Curried Chicken Salad, My Way

And now, its time for another episode of Billy's Confessions


Confession: I hate mayonnaise. Hate. With the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns.

Its gross. Every time I see it, I recall the remnants of liposuction from some Discovery Health Channel special.




Now that you've completely lost your appetite, I have a solution!

I make my chicken salad using my absolute favorite condiment: sour cream.

Tangy, luscious sour cream. Oh how I love thee. When it gets warmer, I will attempt to make sour cream ice cream. Really. But for now, on to the chicken salad!

"Dry" ingredients:

• 2 cups poached chicken, chopped into small pieces (N.B.: this is a great way to use the chicken left over from making my chicken stock recipe!)
• 1 cup grapes, halved (you can use red or green, depending on preference. I prefer the taste of green, but red looks better.)
• 2 scallions, chopped (white and light green parts only)
• 1/4 cup jarred roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

"Wet" Ingredients:

• 1 cup sour cream or low-fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 or 2 tsp salt, depending on your taste

1. Combine all "wet" ingredients in small bowl. Mix thoroughly. Taste. Adjust seasoning as needed.
2. Toss "dry" ingredients together in larger bowl.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly.
4. Serve in a pita, on a bed of lettuce, or just munch with a fork!
   

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Approximately halfway through the first quarter at my Superbowl party... It was gone by halftime.

Oh hummus, how I love thee. Few things are not made better when slathered in hummus. Crackers, pitas, veggies... Spread on sandwiches... Tossed with pasta... Made into ice cream (OK, maybe not that...)

Up until a few years ago, I always picked up my hummus pre-made from the grocery store, in some tidy little plastic tub with an ill-fitting lid. BUT NO MORE, READERS! NO MORE!

Having read the ingredient list on the side of those containers of store-bought hummus, I decided I'd rather control what went in. So here, after much experimentation, is my hummus recipe!

• 2- 16oz cans chickpeas, drained and washed
• 1/2 cup tahini (sesame) paste
• 2 whole heads garlic, split in half through the equator
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
  
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
   
2. Place garlic cut-side up on a sheet of tinfoil. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap fully in foil and roast for 45 min-1 hour, or until garlic is soft and browned. Open tinfoil and let cool until you can handle them.
3. In food processor, combine chickpeas, tahini, and lemon juice. Add roasted garlic (cloves only, not paper), cayenne, salt, and black pepper to taste.
   
4. Turn food processor on. Drizzle in olive oil until hummus forms thick, smooth, uniform paste. Serve immediately, or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
   

Ratatouille Dip - Healthy and Delicious!

Veggies roasted, ready for the food processor!

When most people think "Superbowl", they don't think vegetables.

This dip should change your mind. It is my interpretation of a recipe given to me by our dear family friend Barbara. Thanks BZ!

Delicious and a whole lot healthier than it tastes, this dip is easy to prepare and perfect served with pita chips, potato chips, or, (lordy) more vegetables.

• 2 medium eggplants, peeled and cubed
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• Nonstick cooking spray
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Add all vegetables in as few layers as possible. Spray with nonstick spray, and season lightly with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2. Roast vegetable for 30-45 minutes, until they achieve good color and are evenly roasted. Stir vegetables if necessary to achieve even roasting.
3. Remove from oven and let cool. Transfer vegetables to food processor. Add tomato paste. Process until smooth. If necessary, drizzle in olive oil to achieve smooth consistency. If your veggies gave up most of their water while roasting, you may need to do this. Taste and season as necessary.
4. Refrigerate and serve.
   

Classy Nachos... Really.

OK folks. There is not a single person out there who can tell me they don't like nachos. Everyone likes nachos. Even people who've given up carbs, dairy, meat, and fun love nachos. It is social food at its best: Simple, accessible, and communal.

Which makes these nachos the perfect thing to serve at your Superbowl gathering!

What's that you say? You're worried about chili dripping on your hand-knotted Tibetan rug?

FEAR NOT! There is no chili in these nachos. In fact, really, these are barely nachos. What they are is classy and excessively easy. Two ingredients easy. Really.

• 1 bag sweet potato chips (I prefer the Terra brand)
• 1 tub Blue Cheese crumbles

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Pour chips into oven-safe container (I use either a 9x9 Pyrex or 13x9 Pyrex, depending on the amount of chips).
3. Spread cheese evenly over chips, making sure some gets into the bottom layers of chips.
4. Bake for ~10 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Yes. Seriously. It is that easy. And tasty.

OK, if you absolutely have to make it more complicated, I suppose some caramelized onions would be delish. But that's it!

