Did They Eat It? Chicken Corn and Black Bean Stoup Edition

My mom bought me this cookbook for Christmas. Do other people do this? I eat something really boring and unsatisfying but I read cookbooks while I do it and think of how good something really good would taste.

I don't quite get the rage Rachael Ray elicits, (seriously?) (Whoa.) I'll admit she's a little over saturated perhaps, see this 5ives list. But overall she cooks in a way I can cook, well at least close to the a way I could strive to cook. Simple, fast with not so many dishes to clean up.

I realize I haven't done very well with the Did They Eat It feature I promised months ago. But there's a good reason for that. I suck at cooking for my family! I want to be better, I truly do. But I just can't seem to create the ever elusive Meal Plan System I keep thinking will make me able to plan meals each week with little effort. Also I get bored making the same meals over and over. I start to feel like there's no point in cooking unless I'm trying something new. Trying something new each time I cook is annoying because I'm always the equivalent of a newborn in the kitchen.

Instead we eat a lot of pasta and jarred sauce. I don't recommend this approach in general. 

I decided to make this soup from Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats on Friday night because I have not cooked a meal for my family in about four weeks. Nice. I wish the recipe was on line because what I hate more than planning meals is typing recipes into the computer.

Chicken, Corn, and Black Bean Stoup

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (twice around the pan)
2 Pounds chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon ground cumin (a palmful)
1.5 Tablespoons ground coriander (a heaping palmful)
1 Chipotle Chili pepper in adobo sauce (chopped)***
1 large onion
4 ears of fresh corn, kernels cut from the cob
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 quart chicken stock
1 15oz can chicken stock or broth
[edit to add] 1 15oz can black beans
juice of one lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Hot Sauce, tabasco
Sour Cream, for garnish

Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat with the vegetable oil. Add the chicken and season with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, and chipotle chili pepper. Cook the chicken until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add the onions, corn kernels and red bell peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes. Dust the chicken with and veggies with the flour, stir, and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken stock. Bring the stew up to a simmer and then add the black beans. Simmer the stew for 15 minutes. Add the lime juice and cilantro and stir to combine. Taste and check for seasoning; adjust with salt and pepper and a little hot sauce of you like the heat. Serve the stoup garnished with a sour cream and a little bit of chopped cilantro.

***It is important to remember this for later.

Here is our final product.

So, did they eat it?

Logan: You could serve me a heaping pile of moose crap and I'd eat it and love it and wonder how you mingled the flavors so daintily. Please, please, cook for us! Please.

Maddie: [Tongue waves over a spoonful of the soup.] "There I tried a bite! I hate it. I knew I would."

Max: [Wiping sweat from his forehead.] "I really like this. It's, uhm...a little spicy. But I really like the taste so I'm eating it anyway. Washing it down with milk to keep my mouth from flaming."

Me: "Holy Crap you're right. This soup tastes like someone figured out how to bottle an open flame and dumped it in my soup. What the hell Rachael Ray? Are you trying to kill us? I can't even eat this, seriously my mouth is hurting. My lips are turning bright red. My God."

Maddie: "Oh right, yeah....I would have liked it you know. But that's what I meant, it's way too spicy. Right. Can I have dessert since the soup is too spicy to eat?" [LIE]

I couldn't figure out why Rachael Ray would invent such a spicy recipe and as I tried to fall asleep the next night I realized the recipe called for ONE chipotle chili in adobo sauce.

I put an entire 5 ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce into the soup.

Like a newborn baby in the kitchen. Seriously.

Comments

[bigpikchur.blogspot.com]

I can totally see how that happens! The first time cooking what has now become a family favorite Emeril recipe, we almost used 8 HEADS of garlic instead of 8 cloves. We had it all chopped up and everything; the entire time saying, "This sure is A LOT of garlic!" and "How is anyone going to be able to go back to work on Monday with this much garlic seeping out of our pores?" but at the last minute we realized our near-mistake and all was saved.
Jules
House of Jules

[thomtiger]

That sounds delish - minus the extra peppers:)
What quantity of beans did you use? Thanks!

[MenchuvianCandidate]

Sounds, though, like this one was a success-I could make it for me! Not my husband, though; one chili would be too much. Or my heir, he'd have liked the whole can. The Toddler Queen wouldn't object to the chili; she wouldn't be able to see pass the contaminating pieces and chunks.

