Suddenly I’m a working girl. Not that I wasn’t before. But what I mean is that I recently headed back to working in an actual office after about 4 years spent working from home. I know. Talk about change! I’m actually loving my job and return to the “real world,” but I’m not going to lie; I’m also still adjusting to the fact that I’m not home anymore and when I do come home, I’m completely wiped out from all the things I learned and did over the day. And not only am I working an office job, but I’m also trying to keep up with a few of my writing gigs when I get home, which means lots of work all the time. They say starting a new job is one of the most stressful times in your life and whoever they are, they’re not lying!
Lucky for me, I have an amazing support system packed with a fiancé who cleans the apartment while he’s waiting for me to get home and literally waits at the door for me with a glass of wine in hand (now that I get home after him), a family who invites me over for the weekend to just relax (and a mom who understands when I go days without calling her), and friends who are all-around amazing and supportive and just lovely. Thank goodness.
What I’m trying to say here is that by the time I get home after spending a lovely hour on this city’s wonderful public transportation system, I barely have time to write a couple assignments, bust out a blog post, and hop in bed. Cooking? What’s that? So, I’m majorly in the market for some meals that will leave me with leftovers. I want to just come home from work a couple days a week and already have dinner waiting for me. Really, this is big of me to say because in general, I am not at all a fan of leftovers. But I think I could get used to them.
This recipe was born out of the fact that my pantry was overflowing with hot sauce. OK, so it still is. But now we’re one bottle down. And we have leftovers.
Buffalo Chicken Chili (serves about 8):
Print this recipe!
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 lbs. ground chicken (you could shred rotisserie chicken instead)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 pieces of celery, chopped
- 6 pieces of garlic, chopped
- 5 hot red chili, chopped (seeds in or out, it’s up to you; whatever you can handle!)
- 1 C low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1 15 oz. can black beans
- 1-2 C hot sauce
- Blue cheese or gorgonzola, for topping
Now, what hot sauce you choose is very important here. I’m generally a Frank’s Red Hot sauce girl through and through. But as I said, my pantry was literally overflowing with Anchor Bar hot sauce. And when I say literally, I mean literally. Like every time I open the door hot sauce falls out and nearly hits me on the head.
When we went to Buffalo this summer, my family packed us up with Anchor Bar hot sauce… Suicidal style, of course! I knew it was going to make for a really spicy chili. I knew Chris would love it, though I wasn’t quite sure I could handle it. But I figured I’d give it a try.
Start by adding 1 T of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add in the ground chicken and break it up with a wooden spoon while it cooks.
When the chicken is cooked through, remove it to separate plate or bowl and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Now, add your chopped onions, carrots, and celery to the same pot you cooked the chicken in. Cook, while scraping the bottom of the pot to get the brown bits, for about 5 minutes.
Then add in the garlic and red chili peppers and cook for another 3 minutes. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper, too.
Now add 1 C of chicken stock. Also add the can of crushed tomatoes, black beans, and 1.5 C hot sauce.
Let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes. You can add more chicken stock in if your chili isn’t thick enough.
Serve and sprinkle with a little blue cheese or gorgonzola. Or a lot because this might be so spicy you may need a lot of pungent cheese to balance out the heat.
Tortilla chips work, too. Which also made me realize this would be the perfect dish to serve for a football game party. But seriously, tortilla chips absorb a lot of the heat.
This was spicy. Like majorly majorly 5-alarm, call the fire department, stop drop and roll hot. But I handled it. Because it was also amazingly flavorful. And hearty. And absolutely perfect for the chilly, rainy weather we had earlier this week. Um, and the freezing weather we had here in Boston today.
Though word on the street is that we’re going to have weather in the high 70s and maybe even 80s this weekend. So, maybe don’t make this for this weekend’s football games. But when the weather drops below 70, it’s on.
Also, if you’re not a fan of super duper spicy, omit the red hot chili peppers from this recipe and use a more mild hot sauce. You’re welcome.
And yes, this chili gave us about three meals. Which made me very happy. And meant I could actually go to bed at a semi-normal time a couple nights this week. Yays all around!
What’s your favorite meal to make that yields lots of leftovers? Gimme recipes!
[Sues]