Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

I should be writing about brownies, adorable hand-made candies or even aphrodisiac red wine and oyster concoctions. Alas, I'm getting into the Valentine spirit with the least romantic of cuisines.... Mexican and beans. Well, if you're interested in saying "fuck it" and farting on the couch all night, whilst cursing and watching Bridget Jones' Diary, you're all set. 

I'm actually not a Valentine hater. The lovely husband always makes me feel special and we have a date night planned. But after all of my crazy work and travel, this was the last recipe left in my queue. So let's just embrace the anti-romance, shall we?  

Mexican food does seem to get a bad wrap, both for its date-friendliness and ill reputation for health. I mean, you social handling of digestion is your business, but Mexican food doesn't have to be bad for you. While many restaurants express these famed flavors in a bath of cheese and lard, at the core there are many fresh ingredients bathed in flavor. These enchiladas are plumped full of sweet potatoes, black beans and spinach. With minimal cheese they're not so decadent, but the chipotle sauce provides the fullest bite.

Roasting the potatoes does dirty another dish, but the flavor benefits are worth it. Forgoing boiling also keeps things from getting too starchy.

The sauce is chock-full of flavorful goodies -- like chipotle chilis, adobo sauce, tomatoes, garlic and onion. Not to mention cumin and cayenne.

After the potatoes have roasted, saute together onion, green pepper, black beans, corn and spinach. Such a colorful enchilada party.

A bit of sauce at the bottom of the pan will keep things from drying out.

Rolled and ready. When I made these I made two full pans and froze one for a later dinner. If you're freezing,line the pan with foil, leaving 2-inches on each side, then assemble. Freeze in the dish and once frozen solid remove using the foil handles. Wrap carefully in plastic and keep in the freezer. When ready to bake, just unwrap and pop back into the same pan you froze it in.

Serve with cilantro, lime and a bit of avocado. Thank your cat for tolerating your gas and for being the bestest Valentine ever. You're a beautiful, smart woman... don't even let this damn holiday get you down. Another round of enchiladas on the house!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons chili powder
3 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt, divided
Fresh ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-oz can fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles
1 small can chipotle chilis in adobo sauce (3-5 chopped chilis and 2 tablespoons adobo)
1 cup chicken stock
1 green pepper, chopped
1 15-oz can black beans
1 cup corn
1 cup spinach, drained
12-15 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Minced cilantro, for garnish
Sliced avocado, for garnish
Sliced lime, for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss sweet potatoes in 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Roast in oven for 25-30 minutes until potatoes have just begun to soften.

While potatoes bake, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1/2 chopped onion and saute until translucent, then add garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add tomatoes, chipotle chilis, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin and chicken stock. Simmer for 10 minutes and remove from heat. Allow to cool for 5 before pureeing in a food processor or blender.

Wipe out dutch oven and heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add remaining onion and green pepper; saute until softened. Add remaining chili powder, cumin and salt and once fragrant add black beans, corn, spinach and sweet potato; stirring until combined.

In a 9x11 baking dish spoon out 1 cup of sauce, spreading to cover the bottom of the dish. Fill individual tortillas with vegetable filling and place seam side down in the dish. Once dish is full, cover with remaining sauce and cheese. This will easily fill two 9x11 baking dishes, depending on how filled each enchilada is. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

Serve with a sprinkling of cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice and sliced avocado.

*This dish freezes very well. Assemble and freeze in foil-lined dish. Once frozen solid, remove from dish and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. When ready to eat, replace in dish and bake for 1 hour.

Morgan Out

Remember when I said back to business as usual? I lied... I'm tuning out and heading south. I've been working my butt off and the light at the end of the cold, late-night tunnel was vacation. We're off to the Dominican Republic to celebrate the marriage of wonderful friends. 

Country music isn't usually my thing, but in the words of the Zac Brown Band:

I've got my toes in the water, ass in the sand

Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand

...and Carey will be the most sunburned in the land

Okay, I may have added my own commentary there. 

I'll see you on the other side of vacation!

To Rosa

Okay... you may have noticed I disappeared in recent weeks. I've been beyond buried at work and eating lots of take-out. But it was worth totally worth it because I was working to honor this great woman:

With my client, the U.S. Postal Service, we launched the new Rosa Parks Forever Stamp at the NAACP Image Awards and The National Day of Courage celebration at the Henry Ford.

I usually do my best to dispel notions that PR is all celebrity and shiny events, but in this case it WAS the outcome of many many many late billable hours. Plus Samuel L. Jackson yelled the F-word at me (among many others).

