Baby, it's chili inside

It's chili inside my belly, is what it is.
Once a month, I make a big crock-pot full of chili. I've never used a recipe and just adapted whatever my mom told me to do. Thought I'd share!
You'll need a crock pot. I usually use 2 cups of broth, 2-3 cans of beans (just depends on how beany I'm feeling), and a big can/glass jar of tomato puree. The puree is essential to my chili; I recently tried pureeing diced tomatoes instead and it was boring.

Then, I chop up one big or two small bell peppers or other sweet pepper variety, one small onion, and either three jalapenos or one serrano. Honestly, I use different hot peppers every time so just trust your gut, literally, depending on how spicy you want it. Just be careful with those serranos. One is plenty. And WEAR GLOVES.
I sautee the chopped vegetables in oil on medium heat (sometimes I use olive, sometimes coconut) until they're crisp-tender. I usually sprinkle some chili powder, cayenne, cumin, garlic powder, and salt on it while it's sizzlin'. Then I set them aside.

I usually add some meat to my chili. What I do is go to the farmers market and get a pound of pastured stew beef. Then I cut it up while it's still a little frozen (easier that way) into 1/4  pieces. I'm not a fan of ground beef, and this way, I really get to experience the texture and tenderness of the meat. And the taste! I am thoroughly convinced that this chili would be fine without it, though. I sautee this in the same pan with the same spices until it's nearly done.

Then, I dump all the veggies, the meat, the entire can of puree, and all the beans into the crockpot. I usually add a little broth, add spices, add broth, and add spices until I end up with the desired soupiness and spiciness. The spices are a blend of chili powder, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, and sea salt. I usually find that if it doesn't have enough umph, it needs both more cumin and more salt.
Here's what it looks like before the liquids are added.

Then I cook it on low for...ready? 11 HOURS. So I either do the prep the night before and throw everything in as soon as I wake up, OR I start it a few hours before I intend to go to sleep and let it cook overnight.
Serve over short-grain brown rice and ENJOY! So good. Had some today.

Homemade garlic SASS

I accidentally made sesame garlic SASS today, and I'm so glad I did. It's my all-time favorite salad dressing (and local, too!) so I'm pretty stoked I can make it myself now, if I want to. 
Wait, you thought I figured this out on my own, didn't you! Naw. It's this. You blend these things up in a blender or food processor:

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• black pepper to taste
• 
  

Thai red curry with salmon

Thai Fresh is even better than you thought

Did you know that Thai Fresh on West Mary street has a coffee shop (Thrice), homemade ice cream and sorbet, cooking classes, local soaps and produce, and Thai ingredients in addition to all their awesome Thai food? What that is, is totally awesome. 


I went in there on Saturday to get ice cream but walked out with a bell pepper and some red Thai curry paste. I'm sure the opposite is usually true. That night, I made grilled asparagus, wild rice with diced mushrooms, and wild-caught Alaskan salmon. The theme of this dish was curry, which I sprinkled liberally on everything. It was great! But we only ate 2/3 of the salmon. 


Leftovers + curry paste = a beautiful concept
After stopping by the HOPE Farmers Market for some green things, I headed over to Central Market at Westgate to get the ingredients I needed for my spontaneous Thai meal that wasn't at the market (bell peppers, onions, and coconut milk). By the way, there was a young man at HOPE that had never been to a farmers market before, and asked a farmer where the bananas were. The farmer was polite, but smiled and said "There aren't ever any bananas at the farmers market". Poor dude. I hope he got his bananas eventually.


Anywho, I decided I would use some leftover ingredients that were begging to be combined with red, spicy goodness: King Soba brand Thai rice noodles and the curried salmon. Perfection! The rice noodles were cooked for absolutely no reason. I had boiled some beets and didn't want the beautiful, nutritious, pink water to go to waste, so I threw in some rice noodles and said "someday I'll eat these. Because they're pink." That day was today. Tonight. Whatever. 


Concept becomes reality
Ingredients:

• Thai red curry paste
• Coconut milk (full fat, baby, yeah!)
• Cooked salmon
• Onion
• Red bell pepper
• Bamboo shoots

I dropped some coconut oil in my skillet and sauteed them onions and peppers until I couldn't stand it anymore. Did I mention that the entire time I was at the market, store, and cooking, I was ravenous? Terrible idea. Terrible. 

I looked at the instructions for the curry, which asked me to stir-fry the paste with coconut milk. Stir-fry a sauce? Well, OK! I basically just poured in the liquids and mixed it around for a little while.

Approximately 30 seconds later I decided to just put everything in and let it simmer, because damnit, I was hungry.

It. Is. Glorious. It's just as good as anything I order at a Thai restaurant. Or maybe I'm just so hungry and I have no idea what's good or bad anymore, but I think I'm thinking clearly, here. I'll know for sure tomorrow when I have it for leftovers.

I also knew I'd run out of beet-colored rice noodles after my second portion, so I grabbed this rice stick and boiled half the bag for the rest of the glorious leftovers. 

Want tips for buying salmon? Check out this post.