Cucumber Lime Chicken & Black Beans with onions & Peppers

I found some chicken tenders on sale.  Snapped up a couple of packages.  Today I used the first one for our lunch.  

One of my cucumbers from the weekend was a bit soft.  Not super crisp for a salad but not bad either.  I decided to see what happens when you bake chicken with cucumber.  It was tasty.  And easy.  I'm a huge fan of easy.

Black beans are a mainstay of our diet.  I did these with some onions, peppers, lime, cilantro, ancho & coconut.  Adding the lime to the beans inspired me to put it on the chicken too.  It was one of those inspirations that worked well.  (unlike a LOT of the others)

Cucumber Lime Chicken

Preheat oven to 350

Put chicken tenders (however many you want to cook) in a baking dish

sprinkle with salt.  Not much, just a bit

chop a large cucumber up and put it over the chicken.

Bake covered until the chicken is done. How long depends on how much you cook.   Mine took about 20 min.  The cucumber loses a lot of water and keeps the chicken moist and tender.

Remove from oven and squeeze the juice from 1/2 - 1 lime (depends on how much you cooked) over the chicken right before serving.  I added lime garnishes for people to add a bit more lime at the table if they wanted.

138 calories per serving

Ancho Black Beans with Onions & Peppers

2 cups of dried beans soaked over night

1 large onion sliced into thin rings

1 large red bell pepper cut into bits.  You can dice it nice and even or slice it into rough squares like I did.

4 fresh jalapenos sliced

1 large poblano pepper sliced, chopped, diced - however neatly you want to do it

Juice from 1 lime

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon dried cilantro

2 tablespoons ancho powder

3 cups chicken broth

1 14oz coconut cream

Soak and drain the beans preserving 2 cups of the water if you want, otherwise you'll need a couple of cups of water

Add the stock, water, peppers, onions, lime juice and spices to the beans.  Cook until the beans and veggies are tender and soft.  Stir in the coconut cream and serve.  

77 calories per serving

Ground Beef Coconut Curry with Peppers

I was looking through the cabinet trying to figure out what to cook and decided to use up some of the coconut milk sitting in the cabinet.  I still had lots of peppers from the market and ground beef, so those were going in.  I buy spices at the market and have accumulated quite a variety of curry types.  I decided to use some Thai curry for this, but any would do.  I also had a head of cabbage that really needed to be used.  Those were my starts and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

1Tbsp coconut oil

1lb ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 large red bell pepper (or any other color if you want), diced

1 fresh green jalapeno, diced

1 fresh red jalapeno (or another green if that's what you have), diced

1 poblano pepper, diced

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp fine ground pepper

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon tumeric

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 can coconut milk.  I used Trader Joe's. 

1/2 teaspoon ancho pepper (or other spicy pepper powder)

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon sugar if desired

Steamed cabbage, rice or anything else you want to serve it over.

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Prepare the cabbage (or rice, or whatever)

Brown the beef in the coconut oil and get your veggies ready.  I don't add them first because I like them to retain some crispness.  If you want them to be cooked a bit more, then add them first for a minute or three before browning the beef.

Add the tomato sauce & spices.  You can grate the ginger directly into the skillet to taste or do it ahead of time to measure it.  Turn down the heat.  

If you want it a bit sweet/spicy then add the sugar.  It's not really necessary but some people like it.

Add the coconut milk and let it heat up.  Add the lemon juice and then serve over the cabbage.

spicy kombucha dill refrigerator pickles

I make a lot of random pickles.  I toss whatever spices sound good into the jar - so far these have been my favorite, hands down.

1 quart jar
enough small cucumbers to fit.  I used 1 bag of mini cucumbers I got at aldi's
1 large jalapeno
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup kombucha

put the cucumbers in the jar

mix the other ingredients and then pour over the cucumbers.  Add a bit of water if it doesn't cover them.  Seal and pop in the fridge for a week or so.

Lacto Fermented Spicy Green beans

Made some spicy green beans.  Not overly spiced - gotta keep it edible for the kid.  Just enough hot to keep it interesting. 

I had a bag of green beans. I'm going to start weighing these things now, I promise!  I just got a new kitchen scale for that exact purpose!

I cut the beans into pieces.  Ok, I just snapped them with my fingers. I can remember sitting on the porch with my grandparents snapping beans for canning.  That's what I did because  knife and a cutting board seemed like extra work.  I work enough, why do extra if I don't have to?

I mixed up a quart of brine.  1 tablespoon water, 1 1/2 tablespoons salt - canning, not iodized, 1 tablespoon course ground black pepper.  I peeled a clove of garlic and split it, but didn't mash or mince it.  

Put the beans in the jar, stopping to throw in the garlic and 5 habaneros.  Those orange things aren't carrots, they are very hot tiny little peppers, more beans - pressing down to get a tight pack.  I don't have weights, need to get some.  I've heard that you can get by without them in an airlock system.  We'll see.  I also heard that olive oil was wonderful and it was a mess. So far the beans are not looking like any oxygen has gotten to them. Still a great color and I'm looking forward to eating them.  

