Hatch Chile and Beef Chorizo Chili

October has finally arrived and that means comfort foods. I realize fall in Southern California isn't as obvious as the brilliant fall colors of the northeast. Southern California fall is definitely more subtle. The temps still hang in the upper 80's and even 90's on some days, but you need to look around to really see fall outside of the blinding high temps. Fall is in the sun that doesn't hang as high. It's in the long shadows below the trees. It's in the shorter days and chilly mornings. Our trees really don't drop their leaves until December and January, but if you look real hard, you'll see a few early leaves working hard to give us bursts of yellows, reds, and oranges. These little signs of fall speak to this Socal girl and inspires me to slow braise meats, bake bread, and make soup... or in this case chili. This Hatch Chile and Beef Chorizo Chili is spicy and comforting and perfect for a cool or warm-ish fall evening. Enjoy!
 

Hatch Chile and Beef Chorizo Chili

Serves 12

3 lbs. lean ground beef
2 tubes beef chorizo
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups Trader Joe's Roasted Hatch Chiles®, chopped
3/4 cup roasted red bell peppers, chopped
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp Penzey's® Epazote
3 14 oz. cans S & W® Black Chili Beans
2 14 oz. cans S & W® Regular Chili Beans
salt and pepper
Green onions, sliced (garnish)

Brown ground beef and drain the fat. Add chorizo, onions, hatch chiles, roasted red peppers, garlic tomatoes, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, epazote and beans. Simmer on low for a minimum of 1 hour. The longer it cooks the better. I placed it in a Slow Cooker on low for 4 hours and it was incredible. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with sour cream and sliced green onions.

Other soups to try:

White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup

Rustic Minestrone

Pork Verde and Hominy Stew 

Veggie Sandwiches with Black Bean Hummus & Sunflower Sprouts

During our trip to San Luis Obispo over Spring Break, I ordered a veggie sandwich from the Old Custom House Restaurant in Avila Beach. You're probably thinking...veggie sandwich? Why not just order a salad? In a way, I guess I could argue that this is a salad between to rather large croutons. :) But, not just my love of veggies was at work when it came to ordering this sandwich. The decision was made when I saw that it had sunflower sprouts on it. I was so excited because I love sunflower sprouts! They are my favorite sprout. They taste like green sunflower seeds. They are so delicious but hard to find in groceries stores, let alone something you find in restaurants. I ordered it and I was glad I did, not only was the sandwich utterly delicious but it inspired me to try a version of it here at home.

Sunflower sprouts are hard to find, so I just grow my own. (Sprouts Market used to sell them but the last time I went there they didn't have any,,,bummer) The good news is that sprouts are super easy to grow. Plant sunflower seeds in a shallow pot, keep the soil moist and in two weeks you'll have beautiful sunflower sprouts. You don't even need a garden, they will grow nicely on your kitchen counter all year round. Once they sprout, cut, wash and use them in salads and sandwiches or eat them all by themselves. They taste like sunflower seeds but only in vegetable form. Unused sprouts can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week or so. I used them here along with some clover sprouts in my version of the Old Custom House Veggie Sandwich. 
The restaurant's version had red bell pepper hummus and huge slices of red onion, where I opted for my spicy black bean hummus and pickled onions. I love the sweet tang of the pickled onions, they really make the sandwich stand out along with the Latin spiced hummus. And of course the fresh green nutty flavor of the sprouts...just delicious! Enjoy!

Veggie Sandwiches with Black Bean Hummus & Sunflower Sprouts

Black Bean Hummus
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Pickled Onions
Avocados
Sunflower and Clover Sprouts
Spinach
Whole grain wheat bread, toasted

Layer ingredients on toasted wheat bread and dig in!

Zucchini Enchiladas with Soy Chorizo and Black Beans

My old dog, Bo-a Black Lab mix, loved to play fetch. That dog could play for hours and hours, and often times he did. Bo would play fetch with just about anything you could throw, not just balls...Empty cans, balled up socks, empty milk cartons, cardboard boxes, anything. He would chase it down and return it, ready for another go.

We adopted him as a hyper-active six month old puppy. He was lanky and uncoordinated but essentially full size. At the time, we lived in a rural area in San Luis Obispo on four acres of land. Bo was a country dog for sure. No fence could contain him, trust me! The dog was like Houdini, he got out of every enclosure. He dug under fences, muscled through gates and even scaled over a fence and walked along the top, like a cat, just to get out. He even snapped one of those steel screw-in dog tethers. The ones you screw into the yard and then you attach a long leash so he still has movement. Yep, we came home from work and that baby was snapped clean off. The screw portion still firmly screwed into the ground. Eventually, we gave up containment and just left him to guard the property each morning as we went to work. He stayed nearby...most of the time...and waited for us to get home. He'd hear us drive up the single lane road that lead to our quarter mile long drive way. He would run at top speed from wherever he was, tail wagging, tongue hanging outside of his big grinning mouth. He was so happy to see us and he let us know every day. He was such a great dog. :)

So one Halloween, we bought this really large pumpkin for our porch. It was about 100 pounds, it was huge. We left it there for many months after Halloween because it was too big and too beautiful to throw away. Eventually though, we had to get rid of it. It had started to get soft in some areas. A forest of Coastal Live Oaks surrounded our house which was perched over a steep, scrub-brush laden ravine.The ravine was the perfect spot to compost this lovely gourd so we decided to roll it down the hill. 
We rolled it over to the lip of the ravine and let er rip. It started to pick up speed as it lumbered down the steep hillside. Almost instantly, as if we'd thrown a tennis ball...Bo took off in a flash to chase it down. We yelled, "No! No Bo! Stop!" But he was not deterred in the slightest. He was going to fetch that pumpkin!
We laughed so hard as we watched Bo chase down that pumpkin. Of course? we thought, Why wouldn't he chase it? It was round and moving fast, just like a ball. So we waited to see what he would do when faced with this monstrous pumpkin at the bottom of the hill. The pumpkin hit hard and cracked in half. And wouldn't you know it...two minutes later, Bo had dragged one half of this huge pumpkin back up the hill! The half was literally his size. He had his teeth sunk in the flesh of the pumpkin and then he released it in front of us, panting. He looked up at us, wagging his tail, waiting, in ready position, for us to throw it back down the hill again!  We laughed and laughed until our sides hurt. All the while, Bo looked at us, anxious to chase it down again. :)

