Chili Pie

When my bloggy friend Jackie first posted this recipe, I made it immediately. We like chili and I needed an idea for supper that night so chili pie it was. And I’ve made it quite a few times since. I guess we think it’s delicious.

I was happy to find this recipe not only because it is tasty but also because I liked the thought of serving chili with potatoes. Usually we do cornbread or rice but I like to incorporate potatoes into our diet because they are such a healthy starch. (As long as they aren’t loaded with lots of fatty things, anyway. Not that I’m bashing fat but come on, when a recipe calls for a few potatoes and then cups of sour cream or butter, that’s going a bit far.)

Anyway, potatoes are loaded in vitamins C and B6, and potassium, just to name a few of the main nutrients. I’ve heard of people who eat a potato a day to combat depression. Potatoes must have something worthwhile in them!

Chili Pie

Adapted from Jackie’s recipe

1 1/2 pounds ground venison or beef

1 small onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

4 t chili powder

1/2 t cumin

1 1/2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

2 cups cooked kidney beans

2 cups canned diced tomatoes

1 cup plain tomato sauce

3 medium (1 1/4 pounds) unpeeled potatoes

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Brown the meat and onions in a bit of oil or butter. When nearly finished, throw in the garlic and seasonings. Give it a good stir and then add the beans, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Simmer until thick, 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, julienne the potatoes. Cook in boiling salted water until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Do NOT overcook them or they will turn to mush. Drain well in a strainer. (I save the potato cooking water to use in bread baking…it’s got lots of good potato starch in it!)

Assemble: Put the chili mixture into a deep casserole dish. Top with the potatoes and then the cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees until good and hot and the potatoes are crispy around the edges, maybe 30 or 40 minutes. Serve with a side of something green.

Serves: 6 – 8

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Eggplant Parmesan

The morning after returning from the cabin found me in the garden. I picked all of this:

proceeded to make my kitchen look like this:

and ended up with all of this:

Pictured from left to right: salsa, roasted tomato sauce (2 kinds), tomato chunks, and tomato juice. Not pictured: a large pot of cooked beets that got frozen, 3 bags of cucumbers (still sitting in my fridge), a few roasted red peppers (method to come soon), eggplant parmesan, and a big bag of zucchini that got turned into zucchini pizza.

Oh August, I have such a love/hate relationship with you!

(Don’t get me wrong, I’m very thankful for the abundance. It’s just daunting sometimes.)

Now let’s have some eggplant parmesan. We (Brad, Tage, and I) love this stuff but it was like making Jada eat sandpaper…every bite went down hard. But don’t let her dislike of the stuff deter you. This is a wonderful late summer recipe. It’s easier on your health than traditional eggplant parmesan in that the eggplant isn’t deep fried, just lightly pan fried. And I particularly love the tomato sauce. It makes the dish, in my opinion. Simple and chock full of veggies.

Eggplant Parmesan

Adapted from The Central Market Cookbook, recipe submitted by Rose Meck

1 medium eggplant

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 T chopped fresh parsley

2 T chopped fresh basil

1 t salt

4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

2 T tomato powder* or paste

1/2 – 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lightly fry in a bit of oil and place in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, herbs, and salt. If you use homemade bread crumbs and freshly grated cheese, you may wish to run them through the food processor to make them really fine. Sprinkle this mixture over the eggplant slices.

In a sauce pan, simmer the tomatoes, onion, pepper, garlic, and oil for about 20 minutes. Add the salt and tomato powder or paste. Blend with a hand blender just a little to smooth it out a bit. I like my sauce to be half smooth, half chunky. Spread the sauce on top of the eggplant.

Bake at 375 for 15 to 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Serve: 4-6

*Tomato powder: I dry tomatoes in my food dehydrator until crispy and then blend them up to make a powder. I use this in place of tomato paste in most recipes. If you want, you can stir water into it to actually make a paste but if there’s already liquid in the ingredients, I just throw the powder in.

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Crustless Zucchini Tomato Quiche

Another one of those typical zucchini casseroles. But it is tasty, I think. And of course it has endless variations. As the recipe book says, substitute broccoli, spinach, or kale for the zucchini and tomatoes for a fall variation. Yum.

Crustless Zucchini Tomato Quiche

Adapted from Simply in Season, page 137

2 cups (1 medium) chopped zucchini

1 cup (1 medium) chopped tomato

1/4 cup diced onion

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup baking mix

3 eggs

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

fresh parsley

Layer the zucchini, tomatoes, and onion in a greased 10 x 6-inch casserole dish (or 10-inch pie plate). Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Whisk or blend the milk, baking mix, eggs, salt and pepper together. Pour over the veggies. Top with some parsley and bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until no longer raw in the middle.

Servings: 6

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Baked Chicken with Veggie Rice

This dish looks like Christmas in July.

I’m glad Christmas isn’t in July. I wouldn’t want to sit and stare at my Christmas tree in a sweaty haze with dirt caked on my pink toenails.

Sweat aside, I’m glad I turned on the oven to make this chicken. It uses lots of herbs and veggies and even some canned tomatoes, though I’m sure you could substitute fresh if you are inundated with them at the moment.

And the chicken is delicious; it’s very moist and flavorful. The leftover rice gets a bit mushy but I kind of liked it that way.

Baked Chicken with Veggie Rice

Adapted from More With Less, page 181

3 1/2 pounds chicken legs (about 5 legs)

oil

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 T fresh chopped parsley

1/4 cup fresh chopped basil

1 1/3 cup uncooked white rice

1 pint canned tomato chunks

1 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

paprika

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Brown the chicken, skin side down. You may have to do several batches. Set the chicken aside.

In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, stir together the celery, peppers, onion, parsley, basil, rice, tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper. Lay the browned chicken on top, skin side up. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper and some paprika.

Cover and bake at 350 for about an hour and half, removing the foil the last 20 minutes.

Serves: 6 – 8

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Spicy Summer Egg Bake

A wonderful way to use up garden produce rolling off the counter tops and eggs overflowing the basket. It’s sort of a quiche…minus the crust and milk. Because of the lack of milk, it’s really eggy. That didn’t bother me one bit. If you’d rather it be more quiche-like, drain your sauteed veggies and replace that juice with the same amount of milk.

Spicy Summer Egg Bake

Adapted from a recipe I found in the Lancaster Farming Newspaper

1 T oil

1 8-inch zucchini, sliced

1 onion, sliced

4 oz mushrooms, sliced

2 leaves Swiss chard, chopped

1 large tomato, diced

1 T lemon juice

1/4 t garlic powder

3/4 t salt

1/2 t pepper

8 eggs

1 t Worcestershire sauce

3 t hot sauce, or more to taste

1/3 cup grated Colby cheese

sour cream, salsa, etc. for serving

Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the zucchini, onions, mushrooms, and chard. Saute until crisp tender. Add the tomatoes, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour veggies into a greased 8-inch baking dish.

Beat the eggs with the Worcestershire and hot sauce. Pour over the veggies. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes or until set. Serve immediately with garnishes of choice.

Serves: 4-6

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