We love a homemade pot of chili and ours is based on our favorite recipe from Anita’s mom.   But, we’ve added diced sweet potatoes and sweet peppers which gives chili such a great flavor and a little more veggie.

This is a delicious one pot recipe packed full of good flavor and nutrition.   And, the best part is it’s even better the next day by itself or dished over a bowl of polenta, pasta or your morning eggs.   If you want a vegetarian/vegan recipe, just leave out the ground beef.

This recipe makes a small pot.  We usually double it to guarantee leftovers for this chili loving family.  It never lasts long!

1 lb. BBF Ground Beef

1 T organic Chili Powder

2 tsp organic Ground Cumin Powder

3 organic Garlic cloves, diced OR 1 or 2 tsp garlic granules

2 organic med onions or 1 large, diced

2 organic sweet peppers, any color.  We use our frozen diced peppers.

1 quart organic diced tomatoes plus 1 qt. water.  We use our own canned tomatoes.  If using store bought, use two 28 oz cans.

1 T organic Apple Cider Vinegar

1 can organic Black, Kidney or Pinto beans, usually 15 oz., drained

2 cups organic diced sweet potato

Salt and ground pepper to taste

In your favorite soup pot, saute ground beef breaking it up as it cooks.  When just a little pink is left, add the diced onions and fresh sweet peppers.  If you are using frozen peppers, hold off until you add the tomatoes as they release a lot of water.

Saute until veggies are almost tender.  Add the chili powder, cumin, diced fresh garlic, 1 tsp salt and several grinds of fresh black pepper.  Stir and saute for a few more minutes.  Pot will be fragrant and mixture will look dry.  It may seem like a lot of chili powder and cumin but you are seasoning quite a bit of food once the recipe is completely together.  Back off if you like and adjust later as needed.

Add the tomatoes, water if using, beans, vinegar and a couple cups of diced frozen peppers if you didn’t use fresh.   Bring to a simmer and allow to cook gently for approximately 30 min.   Taste for seasoning and make adjustments as needed with any spices and vinegar.   Add the diced sweet potato and a little water if chili looks to chunky.  Gently simmer until potato is tender.  Enjoy!

Classic Tzatziki sauce is hard to pass up and it’s way easy to make.   We use it as a creamy salad dressing, on top of our homemade falafel or just dipping for a delicious fresh pita bread.  Great way to use the cucumbers!

2 cups organic whole milk yogurt

2  tablespoons olive oil

1 med. cucumber, peeled and shredded on a box grater, about 1 cup

2 T Lemon juice

1-2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, chopped mint is a nice addition as well

1 med. garlic clove, finely diced or smashed to a paste

Place yogurt in a medium bowl.  Grate cucumber onto a plate.   Squeeze out all juices from cucumber (reserve) and add shredded cucumber to yogurt.   Combine remaining ingredients in bowl and blend thoroughly.   If the consistency is too thick, stir in a little cucumber water.  Ideally, place in refrigerator for a couple hours to let flavors blend.   But, it’s so good, it’s hard to wait!

Just a forewarning…..this may be the best creamy salad dressing you’ll ever try.

My mother, Barb, made this dressing every year when spinach was being harvested from her garden.   Mom grew a beautiful garden and there were staples on the table every spring – tender Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, red radishes, green onions and fresh spinach.   We always had trimmed radishes and green onions kept fresh in a cold bowl of water in the fridge.  We’d eat them raw dipped in a little salt.  Can you imagine your kids eating green onions like french fries?   We did and we loved it.

But, the spinach dressing was the highlight.  Don’t let the bacon drippings deter you from making this dressing.   Leave them out if you like but a little adds good flavor to the dressing.   Feel free to adjust the ratio of buttermilk/mayo for a thicker or thinner dressing.  You just can’t go wrong with this dressing!  Enjoy!

1 c buttermilk

1/2 c mayo

1 tsp dried dill or 1 T fresh, finely chopped

1 green onion, entire stalk diced including greens

Crispy fried bacon, one or two slices, diced

Bacon drippings, couple teaspoons, must be warm!

Freshly ground pepper

If you do not have buttermilk, make your own by combining whole milk with 1 or 2 T lemon juice.   Taste after one tablespoon and add more if you like more acidity.   Place in mixing bowl and whisk in the mayo until creamy.   Add remaining ingredients and combine well.   Taste for seasoning.   The dressing gets even better the next day but certainly delicious immediately.

We serve this over a fresh spinach salad with finely sliced red onion and sliced hard boiled BBF Eggs.