Recipe: Vegetable-Bean Chili, Green Chile Corn Muffins & Spinach and Pear Salad
Vegetable-Bean Chili
- 1 dried New Mexico chile
- 1 dried ancho chile
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice
- 1 8-ounce yellow summer squash, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1 8-ounce zucchini, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded cut into ½-inch dice
- 2 tablespoons chili powder blend
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely ground
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes, chopped
- 1 8-ounce can sweet corn kernels, drained
- 1 16-ounce can kidney beans, undrained
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
Using kitchen shears, remove the stems from the chiles. Cut them open and remove the seeds. Cut the chiles into several pieces and place in a small bowl. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the chiles and soak for 30 minutes. Drain the softened chiles (discard the water) and place them in a blender with 1 cup of hot water and blend until smooth. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, just until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, yellow squash, zucchini and bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender-firm, 5 to 8 minutes.
Stir the chili powder blend, cumin, salt and pepper into the vegetables and cook for about 2 minutes.
Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, corn kernels and beans to the mixture. Stir in the blended dried chiles and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the chili for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes 6 servings.
Green Chile Corn Muffins
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles (hot or mild)
- 1 8-ounce can sweet corn kernels, drained
- 1 teaspoon chili powder blend
Oil a standard size muffin tin and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and vegetable oil. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Add the green chiles and corn kernels. Stir the mixture just until the dry ingredients until moistened.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin. (If there is extra batter, pour it into another tin, or reserve and bake after the first batch is done.) Sprinkle some of the chili powder blend over the top of each muffin.
Bake the muffins in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick come out clean. Let the muffins stand for about 5 minutes before removing from the tin. Run a knife around the edges if needed and carefully remove the muffins from the tin. Serve warm with butter. Makes 12 to 16 corn muffins.
Spinach and Pear Salad
- 4 ounces baby spinach leaves, rinsed and drained
- 1 to 2 ounces mixed baby salad greens
- 1 to 2 ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped into ½-inch pieces
- extra-virgin olive oil
- sea salt & black pepper
- red wine vinegar
- 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) crumbled blue cheese
Place the spinach leaves, salad greens and chopped pear in a large salad bowl. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss to coat the greens with the oil. Sprinkle the greens lightly with red wine vinegar to taste and toss again to combine.
Arrange the salad greens on 4 to 6 salad plates. Top each with crumbled blue cheese. Serves 4 to 6.
Recipes by Jayni Carey©Copyright 2009.