Saturday, April 28, 2012

turkey chili with white beans

I've been behind in blogging. I blame school. The good news is that the quarter is almost over! Only 2 weeks left of classes and a week of finals. It's so crazy, I don't think I will ever get used to the quarter system. Things just happen too fast. I feel like I just got back from California and here we are, almost done with the year.

I'm posting this chili recipe to procrastinate on homework. I am supposed to be writing a research paper, but I really have no idea what I am doing. My paper is a hot mess. Anyways, this recipe originally appeared in Bon Appetit (Feb 1997). It's been my go-to chili recipe for awhile now. And you know it's good because I asked my friend, Ranwei, what her chili recipe was and she sent me the exact same one!

My favorite part about making chili is that you can easily substitute ingredients and add whatever extra stuff you have lying around in your kitchen. In my case, it was carrots and sweet potatoes (a little weird, but I made it work). I've copied the original recipe and then put in parenthesis what I added/changed the day I made it (based on what I had).

Turkey Chili with White Beans
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
1/4 cup chili powder (I actually added 1/2 a cup to give it a kick. Otherwise, it's not spicy at all. Next time I plan on also adding some hot peppers. If you can't tell, I'm trying to eat spicier foods)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (obviously I did not measure this, I just dumped salt in to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes (I only had a 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes, but it seemed to work fine)
3 cups beef stock (I used veggie stock that I was trying to get rid of)
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce (I used tomato paste)
3 15 ounce cans small white beans, rinsed, drained

(+ I added some diced carrots and a diced sweet potato)


Directions:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions (+ carrots and sweet potato). Sauté until light brown and tender, about 10 minutes.

Add oregano and cumin. Stir 1 minute.

Increase heat to medium high. Add turkey, stir until no longer pink, breaking up with back of spoon. Stir in chili powder, bay leaves, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add tomatoes with their juices, breaking up with back of spoon. Mix in stock and tomato sauce.

Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Add beans to chili and simmer until flavors blend, about 10 minutes longer. Discard bay leaves.

Eat with sour cream (or greek yogurt). If you're asian like me, you'll probably eat it over rice too.


Sunday, April 15, 2012

badass saturday night breakfast sandwich


Avocado, buffalo chicken, american cheese, and a fried egg on When Pigs Fly baby spinach, onion, and garlic ciabatta bread.

Yum.

Tomorrow's the best day of the year....Patriots Day aka MARATHON MONDAY!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

9 + 1

My body hurts. I'm trying to increase my distance so that I'm ready to run a 10k by the first weekend in May. In order to do this, I'm doing this new thing on the treadmill where I run 9 minutes and then walk 1 minute. During each 9 minute interval, I also increase my speed by 1 click on the machine. I'm normally on the treadmill for an hour, and I can get a little over 5 miles in.

Surprisingly during my runs, things go great. Time passes by super quickly and I don't feel like I want to die. Its easy to stay motivated knowing that you can walk in just a few minutes.

After my workout is a whole different story. It makes me want to eat EVERYTHING in sight and my legs (which are not used to running this far) get super tired.

Pictures from a recent run along the Charles:

Charles River (going west towards Harvard)

Boston is a GREAT town for running outside. I've been back for about a month and a half now and I've gone on all sorts of different routes. I'm all over the place...from the different sides of the Charles, and in different directions, Castle Island, around the Emerald Necklace, down Beacon Street, and random loops around my neighborhood. So much better than running the Saratoga Town Loop every weekend.



 Castle Island + Fort Independence in South Boston

Cloudy day on the Charles (photo taken from the Cambridge side)

Beacon Street in the Spring

Monday, April 2, 2012

future road trip? (+ luv2run 5k)


I've decided I NEED to go to maine...asap. I just realized that I've been back in Boston for over a month now and I have yet to leave the city. It's time to breathe fresh air, eat fries fried in duek fat, and sit around a lake. Maybe consume a lobster and some blueberry pie as well. Oh yeah, and drink a lot of allagash.


In other news...another 5k done!

I ran the Luv2run Boston 5k this past Saturday. I woke up to quite rainy and cold conditions (38 degrees and the forecast called for snow). Luckily, the colder it is, the easier it is for me to run. The course started in Artesani Park and the Publick Theater in Brighton, MA and ran along both banks of the Charles River.

I also set a PR! Wooo! 29:48. Nearing the end of the race, I could see the pace clock and was determined to come in under 30 minutes. I think the flatness of the course as well as the cold and damp weather helped really with my time.


I'm such a dork in this photo, but it's the only one I took after the race. Yes, I am pretending to use the banana as a phone. Please don't judge me, I was clearly delirious. Also, I hate coconut water, but the vita coco van was pretty fun (and it also signaled the finish line for the race).