Beach Diet guidelines. I found some information online, which suggested short grain brown rice. Sounds easy, right?

Oh wait, I forgot to tell you. My community's grocery stores are very basic and don't carry many exotic or unique foods. They only had long grain brown rice.

Thankfully, I was in Durham last week for an appointment. I found some short grain brown rice at Whole Foods. I also adapted one of their recipes, found here.

Annnnnd this is what I did Saturday night:
1 quart chicken broth
5 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely minced onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups uncooked short-grain brown rice
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Morton's Seasoning

I mixed the broth and water and heated it while heating the olive oil in a large saucepan. I sauteed the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the oil until soft, then added the rice and toasted it for about 5 minutes. I then added the liquid, a ladle at a time, constantly stirring. After about an hour, the rice was soft and thoroughly cooked. I added the cheese and sprinkled the seasoning over the risotto and stirred.

The results? INCREDIBLE. It was so creamy and flavorful. The mushrooms really infused flavor throughout the dish, which is odd because they have such a mild flavor. I suppose the long cooking and simmering time would be responsible for that. I took a picture, but it came out looking like oatmeal. Just look at the picture in the Whole Foods link and imagine it without the green, and with thick slices of mushrooms. Mine did come out a little salty, not unpleasantly so, but definitely had no need for added salt.

I would caution though, if you choose to make this risotto, make sure your other dishes are not very involved. I tried doing fried zucchini and squash while doing the risotto and it was more stress than I like to feel in the kitchen. Yes, it is a pain to stand over the stove for an hour and constantly stir and sometimes it felt like it would never finish cooking. But the end result--definitely worth all the trouble and lack of SBD guilt.