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Green Chile Challenge: Charee wanted us to do a completely customizable Green Chile Challenge. We were told to do a New Mexico dish or to add Green Chile to one of our favorite dishes.
Charee recommended this site for ideas.
CHAREE: CROCK POT BEEF STEW
Expertise: Should be advanced, since I’m the resident New Mexican! But totally a beginner
Ease: Crock pot cooking is so easy! Love it! And buying chopped green chile makes it extra simple.
Customizing: I make stew all the time but now decided to add green chile to it. I added beef cut for stew, potatoes, carrots, canned peeled, tomatoes, beef broth, and of course, green chile! In New Mexico, green chile is a very common condiment. I used to never eat it but now I will only eat green, never red.
Repeatability: My roommates have decided that stew will ONLY be made in our house now with green chile. So I guess they loved it!
Here’s the recipe:
- 2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 in. pieces
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 4 potatoes, cut into big pieces
- 1 bag of petite carrots
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups of beef broth
- 1 can of peeled tomatoes
- 1 tub of diced green chile, add to your taste
1. Place the meat in the crock pot and add the flour, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat the meat
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well
3. Cover and place the setting on LOW for 10-12 hours or HIGH for 4-6 hours. Stir before serving.
That simple! My kind of cooking!
Melissa’s Nutritional Tid
bit: : This stew has a number of great components in one pot! While beef is notorious for being unhealthy and fattening, it can (and should) be enjoyed in moderation. Beef contains many vitamins and minerals, including iron, thiamin (B-2), vitamin B-12, and niacin(B-3). Thiamin and niacin are both B vitamins which help metabolize the foods that we eat into energy. The stew also has a nice amount of vegetables, which many people don’t get enough of. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends 2-3 servings of veggies a day. This stew definitely helps you achieve that!
VANESSA: NEW MEXICAN RICE & BEANS
Expertise: Beginner
Ease: Super easy
Customizing: I customized the classic cheap food of ‘rice & beans’ and made it New Mexican.
Here’s the recipe…
Rice:
- 1 cup of Brown Rice
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
- Half a can of green chiles (4.5 oz) (I used ‘Old El Paso Chopped Green Chilies’ the supermarket usually sells this brand for under $1)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
I put it all in a rice cooker on the brown rice setting. If you have to cook the rice on the stove, follow the directions on the rice package for cook times. Use chicken stock or vegetable stock in lieu of the water – better flavor.
Beans:
- 1 can of kidney or black beans (15 oz can) (I used kidney because it is what I had)
- 1 can of diced tomatoes (15 oz can)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
Combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer until the rice is done.
Once both are complete, combine into a bowl and serve.
Additional toppings:
Sliced avocado or guacamole, cheese, sour cream, black olives, and/or salsa. Any or all of those combinations taste great. Throw some grilled chicken on top and you just created a Chipotle bowl – for about the same price, but with lots of leftovers!
This recipe will easily provide 4 hearty portions.
Repeatability: I make it very often.
Melissa’s Nutritional Tidbits: I love how Vanessa used brown rice instead of white rice. Brown rice = more whole grains, fiber, and complex carbs in your daily diet. Complex carbs and fiber keep you fuller longer, which can help maintain your weight and keep you healthy!
Vanessa’s dish has no added salt, which is great! Spices, like cumin and garlic powder, are a fantastic way to infuse flavor into your dishes without the ubiquitous salt shaker. Certain herbs and spices, like garlic, have valuable health benefits, like lowering blood pressure and cholesterol.
HADAS: Plan A: PASTA, Plan B: DIP
Expertise: Noob
Ease: Um, you’ll see.
Customizing: So I heard from a source that green chiles are not spicy, “Sweeter than a bell pepper,” in fact. So I was really confused as to what to make with them because I don’t really like cooked pepper. I finally found some in the third supermarket I went to and took a bite. Ooh boy they were HOT! No harm done! I was happy because I know what to do with spicy things, or so I thought…
Plan A: Pasta with fresh garlic, olive oil, and a bit tomato sauce. + Green Chile Peppers
This is my go to pasta. It’s delish and my favorite quick warm meal. I was so nervous that the peppers were too hot I overcompensated and put way too much tomato sauce. It killed all the taste from the garlic and peppers. This was a fail due to nerves!
Melissa’s Nutritional Tidbit: This dish looks delicious, a comforting meal after a long day! I personally LOVE Garlic- I put it in almost everything. In order to beef it up this meal a bit, I would suggest adding some protein. It’s important to incorporate protein into every meal as it’s one the three macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) that we need every day. Protein will keep you fuller longer, maintaining a healthy weight and preventing you from overeating. You can put in some cooked beef, chicken, or fish and mix it with the noodles and sauce. You can also use feta (or any other kind) cheese or tofu. Now, your meal incorporates the three main macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates (noodles and green chile peppers), and fat (from the protein you use and the olive oil). You could add more veggies like tomatoes or sweet peppers to add more dimension to your meal.
Plan B: Green Chile Dip
There’s a great dip from a local supermarket with Jalapeno peppers, mayonnaise, and more. I decided to use the ingredients on the label and a quick search for a dip recipe and created my own dip. It’s very tasty, but it kind of grosses me out to look at it, so I may use it to make potato salad.
Here’s how I did it:
- 6 tiny green chile peppers, seeded, and chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 large cloves garlic
- 1 dash of salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Mix well and serve.
If I do make it a potato salad I will add more mayonnaise and use the recipe provided here!
Repeatability: Sure! Probably not on a regular basis, but I’m glad Charee introduced me to a new food!
*Melissa is a Registered Dietician working on her Master’s degree in Nutrition Sciences. She’ll be popping up wherever we talk about food to help us understand what each vitamin or mineral does and how we can make our meals healthier.
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