Seven Layer Dip

I absolutely love 7 layer dip, but I had never tried making it at home. It's actually pretty easy to make and has been a hit every time it is served. The dip needs to be made the same day you serve it, but since it's easy to make it shouldn't be a problem. Technically, the dip does last overnight, but the guacamole will brown in some places and the tomatoes and salsa will release some water. I'd eat the leftovers myself but wouldn't serve them to guests.

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Black Bean Burritos with Pickled Onions

My sister was on the hunt for vegetarian recipes and luckily stumbled across this one. It's a bit messy to prepare, but this is a delicious, hearty alternative to meat burritos. I loved the pickled onions and never realized how easily they could be made. With the toppings you can really pick and choose which Tex-Mex toppings you like the most. My sister and I both love guacamole, so much so that we can polish off a bowl of guacamole in minutes. We grew up with guacamole as kids. It was a favorite then and it's still a favorite now. That being said, a giant bowl of guacamole is what we considered a side when we made this. Along with sour cream, lime, and some extra cilantro.

You could probably make the pickled onions and bean mixture ahead of time, just make sure to warm them up a little before preparing the burritos. The burritos go from perfectly golden brown to borderline charred quickly, so keep a colse eye on them during the frying process.

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Simple Chili con Carne

While I was visiting my sister this autumn, we made a giant batch of this chili. This is my sister's go-to recipe for chili and it was definitely a keeper. The ingredients are simple, the spicy factor can be turned way up or way down, and you really can't mess it up. Unfortunately my camera was on its last leg when I was making this chili, so half of the pictures are out of focus. Luckily my main chili picture is clear, otherwise this would be a pretty sad looking post.

I made a batch of cheese biscuits to serve along with this chili and they complemented each other perfectly. As with all Tex-Mex style food, you can top these with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, or anything you'd put on a plate of nachos (I am sure that comment has offended any true Tex-Mex cooks out there). I usually love adding a dollop of sour cream or a sprinkle of cheese to counteract the red pepper flakes in my chilis since I tend to use a generous amount.

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Three Bean and Beef Chili

Chili season is slowly making its appearance. The mountains are getting their first signs of winter, and leaves are falling everywhere. I decided to make a pot of chili one cold evening and was instantly brought back to my childhood when we used to order chili in a bread bowl at our local ski area. This recipe makes a generous serving of healthy chili. I love the adobo sauce flavor that comes through, but if you're not a fan or you'd rather have a mild flavor, you can scale back the amount of chipotle chilis and adobo sauce you use. The ingredients for this recipe are simple. I couldn't find black beans or pinto beans when I made this, so I just added extra kidney beans and cannellini beans.

As with all chilis, this freezes really well and can be served with biscuits, bread bowls, rice, or you can just eat it plain. If you're trying to keep it healthy, use a lean ground beef, like 90% lean. In Switzerland I don't have the option to see how much fat is in my ground beef, so I'm sure mine was more of an 80% lean beef. If you have never cooked with chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, don't worry about the extra chilis you will have left over. They freeze really well and once you get hooked on the flavor, you will find many other was to use them up. The picture below if proof of just how cold it was in my town. There are actually really big mountains behind those clouds.

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Greek-Style Quinoa Burgers

I've been wanting to make veggie burgers for a while, but have never had a reason to do so (nor a vegetarian crowd to cook for). Luckily, this 4th of July I volunteered to make burgers for my vegetarian friend. I knew I wanted to use beans and quinoa, and started searching for recipes from there. I loved this one because the ingredients were simple, the burger patties are really easy to make, and there's a yogurt sauce to top everything off. And yes, I use more of the yogurt sauce on each burger than most people would, but I am slightly obsessed with it.

