White Chili with Chicken

I fell in love with this dish a few weeks ago (I am late, I know). Since then I've made it twice and I feel like I could eat it everyday! It is very comforting in this cold weather and is a quick recipe that you can play with and make unique to your taste. The version of the recipe that I modified can be found here.

  Ingredients

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (I omitted)
• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped (I omitted)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles (I used about 2 tablespoons Jalapenos, diced and seeded )
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 can of corn (my personal addition because I love corn)
• 1 teaspoon cilantro (my personal addition for flavor)

 Directions

1. In a large stock pot, saute chicken, olive oil, onion and garlic and red and yellow peppers.
2. Add chili powder, cumin, cilantro and oregano. Cook on medium for 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, beans and green chilies (or Jalapenos) and continue to cook on medium low for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. If you want to thicken, add the cornstarch to the chili. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce and serve.

Enjoy!

Lebanese Seven Spice

I was first introduced to Lebanese Seven Spice last summer while working in Chicago. One of my coworkers used it in her dishes and I loved the flavor that it added. I didn't think I would be able to find it in my area so I set out to make some myself. I found this article and followed the very simple instructions.
Here are the seven spices:

Allspice, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Ground Cloves, Ground Nutmeg, Fenugreek and Powdered Ginger

The hardest of these to obtain was the Fenugreek which I found at a local Bazaar for a very reasonable price. I also had whole cloves so I ground them to powder.

Next I mixed equal parts of the seven spices above in a container and that was it. I used the Seven Spice to make Bulgur and Chicken and I also plan to use it to make Chicken Biryani in the future.

Finished Product

Spicy Asian Chicken with Brussels Sprouts

I found this recipe on A Black Girl's Guide to Weight Loss and it was perfect timing since I had some Brussels sprouts in the freezer that I needed to use up. It came out great! Here's the recipe:

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 large egg

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced (2 large)

3 tablespooons olive oil, plus more, if necessary

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks (I used about 1/2 tsp powdered ginger)

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced ( I used crushed red chili pepper)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 scallions, thinly sliced (ommited because I didn't buy any)

2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts

-Cook the rice according to the package directions.

-Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the egg. Place the cornstarch in another large bowl. Add the chicken to the egg and toss to coat. A few pieces at a time, lift the chicken out of the egg and coat in the cornstarch, tapping off the excess; transfer to a plate.

-Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. In 2 batches, cook the chicken, turning occasionally, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes (add more oil for the second batch, if necessary); transfer to a plate.

-Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the Brussels sprouts, ginger, and garlic and cook, tossing occasionally, until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.

-Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and ¾ cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the Brussels sprouts are crisp-tender and the liquid begins to thicken, 2 to 3 minutes more.

-Return the chicken to the skillet, along with the chili, and cook, tossing, until heated through, about 1 minute. Add the sesame oil and scallions. Serve over the rice and sprinkle with the peanuts

Enjoy!

Power Of One- Week 5 Recap

It's a snow day!

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm if you're experiencing this kind of weather. I am using the day to catch up on my To Do list and relax a little. Now for the recap...

Starting weight- 205

Last week's weight- 202.2
Today's weight- 201.6
Total- -3.4

Another loss this week! I am not complaining especially since I ate everything under the sun in the last week -including polishing off a box of Wheat Thins in two days. I barely cooked at home last week so my salt intake was through the roof!

On the exercise front, things went well. I finished up my third month of TurboFire/Chalean Extreme on Sunday and this week is a recovery week. I used that as an opportunity to get in a Zumba and an Ashtanga Yoga class at the gym on Monday and a treadmill interval workout yesterday. The gym was jam packed on Monday. There were at least sixty people in that Zumba class and barely any room to do the moves. When this explosion happened? I saw one of my classsmates there and while we were chatting he reminded me that being in the healthcare industry, we should be happy that this many people are making an effort to be healthier rather than complain about how hot, funky and full the gym had become. Point taken. It was my first Ashtanga Yoga classs and it was good but Bikram has already stolen my heart :-). Hope one day I will be able to bust out that head stand though. Well, I'm off to make some chili. Yeah for comfort food!

How was your week?