It was such a pleasure to help my clients celebrate this courageous woman. And uber powerful to sit in her seat on the Montgomery bus.

Don't we look business-y?

Take a moment to remember those who altered our story with their courage and pick up some of these cool stamps! You know my thoughts on Thank You notes.

Back to business as usual and yummy stuff soon.

White Chicken Chili

I have a problem... I seem to have forgotten how to use a plate and fork. Yes, this time of year I find myself curling up with dinner in a bowl nearly every night. No, I'm not a senior citizen, but I do love soups and stews and it is DAMN cold outside. This is Chicago for God's sake... the high today was 10 degrees. It was the first day I could feel my contact lenses on my eye balls. Down coats (including for the tiny dog) and Uggs are in full force. So yeah, I like warm stuff in a bowl this time of year.

If there is a bright spot in this wintry tundra, its cozy family favorites. I already shared my Chicken and Dumpling Soup and I must have had my lovely Stepmother on the brain, because I recently made her famous White Chicken Chili too.

It's a family classic for sure, but it was originally adapted from the Romertopf Clay Cooker Cookbook, specifically the tattered and torn version of it from the 1970s that lives in my parents' bottom cabinet. A classic. I don't actually have a clay cooker, but a heavy earthenware casserole does the job just fine.

It's a simple prep, mostly combining and layering the ingredients before baking. It takes a bit to cook, but nearly all of the time is hands off. Use this time to browse vacation deals and plot your escape from the howling wind.

Those little cans of green chilis are a great pantry staple. I don't know about you guys, but this time of year my grocery store always runs out on Sunday afternoons, so I stock up when I can.

Who's ready to dig in? Let it warm you from within and think about people you love who've shared recipes and meals with great affection. Oh and call your brothers to brag about eating their favorite meal. Suckers.

White Chicken Chili
3lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 tablespoons flour
8 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flake
2 ribs celery chopped
2 onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans green chilis
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup low-fat sour cream
1 cup low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss chicken in flour, chili powder, salt, cumin and red pepper flake. Place onion, celery and garlic in the bottom of an large casserole. Layer chicken on top of celery and onion mixture. Top with green chilis and pour chicken stock over the mixture.

Cover and bake, stirring once or twice, until chicken is cooked through and lightly browned; about 1 hour. Remove from oven and skim any fat from the top of the chicken. Stir in sour cream and top with cheese. Bake for another 10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Serve over brown rice. Dish will be VERY hot when removed from the oven, so take care.

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

You know when its coming... the scratch in the back of your throat, the subtle ache in your forehead that lurches further and further back and the feeling of complete exhaustion when you climb the three flights of stairs to your apartment. You have the flu. Its useless to blame your co-worker or the sneezing man on public transit, you're just sick. And as you may have heard, this year's a rough one.

Luckily I've not been plagued yet this year (I pray this post isn't a bad omen), but the Husband was struck the week after Christmas. What to do for a poor sickling? I'm no doctor, but my best recommendation for the flu is simple... chicken and dumpling soup.

Sure the soup is comforting a mild enough to tolerate with an upset tummy, but there is scientific evidence that suggests it may actually help. For realsies. 

On the less scientific side, I think dumplings are yummier in soup that noodles. I mean, why would you want a boxed noodle when you could have a pillow-soft, dough-y bite? This recipe hails from my Stepmother and is always on hand if one of us is sick. Being that the Husband was a few hundred miles away from her, I took it upon myself to prepare it.

Did it immediately heal the Husband? No, but I'd like to think it made him feel loved and warm and fuzzy inside. Sigh...

Chicken and Dumpling Soup
For stock
4 bone-in chicken breasts
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped with leaves
1 onion, roughly chopped
10 cups water

For soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For dumplings
1 cup flour
1 egg
3-4 tablespoons milk

In a large stock pot, combine chicken, carrots, celery and onion; cover with 10 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. Remove chicken to a plate and allow to cool slightly before removing and discarding skin. Strain stock to remove carrots, onions and celery; discard.

In a clean pot heat olive oil, then add finely chopped carrots, celery and onion. Cook until softened; about 15-20 minutes. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, roughly chop and pull chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add strained stock back to pot, along with chicken, Herbes de Provence, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, egg and milk. The mixture will be quite lumpy and gooey. Add dumplings by hand to simmering stock. Continue cooking until dumplings float; about 5 minutes.

Serve warm.