I made the patties at home and brought them over to the barbecue and they traveled really well. I made them in the morning, put them in a Tupperware, with each layer separated by wax paper, and grilled them that evening. I even had some leftover patties that I made the next day and they were still great. When you form the patties, keep your hands wet. I ran my hands under water in between forming each burger. Also, the patties fall apart really easily, so be careful with them. To cook the burgers, I just flipped the wax paper layers over into the pan, not even touching the burgers, and that method seemed to be the easiest. Also, make sure there's lots of space in the pan. I tried making these in a small pan and found it a lot harder to flip the burgers without them falling apart. The large pan worked much better. Don't skimp on the oil either, they absorb lots while cooking.

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Chunky Chicken Chili

Believe it or not, this week has still been chili weather in Los Angeles. It's blustery and cool and does not at all feel the way springtime should time in Southern California. So on that note, I went to town on what was one really time consuming but insanely tasty chili. I don't think I've ever spent so much time chopping up meat for a chili since I'm usually lazy and go for the ground/mince meat option. But this is seriously amazing.

My warning to you is that is is spicy! The spiciness does lose it's punch after a few days, but on day one, it's fiery. Not in the horrible "I taste nothing because it's so spicy" kind of hot, but the really flavorful yet spicy kind of hot. If you're not a fan of spicy, there are definitely ways to change this and still keep that same flavors. If you're not into spicy foods, only use 1 chipotle chile and skip the jalapeno. Also keep in mind that adding sour cream or grated cheese on top will help reduce the spicy factor.

Don't disregard this recipe if you're worries about the heat. If you've never had a chili with chipotles in adobo sauce before, you're missing out. They add a semi smoky flavor that is lacking in the pre-packaged chili flavoring powders. It will take a while to make this, but it's really worth it. And maybe if you're lucky your butcher can chop up the chicken for you.

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Minestrone Soup

I'm one of those people who is jinxed when it comes to staying healthy when flying. If there's someone on the plane who has a cold, I'll leave the flight with it. And that's exactly what happened on my last flight. I woke up this morning and realized what I thought was just an annoying sore throat was now officially a cold. Well, there goes my appetite. But, the one thing that always seems to go down well on a sick day is a hearty bowl of minestrone soup. There are so many variations to this soup that it seems like anything consisting of tomatoes, beans and veggies can be labeled "minestrone." Not feeling up for a trip to the grocery store, I was relieved to see that the fridge had pretty much every ingredient I wanted to use (except zucchini).

Since minestrone soup recipes seem to be such a hodge-podge of vegetable and flavors, I'm going to give you a recipe that has been my savior today. Here's my disclaimer: having a cold means my sense of taste is pretty nonexistent right now. I think this tasted great, but if I was feeling 100% I might find things to tweak here and there.
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Persian Barley Soup (Asheh Jo)

I love Persian food. Growing up, some of my friends came from Iranian backgrounds and their mothers were the best cooks (seriously, I would still gladly live off their food). I've always wanted to be able to cook like them, but have never given it a try. For about a month now (in the middle of summer) I've been eyeballing this recipe, wondering when I'd be able to make it. It combines so many things I love into what looked like a perfect winter soup. I finally got around to making this recipe today, after my first gloomy, cold and rainy day since June. While I was making this soup, I was really skeptical. The dish doesn't come together until the end when all the flavors have been cooking together for a while. But once this happens, it is awesome. It's a meal in a bowl, and even though I made a salad and garlic and Gruyere bread, I would have been more than happy just having the soup.

To me, Asheh Jo is more like a stew than a soup in terms on consistence since it's filled with lots of chunky ingredients and is not meant to be liquidy. Do not skip the step of shredding the beef in a food processor or blender. At first the meat was too tough and stringy, but shredding it solves all these problems. I was last minute in making this recipe and didn't have time to soak the beans overnight, so I used canned beans and it worked out fine. The lentils can be dry as that is plenty of time for them to cook. Don't skimp on the herbs either since they're a huge source of flavor. In my grocery store I can only get 1/2 cup chopped chives from one bunch, so make sure you have enough. Also, try not to be lazy and skip the garnish, the shallots add a great flavor! This soup is time consuming, but it is so delicious and makes a ton of soup, so you can easily freeze some and have some as leftovers.
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