My Finer Things Club began on Valentine's Day this year, as my friends and I held a Single's Dinner. The name comes The Office - so if you don't like/watch this show, that's fine. But I don't know if we can actually be friends.
After chatting it over with friends on a trip this weekend, I decided I needed something new in my life - and this is it! Rather than writing recipes down and storing them in a notebook that no one will see, why not share them in the hopes that they will help someone else?
The Mission: Live on a limited budget while still trying to eat and live well.
The Meal: Southwest Soup with cornbread
I knew I wanted to make soup tonight, and I was tired of making the standard chili or chicken noodle. Not a huge fan of the cream-based soups either. So, I strolled down the canned soup aisle for inspiration. Why not just buy the can soup, you say? Well, there wouldn't be much point to this blog, then, would there?
The Ingredients: Smoked turkey sausage
Olive oil
1 large sweet onion, diced
2 bell peppers (your choice), diced
2 jalapenos, diced
3 carrots, diced
3 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. garlic powder
3 cups chicken broth/stock
3 cups water
2 cups brown rice
16 oz. (2 cans) diced tomatoes
8 oz. (1 can) black beans, rinsed and drained
8 oz. (1 can) sweet corn, drained
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
It being near the end of winter, fresh produce is not only hard to come by, it's also way too expensive and, most of the time, not too great. So, there's a mix here. When buying canned vegetables, I buy "no salt added" products just so I'm adding my own flavors and not eating a lot of unnecessary sodium.
The Directions: Slice sausages into 1/4 inch-thick pieces and saute in olive oil in large pot until brown. Remove from pot. Add all vegetables and spices to same pot, adding additional olive oil if necessary. Saute until softened, about 10 minutes.
Add chicken broth and water. Bring to rolling boil, reduce heat to medium. Add rice and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Add tomatoes, black beans, corn, cilantro and sausage, and heat through - about 3-5 minutes. Serve with cornbread (recipe below).
Cornbread: 1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Combine all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Combine all wet ingredients in separate bowl. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture. Stir until well-combined. Pour batter into greased 8-inch baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
I like my cornbread sweet, so that it's a little bit like dessert along with your meal. You may choose to add less sugar and/or add shredded cheese to make them more savory.
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