Tasty Bites: Three-Bean Beef and Sausage Chili with Pumpkin

By Beth V

Chili is one of my favorite dishes to serve for company in the fall. It can be made at least a day ahead, and it is warm and satisfying for even the heartiest appetites. You can also easily adjust chili according to your mood. White Chicken Chili, Beef Chili, Sausage Chili, mild, spicy, full of beans, no beans, it can be almost endlessly customized without really messing it up. One day, I wanted to make chili and I gathered all I had on hand to just throw it together, including some leftover pumpkin puree from another recipe. Well, I discovered that we really love our pumpkin chili! Whenever I have made a random chili recipe or a quick throw-together since, my husband taste-tests it and says that he thinks we need to add some pumpkin. Pumpkin adds an earthiness and a slight sweetness that blends right in and really ties the flavors together. If you’ve never tried adding pumpkin to your chili, you don’t know what you’re missing! And the subtle flavor and color blends so well into the chili that no one would ever know it is in there.

Pumpkin also adds more nutrition to what can already be a pretty healthy meal. If your chili is full of beans and veggies along with the meat and tomatoes, it is already a great source of protein, fiber, and antioxidants. Even the chili peppers that make your chili spicy have tremendous health benefits.  Pumpkin adds even more fiber and vitamin A. I love that pumpkin is packed with nutrition because it is such a fun seasonal ingredient, but I like it even more for the subtle way it makes my chili recipes taste better.

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Tasty Bites: Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Dip

By Beth V

I was asked to provide refreshments recently for our women’s Bible study group. I was feeling all fall-ish and went on a hunt for some fall-oriented recipes. I found this delicious caramel apple dip at the Whimsy Love blog. The author hosts a monthly craft night where she also provides a spread of delicious goodies. She creates all sorts of fun and whimsical recipes and craft ideas as well as inspiration on displaying the yummy goodies. Check it out sometime.

This delicious recipe starts with four simple ingredients: cream cheese, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla. That’s it! The dip turns out very caramel-y and is a perfect companion for crispy fall apples.

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Tasty Bites: Lentil Soup with Sausage

By Beth V

It's getting to be that time of year again... soup season. The cool morning temperatures are starting to hint that fall is really coming. It may still get up to the mid to upper-eighties here in the South during the heat of the day, but it doesn't keep this mid-Atlantic girl from treasuring the cool mornings and evenings and dreaming of days where the highs are about 65. It can always feel like fall in an air-conditioned house, right?  Believe me, a high of 85 feels like fall compared to the 105 highs at the height of summer. Anyway, the cooling trend and shortening daylight hours are sending me into the kitchen to cook things like soup, pot roast, caramel apple dip, butter pecan muffins with pumpkin cream cheese frosting, you get the idea.

Today, I want to share with you a delicious Lentil Soup with Sausage recipe that I found in the Autumn 2011 edition of The Baking Sheet, a cooking magazine published by King Arthur Flour. A friend gifted me with a subscription and I have really been enjoying the delicious recipes and beautiful photographs.

Along with a renewed desire for fall foods, I have made a renewed effort to make our dinners at home higher in fiber, and lower in fat and calories. This soup fits the bill perfectly. Unlike other types of beans, lentils do not have to soak overnight or cook for hours and hours. They are relatively quick-cooking and they have a ton of health benefits. They are full of fiber, which helps lower cholesterol and balance blood sugar. Lentils are also an excellent source of B-vitamins, protein, folate and magnesium. The insoluble fiber helps keep the digestive tract clean and helps prevent digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome. The fiber, along with folate and magnesium also play a role in promoting heart-health. Click here for even more detailed information about the health benefits of lentils.

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Tasty Bites: All-Dressed-Up Chicken Salad

By Beth V

One of my favorite make-ahead lunch meals is chicken salad. Sometimes when we have had lunch company after church, I’ve made this chicken salad the day before so that it can be eaten quickly and easily when the hungry crew arrives. This recipe is delicious- lots of flavors and textures that complement each other very nicely. This is not your average chicken salad, although I enjoy traditional chicken salad as well. This chicken salad feels special enough to serve for a special tea or shower celebration or just to treat your family by keeping it in the refrigerator for lunches during the week.

If you have leftover chicken, feel free to use it, but if you are starting from scratch, here is my favorite way to make chicken for chicken salad. I use 3 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the chicken on a baking sheet coated with foil or cooking spray. Brush the chicken with olive oil or spray the chicken with cooking spray.  Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder. When the oven is preheated, place in the oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Immediately remove the chicken from the oven and tent with foil for at least 15 minutes.  The chicken will continue cooking during those 15 minutes and the juices will distribute themselves evenly throughout the meat. Allow the chicken to cool until you are able to handle it comfortably with your fingers. Remove the skin and pull the meat off either by shredding it with two forks, or just pulling it apart with your fingers.  I think shredded chicken makes for the best-textured chicken salad. And when you cook it just until done and not a minute more, the chicken is so tender and juicy and easy to shred.

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Tasty Bites: Strawberry Poppy Seed and Chicken Salad a la Panera

By Beth V

I recently visited Panera  and ordered their Strawberry Poppy Seed and Chicken salad. It was so delicious! I loved all of the varieties of fruit and I decided that I must recreate it at home so I could enjoy it any time! My version is slightly different than Panera’s, but this salad is loaded with flavor and great texture and nutrition. This salad is like a green salad combined with a fruit salad and the chicken and almonds add amazing taste and crunch, not to mention protein.

Start by layering a platter, or plate if making an individual portion, with baby spinach leaves.  The platter allows the perfect greens to toppings ratio and everything gets nicely coated with dressing. It solves the problem of toppings falling to the bottom of the bowl, or greens at the bottom of the bowl being untouched by dressing. Panera uses Romaine lettuce, but I love using spinach leaves because they require no chopping, they taste great and they have so much more nutritional value than almost any other type of lettuce. Next, add a sprinkling of very thin slices of red onion.

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