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Chili is awesome. It’s easy. It’s everything you need in one bowl. It keeps you warm on long, cold winter nights. Some chili recipes place too much emphasis on the heat, but they become unbalance and just burn your tongue, but don’t really feed your soul. The trick is to use a bass note to balance the high notes of the intense spices. The typical bass note is chocolate, but here, I’ve used an oatmeal stout. Yummy.

Ingredients

• 1/4 C olive oil
  2 medium red onions, diced
  6 cloves garlic, minced
  2 T cumin seeds
  3 T coriander seeds
  1 box Boca Ground Burger
  1-3 jalapeño peppers, minced
  1 C oatmeal stout
  2 large cans diced tomatoes
  2 cans black beans, rinsed and strained
  2 T paprika
  2 T ground cumin
  2 T ground coriander
  2-3 T salt (to taste)
  1-3 t cayenne pepper (to taste)
  rice or chips (optional)
  cheddar cheese (optional)
  sour cream (optional)

Directions

In a stock pot, saute the onions in olive oil over high heat. When transparent, add the garlic, jalapeños, and cumin and coriander seeds. Let them all pop around for about two minutes, stirring continuously. Add the Boca Ground Burger and cook for another 5 minutes.

Then add the beer and watch it foam all up (this is the fun part). When the foam subsides, add the tomatoes and beans. You’re going to need it too cook down for a few hours, to help the flavors meld. The best is to cook it and the let it set over night.

The trick is to get the measurements of the spices right. You really can’t mess up much but the salt and cayenne pepper. Too little and you’ve just got tomato sauce. Too much and then you’ve got a spicy, salty mess. I suggest adding the spices gradually, like a teaspoon at a time till you get it to the flavor you like. And getting to the right flavor happens in one shake of the salt shaker. One moment it’s not quite right, and the next it’s great chili.

Serve with rice, corn chips, cheddar cheese, sour cream or anything else you like.

Yields: 12 servings

This is a light, delicious salad. Perfect for summer or to balance out heartier foods, like the veggie chili pictured here. If you like things with a bit more bite, add some cayenne pepper. If you have time prepare everything but the avocados the day before letting the cilantro, tomatillas, and lime juice all meld together. Just make sure to keep the corn separate until right before serving (it has a tendency to absorb and neutralize the lime juice making it a bit bland).

Ingredients

• 4 ears fresh bi-color corn
• 1/4 C chopped red onion
• 4 tomatillas, chopped
• 1/2 C fresh, chopped cilantro
• juice from 3 limes
• 2 t salt (to taste)
• 4 ripe avocados

Directions

Microwave the corn for about 5 minutes with the husk still on. Allow to cool. Take off the husks and cut the corn from the cob. Add the other chopped vegetables. Mix in the lime juice and salt. Put in the refrigerator.

Right before serving, chop up the avocados. I like to score a half with a knife and then scope out the pre-cut pieces with a spoon. Mix everything together and serve.

Yields: 10 side servings

Pesto is great to make ahead of time and freeze. Then you can whip up a dish like this in minutes. Cooking garlic and white wine instantly make your house smell like a gourmet restaurant.

Toasted pine nuts can be a bit costly, so you can do it yourself with raw nuts. That way you get the lovely smell of roasted pine nuts, which smells surprisingly like popcorn.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh basil
• 1/4 C toasted pine nuts
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed or minced (or more, to taste)
• 1/4 C EVOO
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese (pre-grated is fine, but doing it yourself it better)
• 1/2 C white white
• 2 C cooked short pasta
• 1/2 C grape tomatoes, quartered

Directions

To make the pesto, put the basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste in a blender. Whip it up. Seriously, it’s that easy. To make the pine nuts, you can either toast them in a toaster oven or in a pan on the stove. Either way, keep your eye on them turning them frequently. You’ll likely burn your first batch, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it. Once made, you can throw the pesto in the freezer and take it out whenever you need a quick pasta dish.

For the pasta, saute a few cloves of garlic in olive oil. Add the white wine and some more salt to taste. Allow the white wine to reduce by half. Then add the cooked pasta and pesto and allow to warm. Right before serving mix in the grape tomatoes. Serve with a little more Parmesan cheese and some freshly grated pepper.

This is my white girl version of Indian curry. It’s great because aside from the fresh ginger and cilantro, I keep most of the other ingredients in my pantry. Also, if you’re vegetarian, just don’t use chicken. And if you are against eating poor little helpless chick peas, use only chicken.

Ingredients

• 1/4 C olive oil
• 1 T coriander seeds
• 1 T cumin seeds
• 1 T mustard seeds
• 1/2 C chopped onion
• 1 C plain yogurt
• 1 t salt (to taste)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 T minced ginger
• 3-5 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 C fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 can chick peas
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 2 C cooked basmati rice
• lime wedges

Directions

In a large skillet heat the olive oil on high. Add the three seeds and let them pop around for about a minute or so. Do not let them brown. Then add the onion allowing it to cook till almost translucent. Take the pan off the heat and add the yogurt and salt and mix well. Return to the heat, turning down to medium, and add the chicken, coating with the sauce. Cook the chicken covered for about 25-40 minutes.

About halfway through cooking the chicken, add the ginger. When the chicken is done, cut it up in the pan, shredding it with a knife. Make a little space in the pan and saute the garlic till it starts to sweat and then mix it in with the rest of the ingredients in the pan. Then add the cilantro.

To the chicken mixture, add the tomatoes and the chick peas. Season with cayenne pepper to taste. Allow all the ingredients to warm up and cook together for 5 or so minutes. Serve over rice with lime wedges.

I usually always have olives, capers and white wine in the fridge so this is one of those dishes I can make in a pinch when I have very little else in the fridge. Even though it’s easy, the smell of garlic and white wine always makes people think they’re getting something gourmet.

Ingredients

• 2 C short pasta, cooked
• 3 T EVOO
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
• 4 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 C white wine
• 1/4 C chopped olives (preferably kalamata, but green olives work, too)
• 3 T capers
• 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
• cayenne pepper to taste
• optional: Parmesan or other hard Italian cheese

Directions

Heat olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add garlic and saute until the garlic starts to sweat and get a little translucent. Be careful not to overcook. Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir. Cook down until the tomatoes are completely mushy. Add the white wine and allow the tomato mixture to cook down uncovered over medium heat.

In the meantime, cook the pasta. Right after the pasta is finished, add the olives, capers, artichoke hearts, and cayenne pepper to the tomato mixture. Allow the rest of the ingredients to heat up then add the drained pasta and mix well.

If you like cheese, go ahead and add Parmesan or an other hard Italian cheese and mix.