I guess we'll just have jello for dinner again this month.

http://hismonthlyobligation.blogspot.com/2008/02/bad-seed.html

[kmmama]

Melissa,

I would be happy to share some VERY kid friendly recipes with you. If my kids eat them, they must be OK. They might be a bit boring for you, but Logan will, of course, be just fine with anything.

[Shawna]

Hi! I'm a new reader, and I used to have the same problem. I'm always recommending a slow cooker and the Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook to people because it really minimizes time, effort, # of dishes and the recipes are often really good. Also, it's a great way to save money because you can easily plan for your week ahead if you're so inclined.

I have an appliance review post on my blog (here's the link to that post: http://ainsliebaby.blogspot.com/2008/02/kitchen-full-of-appliances-reviews.html) where I talk about a slow cooker and other appliances that simplify my life, and I also started a recipe blog recently. There's a link if you choose to take a look at my mommy blog.

Happy to read your posts!

[Michelle]

That looks quite good. I haven't usually liked spicy foods, but I've gotten into some Indian dishes lately so this sounds like something fun to try. If only I could afford ingredients other than sliced bread and apricot jam.

[H]

Last year we decided to cook our way through 365: No Repeats and blog about it (while moving house, remodelling, having a baby, living with a toddler, the usual). It was certainly challenging to cook something new every night, but we never had to argue about what to eat and who was cooking, we just got on with it. Some nights it was insane to follow the project- particularly when we moved and were kitchen-free for a few weeks (the days of cooking on the deck on a hot plate, with food and plates in the basement and a fridge and microwave in the garage are not missed) and blogging while in labour...
Anyways, some of the meals were awful, some were exceptional and most were pretty good, better than the pasta we'd normally eat almost every night. This year we are back to take out pizza and pasta every night, I almost feel nostalgic for the Rachael Ray days. I was blown away by the haters though- we were labelled all sorts of nasty for cooking Rachael Ray meals every night. My favourite was the notion that we were inflicting child cruelty on our kids, and that the unborn baby must be floating in olive oil.
We enjoyed this stoup (http://oneyearproject.com/?p=287) but did the exact same thing with the adobe chili a few weeks earlier, eek. We have a star system on our website www.oneyearproject.com and photos of all the meals, so it may help you see which ones are super easy and foolproof and which ones aren't worth the effort (I'm thinking of you, Crab Tortilla (Egg Pie) and Shredded Plantain Hash Browns, and you Oven-Baked Corn Dogs). Overall though, there are some great recipes in this book.

[Joel]

You sound a lot like my wife. We've tried hard to cook more but what really has let us do that is "Dinner by Design". Look for them or I think there are a couple other franchises with the same basic setup. My wife (the not-so-much a cook between us) goes for an hour on a Saturday and assembles 6 meals for something like $110. She splits them in half and comes home with a cooler full of bags and containers that go straight to the freezer. A half meal is just the right size for us (4yr and 15mo old kids) to have enough leftover for my lunch the next day. All it takes is enough daily planning to remember to pull something out of the freezer a couple days ahead. The 12 meals we get out of it make the next month pretty decent mealwise. We usually even cook a meal the night before and just reheat it since both of us work and don't get home till 5:30ish. There's no way you could get that many meals prepped and in the freezer in less than 2hrs on your own.

[Andi]

I don't know if you're acquainted with a wonderful blogger going by Pioneer Woman, but she has her regular blog as well as a wonderful food blog. She goes step by step through her recipes, showing pictures. Everything I've tried so far has been excellent.

thepioneerwoman.com
www.pioneerwomancooks.com

Good luck.

[Patty]

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the cookbook THE SIX O'CLOCK SCRAMBLE. I thought I'd never cook another interesting, fun meal once I went back to work after my son was born. This cookbook saved my life. Delicious, family friendly yet inventive recipes laid out week by week by season. It is just the best.

[soozey]

DANG you are so FUNNY!!!
Why dont you have a column in the food section of your local newspaper?! I just laugh out loud!

[Peeved Michelle]

We don't use cookbooks so much as we collect them for kitchen decor.