Hearty Turkey Chili

OK sports fans! Our first Superbowl food is a classic - chili - with a Billy twist. I'm sure those of you who are Tex-Mex connoisseurs will scoff at this recipe as inauthentic, but trust me, it tastes delicious!

I tend to make my chili with ground turkey (the 93/7 lean kind... 99% lean turkey breast turns into little tasteless nuggets when cooked) because I try to minimize the red meat that I eat, but you could just as well make this with ground beef.

Also, to serve, I top with grated cheddar cheese and my FAVORITE condiment, sour cream.

On to the recipe!

• 1.5 lbs. ground turkey, 93% lean, 7% fat
• 2 Tbsp flour
  
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. garlic, chopped
• 2 large bell peppers (red or green), chopped
• 1 large can (approx 32 oz) diced tomatoes, with their juice
• 2- 15oz cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 750mL bottle of inexpensive red wine (I usually use Yellowtail Shiraz)
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp + 2 tsp salt, divided
• 1 Tbsp black pepper
  

Optional ingredients for a spicier chili:

• 2 cans diced jalepeno peppers, or 3 fresh jalepenos, seeded and chopped
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp hot sauce or sriracha
  

1. In large, heavy pot (I use an enameled cast-iron pot) heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add ground turkey and brown, breaking it into small bits with a wooden spoon. Once mostly browned, add garlic, onion, bell pepper, and 2 tsp salt, and cook for an additional 5 minutes to soften veggies.
2. Once veggies are soft, add flour and stir to mix. Cook for one minute.
3. Add chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and black pepper.
   
4. Pour in tomatoes with juice, drained kidney beans, and red wine. Stir to combine. If using optional ingredients for spicier chili, add now.
   
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and let cook for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional 2 tsp salt as needed, plus additional spice if you like.
6. Serve to friends, family, and all the passersby who've smelled your delicious chili!

Are You Ready for some Football?

Hello readers! As many of you know, it is now less than a week until the Superbowl, which this year will feature an epic match-up of the hard-hitting Pittsburgh Steelers against the Aaron-Rodgers-offense-machine Green Bay Packers. Personally, I'm rooting for the Packers, mostly because I'm a big Rodgers fan, but also because I really dislike Pittsburgh sports. (CROSBY!!!!)

Now, I don't know how it works in your house, but in mine, the Superbowl is usually a day of packaged frozen junk food (followed by a day of gastrointestinal regret on Monday). This year, I decided it would be different! So, for the next week, I will share with you all some of my favorite football foods.

Some will be slightly healthy (but still taste good). Others will not. At least one will have copious amounts of cheese (a nod to Green Bay's Cheeseheads, natch).

I will be having some people over for the big game, so hopefully this will whet their appetites, and inspire you all to skip the frozen foods aisle this Superbowl Sunday, and instead make fresh, homemade food for your gridiron gang!

Oh, and a little side note for all you sports enthusiasts: Check out my brother's blog: JFlanland.blogspot.com, for news and analysis of all things sporty.

Ultimate Comfort Food: Homemade Mac & Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. Not that crap from a box... the real kind. I don't care if you call it "cheese and macaroni", if it involved powdered yellow crap, it isn't mac & cheese.

It has been snowy and gross outside here this week, and this recipe never fails to warm the body and the soul.

Here's my fairly easy recipe!

• 1 lb Elbow macaroni
• 1 lb Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 3/4 cup Flour
• 1 quart milk (I use 2% for cooking)
  
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp + 1tsp garlic powder, separated
  
• 1 Tbsp + 1tsp black pepper, separated
  
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13" x 9" pan (I use cooking spray).
2. Cook elbow macaroni according to box directions. Drain and let stand.
3. In heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in flour, cayenne pepper, 1Tbsp garlic powder, and 1Tbsp black pepper. You have now made a roux. Continue to stir your roux over the heat for 2-3 minutes to cook off the floury taste.
4. Whisk in the milk, eliminating all the clumps of roux. Bring almost to a boil. The sauce should thicken. This is called a bechemel sauce (aka milk sauce). Add nutmeg and stir.
   
5. Switch to a wooden spoon. Working in small handfuls, stir in the cheddar cheese. Do not add more until the last handful has melted completely. Repeat. Reserve approx. 1 cup shredded cheddar for the top.
6. Combine pasta and sauce and stir.
7. Pour into prepared 13" x 9" baking pan. Using the back of your spoon, smooth out the surface. Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese evenly across the top.
8. Combine panko bread crumbs, salt, and remaining black pepper and garlic powder. Sprinkle evenly over the top.
9. Cook, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.