Weeknight Dinner: Chili

Weeknight Dinner has been a keystone of Urban Home Blog since its beginning. As with many of us, I figured out weeknight dinner as part of early homekeeping, when the reality hit that someone was going to have to get something to eat on the table. When I started writing Urban Home Blog, I had been a homekeeper and therefore a dinner-fixer for years. I had a library of recipes, techniques, and dishes to share in service to getting a good meal on the table during busy school- and work weeks. The elements of weeknight dinner include being good to eat and relatively simple to prepare, while navigating the fault line between being just another plate of same ole same ole but not being so novel that it's worthless.

In our urban home, the library of weeknight dinners is the result of learning to cook, both technique and cuisine. Dinnertime is Home Ec 101, but the practice is ongoing, as the realities of the household intercede while the skills and interests of the home cook evolve. I learned early that weeknight dinner is best made from pantry ingredients. A well-stocked pantry is vital to every household; even in households where no one cooks, there will at least need to be coffee, cereal, and milk. I learned to plan for the week before doing the weekend grocery shopping, augmented by a quick grocery stop midweek. I learned to keep fresh lettuces for simple side salads so that however rushed it is, the weeknight table doesn't exclude fresh vegetables. I learned to always have staples, such as eggs and cheese for omelets, on hand for nights when the energy, the errands, or the evening gets away from us. Our go-to meal for those nights is pasta puttanesca, which takes very little time or effort to prepare but, truly in the spirit of the dish, is even more satisfying when one's energy is drained.

Weeknight dinner emerges from Grandma's Kitchen as a bowl of New England Clam Chowder served with cream cheese biscuits, or as a big gloppy serve of chicken rice casserole. Weeknight dinner encompasses light and easy teriyaki, autumnal cider chicken or apples and roast pork, lively chicken soup with pickled jalapenos. Weeknight dinner is burger night whether turkey or green chile and steak night whether Diane or London. It is a savory salmon dinner served with baby potatoes and olive relish or a quick chicken stir fry tumbled over white rice. It is a towering California omelet, a succulent Cobb Salad, an earthy risotto with mushrooms. There is plenty of pasta and pizza, usually there are cocktails or wine, and often there is dessert.

The more you learn, the more possibilities you have at your disposal. I had never so much as touched a slow cooker until I bought one last year. The demands of job and schedule, due to changes both in career and in geography, necessitated finding additional ways of preparing weeknight dinner. I learned quickly that, both for schedule and for ease, a slow cooker is invaluable. It takes some getting used to, preparing ingredients either in the morning or the night before, and it takes an extra moment to assemble them in the cooker before leaving for the day. Bu the trade-off is not only good food waiting to be served when everyone gets home but extra time in the evening. Here, in honor of our February of Weeknight Dinners, are two slow cooker recipes for wintertime stalwarts made from pantry ingredients: a thick, deeply flavored red chili and a fragrant white chili. Serve them with cornbread, corn chips, or tortillas and salsa, and add both the slow cooker and Tex-Mex cooking to your repertoire of weeknight dinners.

Chili

To learn about the slow cooker we use in our urban home, click here. Make sure the slow cooker is set to switch to warm once the cooking time has elapsed.

Red Chili

Serves 2  with leftovers

1 pound ground beef, 85% - 90%

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained.

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1-1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile in adobo

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2-1/2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground coffee

1. Place the diced onion into a medium-sized microwave safe bowl.  Measure the tomato paste into the bowl containing the onion. Measure 1 tablespoon water into the bowl.
2. Crumble the ground beef into the bowl containing the onions and tomato paste. Microwave until the beef is browned, approximately 5 minutes for 1,000 watts.
3. Transfer the microwaved mixture to the slow cooker. Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chipotle in adobo, spices, sugar, and coffee to the slow cooker. Press the garlic cloves into the mixture in the slow cooker.
4. Gently stir the mixture together until very well incorporated. If mixture is too thick, stir in 1/4 - 1/2 cup water to prevent scorching.
5. Place the cover on the slow cooker and set to cook 6 hours on low.

White Chili

Serves 2 - 4 with leftovers

1/2 pound small white beans

1 - 1-1/4 pounds boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized cubes

1 8-ounce can Salsa Verde

1 4-ounce can Hatch green chiles

1-1/2 cups diced yellow onion

3 cloves garlic, peeled

3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons lime juice

3 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground oregano

1-1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 dried bay leaf

Extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Soak the beans

The night before

• Pick through the beans and discard any stones. Rinse the beans. Place the beans, the bay leaf, and a dash of salt into a medium bowl. Cover the beans with water by 4 inches. Set aside to soak overnight, 8 hours minimum.

Make the chili

6 - 8 hours before serving

1. Drizzle a small saute pan with olive oil. Saute the onion until it is fragrant and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the green chiles to the sauteed onion. Press the garlic cloves into the onion-chile mixture. Stir the mixture together.
2. Drain the beans. Pick through and discard any beans that display any off color or odor.
3. Measure the cumin, oregano, coriander, white pepper, and a dash of salt into a small bowl. Stir the spices together.
4. Place the beans, boneless chicken breast pieces, and onion-chile mixture into the slow cooker. Stir to mix thoroughly.
5. Add the salsa, chicken stock, and lime juice to the slow cooker. Stir to mix thoroughly.
6. Measure half of the spice mixture into the chili mixture. Stir to mix thoroughly.
7. Place the cover on the slow cooker and set to cook 6 hours on low.

Note: If you wish, serve the chili with chopped fresh cilantro and lime wedges.

Resources

Kitchen Electronics

Texas Caviar

Pickled Jalapenos