[mommastantrum]

I too read cookbooks while eating and dream of all the good things that I could be eating. I agree that RR is over saturated, but also have not had good luck with any of her recipes. They don't turn out or are just icky. I love her idea though...30 minutes...and Pillsbury has a 30 minute meal cookbook that has GREAT ideas in it. (Everything from Beef to Vegetarian) and Toddler and Hubby both eat everything that I have made out of it. (They are your "typical" american type foods...which are fine, as long as there is a variety.) And the "CrackPot" as we call it here, is like the best thing ever....you set it and forget it. HAHAHAHA!!!

[Jenn]

I think my family might like your version better. We love us some spicy in this house. Seriously, we buy the large bottle of Cholula on a weekly basis.

[Jenn Bo]

Oh, I bet that was HOT!

Here is a yummy white bean / chicken chili that is just a teensy bit spicy. I love it because it is SO QUICK to prepare. Source: www.kinetixliving.com
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large shallot, chopped (optional)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 15-ounce cans white beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 pound chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces (pre-cooked**)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
** Pre-cooking chicken: Buy pre-cooked chicken OR cut chicken breast into cubes, add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or fresh garlic clove). Heat 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in saute pan (med-high); add chicken saute until cooked through (about 5-7 minutes).

The chili:
In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin, chili powder, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the beans and broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in the chicken, simmer for 5 minutes, and stir in the cilantro.
To serve, spoon the chili into 4 bowls.

Things to add on top: shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

[Shannon]

Two things here:

1) Don't beat yourself up over it. I constantly read your blog and think - why can't I be as crafty as her? But I'm not. So what if you aren't a gourmet chef? Your kids will live and still be healthy. I'm living proof - my mom had like 4 meals she "made" and the fridge was STOCKED with hostess products. Not the end of the world.

2) That having been said - both a friend and I independently came up with the same system for organizing recipes. Three ring binder organized by types of food (pasta, asian, etc). Any time you see a recipe - throw it in. Even if it means tearing it out of a cook book. Mine mostly come from magazines. Once a week, you can pick out some for the week (we usually do 6 - Friday is pizza and movie night - GREATEST invention ever!) and then shop. You end up with a good core of recipes that you know work and that are fast - if they don't meet those criteria, rip 'em out and throw them away.

[Heidi]

That sounds pretty tasty!
Just one question: one quart of chicken stock plus another 15 oz can?

[Alana]

I have a large collection of cookbooks that is threatening to take over my kitchen. I love to read them in bed at night, but rarely do I actually put them to their intended use. We live on the HEB (local grocery store) Dinners for Two since our son eats nothing but hot dogs.

I was on a Rachael Ray kick for a while, but it got to the point where I think my husband would purposely work late on the night I prepared one of her recipes. The 30-minute prep time is a joke, in my eyes, and it seems to dirty half my kitchen in the process. If I would have had someone to do all of the chopping and washing up afterwards, I would probably fix more of her food. All of the recipes that I tried from her were pretty good, but not phenomenal. I am from South Louisiana, though, and pretty hard to please. Eating is a hobby at my house.

[serafina pekkala]

Keep at it, Melissa! :) And one wee suggestion -- the Chipotle flavor Tabasco sauce works well instead of opening up one of those cans of peppers to use just one.

Mmmm, chipotle...isn't it funny how something I never heard of 5 years ago (let alone when I was a kid) is now a staple condiment at my house? I should specify, we are in Boston. :P

[kristina]

I did that with Pioneer Woman's fresh salsa recipe. Except I put the recommended amount in but WHOA it was too flipping hot.

A Mexican dish?

Chicken Salsa

Chicken breast, enough to feed your family.
Dump salsa all over them thickly.
Add a bit of water to the pan (I use a glass one)
Sprinkle with Cumin
Put shredded cheese on top.

Bake for half hour in 400 degree oven.
Serve with rice (lots of gooey sauce to pour on from the pan) and veggies.

[LizP]

Melissa, I'm a little late reading this (I'm on maternity leave and don't get to the computer much) but I have really been enjoying Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals on Food Network. She is even easier than Rachael Ray and it's not boring food either. The Easter Bunny just gave me her cookbook (found at Target) and the front tells you how you can organise your pantry and have certain things pre-made.