Moroccan Eggplant Red Pepper Dip

When it comes to throwing a dinner party, people seem to have some weird belief that you need to impress people with fancy schmancy new things. For me, I love when people make things that are close to their hearts -- be it a family recipe or a dish with a story behind it. As a host, it makes me feel special to share that with people I love and tell the story that goes with a dish. I think guests appreciate a genuine experience, especially a genuinely TASTY one.

I recently had some friends and family over for an evening in and shared recipes I learned on a trip to Morocco. The menu included:

• Moroccan Eggplant Red Pepper Dip
• Chicken Tagine with Apricots
• Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Herbes de Provence Glaze

Not only did the menu draw on some of my favorite travel memories, but it was functional for a party. The dip was simple, the chicken took some time and the cake could be made ahead of time. Good to balance out some tougher, more time consuming challenges -- like tagine -- with an easy and quick dip like this.

Turmeric, cumin and ginger are the real stars of this dip. Sure, lots of places have eggplant dips, but these spices give an extra special flavor.

One watch-out... the turmeric can leave yellow marks on porous surfaces -- like certain plastics or cutting boards. The smell and flavor are gone on my food processor blade, but can't figure out how to remove the color. Any one have a suggestion? I think I may soak in some bleachy water. I'll keep you guys posted.

Moroccan Eggplant Red Pepper Dip
1 large eggplant, cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ginger
3 tablespoons water
3 roasted red peppers, chopped (if using canned, be sure to drain)
4 whole grain pitas

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and saute for 5-7 minutes, or until completely softened. Add spices and red pepper; stir until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons and cover immediately. Simmer for 4-5 minutes more.

Allow eggplant to cool slightly and then spoon into food processor. Pulse until smooth and remove to a serving dish. Serve with warm pitas.

Chicken Tagine with Apricots

What is it about food that transports us? That sensory endeavor that takes you back to a favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant a decade ago or even to another continent. Years ago I visited Morocco and fell in love with a dish called tagine. This spicy, sweet braise has such a unique flavor that it instantaneously takes me from the wintry tundra of Chicago to the sands of the Sahara and the buzz of the medina.

So what the hell is tagine? It actually refers to the funny shaped dish that is traditionally used to prepare it. It's conical shape moves steam in a way that keeps meat moist and fork-tender. I picked one up in Morocco and ingraciously hauled it back to the US, surely to the woe of every TSA agent and flight attendant. I hardly ever use it and I know I'm adamantly opposed to kitchen clutter, but this one just makes me smile. It's sculptural and filled with memories.

I actually learned how to make tagine in a one-on-one cooking class at an inn in Marrakech. Raman showed me how and set off years of tagine cravings. It's a complicated and somewhat time consuming dish, but certainly worth the effort from time to time. 

Ironically, my tagine isn't actually big enough to use for a full dish. I know, right? But a heavy-bottomed dutch oven does the trick. In fact, America's Test Kitchen prefers using the dutch oven.

You'll start by getting a solid browning on the chicken.

Onions and loads of spice build an incredible base for the sauce.

Dried apricots will beautifully set off the spices in the dish, building complexity and uniqueness.

After a long simmer, serve over couscous and garnish with almonds and parsley.

This culinary adventure will leave hardly a bit to spare. Dream of Saharan sunsets and spice markets while you do the dishes. Thank your tastebuds for the ride.

Chicken Tagine with Apricots

1 chicken, quartered

S&P

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 red onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups dried apricots

1 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon dried ginger

1/2 teaspoon saffron

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups chicken broth

2 bunches parsley, very finely minced (reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish)

3 cups coucous

1 teaspoon olive oil

3 cups water

In a large dutch oven heat olive oil over high heat until shimmering. Pat chicken with paper towels to dry and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken, start skin side down and brown both sides (about 4-5 minutes per side). Take care not to crowd the chicken and brown in two batches, if needed. Remove chicken to a plate. 

Reduce heat to medium and add onion to remaining oil and cook until translucent, stirring frequently. Add garlic to pan, cooking 1-2 more minutes. Add turmeric, ginger, saffron and black pepper; stirring until fragrant. Add chicken stock, taking care to scrape all of the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add apricots and parsley (reserving 1 tablespoon) to pan and place chicken back in pan, along with any juices collected on the plate. Cover and reduce heat to very low. Simmer chicken for 45 minutes, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees. 

Boil water for couscous in a separate pot. Once boiling, add olive oil and couscous. Cover and remove from heat. After 5 minute remove cover and fluff couscous with a fork.

Serve chicken and it's sauce over couscous. Garnish with almonds and parsley.