Chipotle Bison & Sweet Potato Chili

I'm not sure which is more enjoyable: coming home to dinner cooking and the kitchen smelling like a chef has been slaving away all day, or dipping corn bread into a warm bowl of chili bite after bite, and watching the snow float to the ground through a window.

This chili recipe is becoming a regular in our household. It's the kind of dish you want to serve yourself when the night is cold and a sofa with a pile of blankets awaits. It's the kind of dish you serve to guests for the first wintery game night of the season, or the first scary movie of October. 

With chipotle peppers in adobo, this chili is a "solid medium," at least that's what about four of my friends told me after they were about half way through their bowls. It's not a chili for those that can't handle the heat, but it's not going to light your mouth on fire (to me, this means I'll still be able to enjoy eating it--I can palette spicy food, but when it comes to a meal I'd really rather just sit back and taste it). 

This dish feels superbly fall-like to me: summer produce, like tomatoes and chili peppers, meet winter produce, like sweet potatoes. It's a dish to serve when the weather just starts to turn, and you pull out your first sweater, but nothing is stopping you from cooking it through out the winter, too. If we were football watchers, this would be our football dinner. (We're not.)

For a strictly Paleo version of this chili you'll have to skip the black beans. You can experiment with adding something in their place, but it's not necessary. Instead of cheese on top, serve bowls with slices of avocado. (Ok, the avocado thing sounds like a really good idea all around, so I'm going to go ahead and say everyone should do this, regardless of cheese consumption). 

Chipotle Bison & Sweet Potato Chili

Published October 24, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Total Time: 20 active minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground bison
• 4 ounces chipotle adobo sauce
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes 
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon coriander
• Salt & pepper 
• 1/2 - 1  teaspoon cumin
• 2 cups bone broth
• Optional garnish: cilantro, shredded cheese, and sliced jalapeños

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to your slow cooker and stir, breaking meat into small crumbles. Set to “medium” setting, and set timer to 8 hours.
2. After 8 hours, serve in bowls. Garnish with cheese, minced cilantro, and sliced jalapeños.

Salmon & Mango Poke Bowl

This is my new favorite thing: poke bowls. Which I know is super "trendy" of me, but have you tried them?! Finding sushi-grade fish around these parts was a feat, so perhaps they also taste a bit like a well-deserved victory to me.

I called three grocery stores, none of which said they had sushi grade fish. I went to two, one were the lady said I "could" use the tuna, but the look on her face told me not to. Another where the only sushi-grade fish they had came in an vacuum-sealed, freezer package of small (too small) fillets. 

Finally we visited the Pacific Ocean Market, which is in the next town over. The woman on the phone said they had tuna and salmon for sushi, which was promising. All faith we had in the Pacific Ocean Market dropped to rock-bottom when we actually got there though, and the un-filleted fish were unlabeled, and the guy behind the counter only spoke Chinese. He made a motion, showing us to just point at what we want. How were we (two people that have never been into fishing or lived by the sea) supposed to know what was what? Let alone which was ok for sushi? (I have since learned that none of those would've been ok for sushi, so I'm glad we didn't just point at something random).  

Another customer saw we were struggling, and tried to help (she spoke Chinese). But we were pointed over to a freezer case where some mystery white fish was wrapped up in cellophane and was probably best suited for a fish fry. 

We went to the front counter and found two ladies, who between themselves could piece together some English, but they spoke Vietnamese, not Chinese, so couldn't help with the fish situation. Finally, someone found the store manager--the lady we had originally talked to on the phone- who directed us to the right deep-freeze case of fish. (Sushi fish, in a place like Colorado where it has to be shipped and stored, should be frozen to a certain temperature and for a certain amount of time in order to kill off any parasites). 

We rustled through the unorganized case: Eel, Tuna, Shrimp, Halibut. Our confidence in the quality of the fish had dropped to rock bottom when we had been pointed to the fry-fish. 

In the end I went back to store number two, and bought several tiny packages of salmon in vacuum-sealed plastics, and a box labeled "Sushi and Sashimi." At least I could read it. 

Night one we ate sushi, but when we had one packet left the next day I jumped on the poke train. AND IT WAS SO WORTH IT! Can we all just go to Hawaii now? 🙋🏻✈️

(I spent the first week calling this "poa-kee," which confused everyone. Oliver started calling it "pokemon" just to make fun of me, and finally I looked up the pronunciation: "poa-kay"). So take note and avoid looking like a fool like me! 😉

Salmon & Mango Poke Bowl

Published September 5, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 2   |    Total Time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 6 ounces sushi grade salmon
• 2 cups mixed greens 
• 1/4 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/4 cup sliced cucumber
• 1/4 cup diced mango
• 1 diced bell pepper (I used 1/2 of a red and half of a green for color)
• 1/2 of an avocado, sliced
• 1 green onion, sliced 
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds 
• Pickled ginger
• Optional: 1 cup cooked rice
• Optional, for serving: wasabi, soy sauce, hot sauce such as Sriracha 

Directions:

1. Slice salmon into bite-sized pieces.
2. Arrange bowls: If you desire, place a half cup of rice at bottom of bowl. Then arrange mixed greens, shredded cabbage, sliced cucumber, diced mango, bell peppers, and sliced avocado in bowl. Divide salmon between both bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion.
3. Serve with pickled ginger and any other accoutrements of your choice: wasabi, soy sauce, Sriracha, etc.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup

Colorado has 53 peaks that reach to 14,000 feet above sea level but up until this week I haven't summited a single one. This has been on purpose, for the most part: hiking has never really been my thing, and when I discovered I had a stress injury in my foot from running, I thought I would have to retire the idea of long hikes (and runs) for good. 

But then I had one of those days where I just wanted to be outside, in the thin air. You know the feeling: an ache for adventure. That's when my roommate started talking about doing a 14er called Mount Bierstadt, which is known for being one of the more approachable peaks in Colorado. I surprised even myself when I said I wanted to join. We packed up our bags and prepped for an early departure the next morning. 

The trailhead is above tree line, so even before you start hiking the air is thin and the scenery is alpine in nature. You actually start hiking downhill which had me worried from the get go (thinking, I'll have to hike up this hill when I'm done and tired!) but then the heavy lifting starts quickly. We kept up a quick pace and summited two hours later! It was easier than I expected. My legs continued to move out of muscle memory, but I knew as soon as I stopped they'd become heavy. We had a quick snack, and then headed back down.

Back at the car, cold drinks were our reward. Back home, a real meal and some well-deserved couch time (it was Game of Thornes night, and we couldn't skip that!) 

This soup: I grew only cherry tomato plants this summer, because I love them so. I find they give great output. This soup is perfect for rainy fall days when the tomatoes are copious and weather allows you to turn the oven on to roast a few tomatoes. 

Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup

Published August 22, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 2   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 5 cups cherry tomatoes, assorted
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon avocado oil
• 1/3 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons shredded parmesan or 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Dash cayenne or red pepper flakes
• 3 sprigs basil, plus more for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place tomatoes in bowl with minced garlic and drizzle with oil. Toss until all tomatoes are coated in oil. Spread out on sheet pan. Place in oven, and roast for 15-20 minutes, until the skins are just starting to turn brown. Remove from oven.
2. Scrape tomatoes into the jar of a blender. Add cream, parmesan or nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, cayenne, and basil. Puree until few chunks remain. Pour into serving bowls.
3. Top soup with extra cheese and basil. Serve hot.