I'm not sure why I woke up thinking about Bo this morning, and why I chose to write about him rather than zucchini, but I had to share this funny story about my Bo. He's been gone for many years now but I'm thankful for the wonderful memory that greeted me this morning and reminded me of all the wonderful years I had with him. Love you Bobo. 

About the recipe:
These enchiladas are so delicious and have no meat in them. You know the recipe is a good one when you can fool a meat-loving husband. I gave my husband one to try for dinner but I didn't tell him what was in them. When he asked for seconds, I told him, "You realize that there is no meat in those?" He looked at me like I was crazy, "Yes there is." He replied, looking very confused. I broke the news to him and he was utterly amazed. So amazed in fact, he had three of these babies in one sitting. Enjoy!

Zucchini Enchiladas with Soy Chorizo and Black Beans (slightly adapted recipe from Cuisine at Home, July/Aug 2014, p.39)
Makes 8

10 oz. soy chorizo
1 T olive oil
1 cup yellow onions, diced
1 T garlic, minced
1 t dried oregano
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1-15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1-4 oz can diced green chiles
salt and pepper to taste
1-15 oz can of red enchilada sauce
4 zucchini, halved lengthwise
8 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

For the filling, cook the chorizo in a large saute pan over medium high heat until browned, transfer into medium bowl and set aside. Soy chorizo doesn't render much fat to drain away so you will need to add 1 T of olive oil into the pan to saute your vegetables. (If you prefer to use beef or pork chorizo, drain chorizo in a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl to remove the fat. Return 1 T of drippings back to pan.) 
Over medium high heat saute onions, garlic, cumin and coriander in olive oil (or drippings) until onions are softened, about 3 minutes.  Stir in beans and chiles. Return browned chorizo to pan and season with salt and pepper. Spread 1/4 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of an 11 x 15 inch baking dish. 

Prepare zucchini, scoop out and discard seeds, leaving 1/4 inch flesh and place in dish. 

 

 

Spoon three heaping tablespoons of filling into each boat. Spoon remaining sauce over zucchini and sprinkle with cheese evenly over tops.

 

Cover dish with foil and roast for 15 minutes. Remove foil and roast enchiladas until zucchini are fork tender and cheese melts,15-20 minutes. Let enchiladas rest for 5 minutes. Top with cilantro and sour cream and serve.

Other Zucchini recipes to try:
Zucchini Bruschetta
Zucchini Ribbon Summer Salad
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Maui Onions and Zucchini

Black Bean Hummus

This recipe came about this last summer when I was experimenting with making different kinds of homemade hummus. I went through a "bean" phase, so to speak. Anyway, I wanted to make a Black Bean Hummus and there were a lot of recipes on Pinterest, as you can imagine, but instead of using those recipes, I adapted the Hummus recipe I posted back in June. I swapped the lemon for lime juice, chickpeas for black beans and of course, I added Chipotle and cayenne peppers and some cumin and spices. It turned out so good, I wanted to blog it right away. However, I quickly discovered, after I blended all these wonderful ingredients together, my incredible tasting black bean hummus turned a horrendous shade of vomit. Kinda of grayish-purple and kinda pink all at the same time. Yuck! My oldest son said, "It looks like cement!" 

Well gee? I can't photograph that bowl of grey mush and make it look appetizing. It's just too ugly. Despite the intense flavors of this recipe, the picture still has to look good, right? So, I scrapped the idea of blogging the Black Bean Hummus. Although I was a little discouraged at not being able to share the recipe, I happily ate the entire bowl. In fact, that's all my husband and I had for dinner that night.  Then, fast forward a week. I was on a hike with my hiking group and I was recapping my ugly hummus problem when it came to me! ...It may be ugly, but I can use the "gross" factor and make it a Halloween-themed dish! 
My girlfriend, Neidin called it, "Mummus" offering up her Halloween themed name. :) I thought of Monster Mash or Zombie Vomit...well whatever you choose to name it, it may not look appetizing, but it more than makes up for it's looks in flavor. Serve it with pita chips, sliced cucumbers, snow peas or other veggies and plate it in some creepy Halloween way.  I like the images all over Pinterest, of Jack-o-lanterns vomiting up a plate of guacamole. It's clever and pretty gross...Don't you think this dish would be awesome for a vomiting jack-o-lantern?  Anyway, have fun with it and enjoy the Halloween season with gross looking, but great tasting food. Happy Halloween!

For another Halloween themed Dish, try "Beet"ing Hearts Salad with Blood Red Dressing

Black Bean Hummus 
(aka: Zombie Vomit, Mummus, Monster Mash, cement, :) you get the idea...)

1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lime juice
1 T water
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 t chili powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1-2 Chipotle peppers,to taste (optional) 
1-15oz. Black Beans, rinsed and drained

Blend tahini, lime juice and water until emulsified. Add garlic, spices and peppers and blend until well combined. Lastly add the black beans and blend until smooth. 
Garnish with black olives and thinly sliced Chipotle peppers and a squeeze of lime.