Archive for January, 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

White Chicken Chili

If I said it once I said it a million times. Sometimes I’m scared to check Closet Cooking’s blog because I KNOW whatever I happen to see I’m going to NEED to make for dinner that night. Sigh. This is kind of annoying when I’m not in the mood to cook or I already know what I’m making (God, Closet Cook stop making such amazing meals!!). But it’s great if I want to cook and don’t have a clue what to make. The other day, I headed over to the blog to see what Kevin’s been up to and I saw the White Chicken Chili. Done. Dinner planning is so easy with Closet Cooking around.

And you have to admit, this Boston weather (and I’m pretty sure the California weather even!) calls for a nice bowl of chili. If you’re in the mood for a different take on chili, this is absolutely perfect.

White Chicken Chili (serves 4):

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 T cumin (ground)
  • 2 (4.5 oz.) cans of chopped green chilies (I found them at Trader Joe’s)
  • 2 jalapeno peppers (sliced)
  • 3 C chicken (cooked and shredded)
  • 2 (19 oz.) cans northern beans (drained and rinsed) (I used cannellini instead)
  • 2 C chicken stock
  • 1 t oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 T masa (or cornmeal)
  • 1/2 C milk
  • Cheddar, shredded (for topping if you’d like)
  • Avocado (for topping, again, if you’d like!)


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I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of chicken would work best for this chili, so I asked my mom. She said to buy bone-in chicken breast, rub some olive oil and salt and pepper on it, and stick it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. So, I did!

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While the chicken was baking, I got to chopping.

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Of course, I used my Chef’n Garlic Zoom again. I’m kind of obsessed!

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I heated my olive oil in a pot. And sauteed the onion until tender, about 5-8 minutes.

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Then I threw the garlic and cumin in, too and sauteed until “fragrant,” about one minute.

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While the onions were sauteing, I took my chicken out of the oven. I let it cool a bit and then I shredded up the 3 cups I needed.

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I added the green chilies, jalapenos, chicken, beans, chicken stock, oregano, salt, and pepper. Since I only had one can of the green chilis, I added 3 jalapenos, instead of 2. Whoo! Bring on the heat! Seriously, though.

Now, I brought the mixture to a boil, reduced the heat, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

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I mixed the masa and the milk together and mixed that into the chili, letting it simmer for another 10 minutes. The masa helped the chili get nice and thick!

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I served the chili with a little shredded cheddar cheese on top and some sliced avocado. I also toasted up some nice bread to accompany.

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This chili had an awesome bite to it! It was definitely spicy, but not overly so. But if you’re not a fan of heat, you’d probably do well to cut down on the jalapeno (but you need to include at least one! SO much flavor!). Oh, and you might want to scrape the seeds out too. I don’t because I love the extra spice!

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The chili is really pretty healthy too, packing in lots of protein. Plus, it was super filling and made me feel all warm and cozy. If the weather is going to be cold and miserable outside, you may as well feast on chili inside! Preferably while watching trashy reality television. Like The Bachelor. No, I’m not kidding. It’s the perfect winter watching, chili-eating show.

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The sun is actually finally coming out in Boston this morning (this morning did not look very hopeful!), but I’m still kind of in the mood for more chili. And bad reality television. What can I say? It’s just something that winter does to me!

[Sues]

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Monday, January 25, 2010

Volunteering, It Makes the World Go ‘Round.

“If you ever wonder if miracles still exist in 21st century America, you need only to look into the faces of those who receive them, and into the eyes of those who give them.”
(IMEC, improving healthcare for the world’s poor)

Last week I was searching around the internet for ways to contribute to the Haiti relief efforts. I’d made a small monetary donation but for some reason it didn’t feel like enough and that feeling kept lingering in the back of my mind. I knew there was more I could do, ways I could give my time. I stumbled upon IMEC, which is an organization that collects, organizes, and ships medical equipment around the world to serve doctors who serve the poor. I saw they needed volunteers for Saturday so I called and told them I was interested and asked what I had to do, if I had to go to a training session etc. The friendly voice on the other line simply said “Just come on in!” He said they were expecting about 80 volunteers to show up and needed help packing up medical supplies to ship to Haiti. Perfect.

(the flags on the map show the countries IMEC has worked with… so many!)

So along comes Saturday morning, I drive up to North Andover, Mass, the neighboring town to my hometown of Andover, and walked into a warehouse filled with people (definitely seemed like more than 80!) and was immediately greeted by one of the staff members. She asked what group I was with, to which I replied, “uhhh, I came by myself?” She introduced me to the first group we saw, which was a family- a father and his two daughters, ages 11 and 14. They were newbies at this too and right away they explained to me what I had to do in terms of selecting boxes of supplies from the massive heaps around the warehouse, adding them to our shipping palette  in an organized “tetris-like” manner, and labeling each box with a number which corresponds to a sheet that says the contents of the box.

Every person in the warehouse, give or take a handful of employees, was there volunteering. It blew my mind (and gave me hope) that so many people were willing to give up their Saturday morning and afternoon to contribute to such a great cause. Everyone had tons energy and positivity and I didn’t hear a single soul complain. There were families, church groups, nurses, coworkers, and friends, all there working in teams in an attempt to make things better.

(a selection of some of the boxes filled with medical supplies)

(everyone busy at work!)

(I had the same sneakers as the 11 year old in my group, who happened to be the youngest person volunteering. We were automatic best buds for the day, of course!)

(my teams’ first palette all wrapped up and ready to go!)

(The president of IMEC, Tom Keefe, explaining the history of the organization and the desperate need some countries are in for basic medical supplies. He also took the time to thank all of the volunteers and said for every motion we take, packaging and labeling each box, it’s one motion closer someone in need is to getting help.)

I believe it was one of the church groups who was volunteering that provided the rest of us with lunch.. lots of sandwiches, chips, fruit, and desserts! I wasn’t planning on eating until after, but what a nice little surprise!

After a quick lunch we got back to work to finish up our second palette. Each palette had to be a certain height, so we used this handy wooden tool to measure our progress:

We labeled each box we selected to put on our palette with a number and wrote the contents of the box on the numbered sheet we were given. Lots of items such as latex gloves, diapers, needles, breathing circuits, leg braces, face masks, and bandages were included. Basic necessities we may not think much of when we step into a hospital room here, but other countries are greatly lacking, especially when disaster strikes.

I spent about 4.5 hours Saturday doing this and if it didn’t end at 2pm I would have gladly stayed longer. It was an eye opening experience that I hope to be involved in more often. Being a part of things like this not only makes me appreciate what I have but really opens my eyes to what others around the world need. I was lucky enough to be teamed up with a wonderful family, with two girls who were not only polite, welcoming, and kind but they were there because they, too, wanted to do good things.

I’d love to get a group of fellow bloggers and our readers together one day soon to pitch in and help IMEC accomplish more of what they need. The organization is made up of 90% volunteers so without people like us, what they do wouldn’t be possible and those who are in need wouldn’t receive these crucial supplies. If anyone in the Boston area is looking for volunteer opportunities you can contact IMEC directly or shoot me an email if you have any questions or are interested in going together!

To good things,

[Chels]

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