Like I said, I wanted spiced, not burning flames, so I didn't cut the pepper.  My experience with habaneros is that they will impart a flavor and heat if you just touch the darn things, much less if you marinate them in brine with other stuff.  When I do it this way I've gotten just enough heat to make me happy, but kept it mild enough for the kid to also eat.  I'm not big on fixing two meals, so most things have to be pleasing across the board.  Hubbie is easy - he'll eat anything that looks kinda sorta like food.  

Wait a week or 3 then move to the fridge or root cellar for storage.  I go with 2 1/2 - 3 weeks, but it's a personal preference.

Kombucha pickles with pineapple and ancho

I love kombucha.  I love pineapple.  I love ancho.  I wanted to make pickles.

This is what I got when I combined those loves

1 large cucumber or a couple of smaller ones - sliced
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 ring of pineapple
1 teaspoon ancho
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 1/4 cups kombucha - closer to vinegar is better
1 teaspoon salt

in a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients except the cucumber.  mix together well. Put a bit in a jar, then add the cucumbers.  pour the rest of the mix over.  If you have space left over on top, add a bit more kombucha.

put a lid on it and stick it in the fridge for a few days.  Start testing around day 4 and use when it gets to the point where it's just the right cripsness for you.  I think they need at least 7, but I've been "testing" them a bit too much so the don't usually make it past that point.

This is a jar, about a pint size that was left over from some sauce.  You can go up a cucumber with only increasing the liquid ingredients by about 1/2 more (not doubled) for a larger batch.  More than that and you should increase all ingredients - doubling them for 4+ cucumbers in a quart jar.

Chipotle Eggplant with zucchini

This one is kind of spicy, but I love spicy.  Eggplant and zucchini were on sale, so I stocked up - now have to use them before they turn.  You can never really "stock up" on produce.  Only buy enough to eat quickly!

1 medium eggplant  peeled and cut into strips about the size of homecut french fries (1/2 inch across)

1 medium zucchini sliced

1 small can chipotle peppers in sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp lime juice

1/4 cup olive oil for cooking

In a large skillet cook all ingredients, starting with the zucchini because it takes a tad longer.  After it's started to get tender, add the eggplant and cook until the eggplant is translucent.  

Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing

I love citrus and spice.  This dressing was strong, but very very tasty

In a blender or food processor mix the following:

1 jalapeno pepper
1 small (1/4 inch) piece ginger root
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tablespoon ancho pepper
Enough cilantro to fill 1/4 cup when you squish it up
1/4 cup lime juice
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 - 3/4 cup olive oil   I did 1/2 cup, but I like things strong.

I store mine in the fridge, but it does get a bit hard between uses.  If we dont' use all at one meal I just let it sit out and warm up a bit for the next time then give it a good shake.  It never lasts more than 2 meals.

makes an excellent dip for grilled or baked chicken.

Chipotle Chili

This chili is a bit of a change up from my normal weekend chili.  I tend to put a lot of veggies in my chili, but this one is heavy one the beans and meat.  The chipotle's give it a nice smokey flavor.

chili spice

35 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons cumin

pinch of sugar

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 tablespoons dried ancho pepper

1 teaspoon salt

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4lbs ground meat.  I usually use 80-20 ground beef, but I've used a lot of others as well.  

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Beans

1 lb of dry black beans
1 lb dry kidney beans

The night before, soak the beans according to the package directions.  Drain

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Veggies

1 large onion diced

An assortment of fresh seasonal spicy peppers.  I use about 15 peppers.  Jalapenos, poblano, chilis and some thai peppers I picked up at the market.  The amount and variety really depends on what the market has

1 clove garlic

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Canned products

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 large can tomato sauce

1 large can tomato puree
1 7oz can whole chipotle peppers

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Other stuff

1 jar garlic lime salsa

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons lime juice

6 cups water

Sour cream and cheese for garnish

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really big skillet

very big pot.  

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In the skillet

melt the butter and saute the spicy peppers and garlic.  I cut the garlic up into little bits, but leave the peppers in large pieces because not everyone in my family likes them and that way they can pull them out and leave them for me.  :-)

When the peppers are cooked remove them from the heat and put them in the pot.  Next toss the meat in the skillet with the chili spice ingredients and brown it.  I like to drain some of the fat from it.  4lbs is a lot of meat, so you might want to divide everything up into two batches if your pan isn't big enough.  Divide the spice mix too so that all the meat can get the flavor.  Drain the melted fat off of the meat before adding it.

Dump everything else into the big pot.  Add the meat and peppers cooked earlier. Stir it all together and cook.  I bring it to a boil and then turn it down and cook over medium until the water has reduced to a consistency you want AND the beans are soft.  If the chili is thick but the beans are not done, add more water and cook some more.  Stir occasionally to keep the meat and beans from settling on the bottom and burning.

garnish with sour cream and cheese if you wish.

you can sub any salsa for the garlic lime one, I just really like citrus flavors in my chili

The serving size is 1 cup and this is without sour cream and cheese garnish.