Name: Taco Chili (Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons canola oil; 1 medium onion, chopped; 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped; 1 pound ground beef (I used ground sirloin); 1 teaspoon chili powder; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1 teaspoon dried minced onion; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; pinch of ground cumin; 1 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce (canned or homemade - I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven); 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes; 1 15.25 ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed; 1 15.25 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed; 1 15.25 ounce can kidney beans (I used dark red), drained and rinsed; 1 cup fresh or frozen corn; for serving: corn chips, sour cream, cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, avocado, cilantro

Taco Chili (Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot)

August 19, 2016

Making this taco chili in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot means slow cooked flavor in a fraction of the time! Slow cooker instructions included, though.
$Making this taco chili in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot means slow cooked flavor in a fraction of the time! Slow cooker instructions included, though. | recipe from Chattavore.com$
How many of you out there have become completely obsessed with the Instant Pot (raises hand??). I absolutely love mine, as you guys might have noticed recently. With Amazon’s Prime Day last month and then the Instant Pot (<–affiliate link) as a daily special on Amazon last week, I think that pretty much everyone I know now has one of these magical inventions in their kitchen. Maybe I’m being a little too general…but seriously. It’s the best. If you don’t have one, though, you can achieve the same results with a pressure cooker or with your slow cooker (minus the speed cooking factor, of course).
$Making this taco chili in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot means slow cooked flavor in a fraction of the time! Slow cooker instructions included, though. | recipe from Chattavore.com$
It’s still summer, but Fall is right around the corner, which means that it’s time to start thinking about hearty, comforting soups, stews, and chilis. Chili is just so tasty and universally pleasing (well, almost, anyway…I’m sure there are some chili-haters among you). It’s great on its own, but in my house, sour cream, cheese, and corn chips (AKA Fritos) are always involved. I was initially just going to riff on my slow cooker chili for the Instant Pot, but then I decided that I wanted to throw some more classic taco flavors in there to make a taco chili.
$Making this taco chili in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot means slow cooked flavor in a fraction of the time! Slow cooker instructions included, though. | recipe from Chattavore.com$
To make my taco chili, I subbed in enchilada sauce where I would typically use tomato sauce and added a homemade taco seasoning to the ground beef. Now, I know that Texans scoff at putting beans in chili, but I’m not from Texas and I grew up with beans in my chili. This taco chili has black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans…I added some frozen corn too, for color. I went for a Frito pie/walking taco sort of deal by layering my taco chili on top of the (generic, that is, not Fritos) corn chips and topping it with cheese, sour cream, and cilantro (I meant to throw some avocado in there and forgot!).

This taco chili is quick (if you make it in the pressure cooker, that is), easy, and delicious (no matter how you make it)!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!
Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate!
$Making this taco chili in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot means slow cooked flavor in a fraction of the time! Slow cooker instructions included, though. | recipe from Chattavore.com$
Recommended for this recipe:

Mary

Yield: 6 servings

Taco Chili (Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot)

10 minPrep Time:

35 minCook Time:

45 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1 pound ground beef (I used ground sirloin)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of ground cumin
1 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce (canned or homemade - I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven)
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15.25 ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 15.25 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15.25 ounce can kidney beans (I used dark red), drained and rinsed
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
for serving: corn chips, sour cream, cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, avocado, cilantro

Instructions

Using the sauté function set on medium on the Instant Pot or in a pressure cooker set over medium heat, preheat the canola oil. Sauté the onion and the jalapeño until soft. Add the ground beef and cook until completely browned. Drain any excess fat. Stir in the chili powder, paprika, minced onion, garlic power, salt, and cumin. Turn off the heat.
Add the enchilada sauce, tomatoes, and beans. In an Instant Pot, place the lid and set on the bean/chili function for 10 minutes. In a regular pressure cooker, bring to pressure over medium heat then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for ten minutes.
After the ten minutes under pressure, quick release the pressure then stir in the corn. Salt to taste. Serve with desired toppings.
To slow cooker: preheat the oil over medium heat in a 10-inch skillet. Cook the onions and jalapeño until soft. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Drain excess fat and stir in the spices. Place into a 4-6 quart slow cooker and stir in all remaining ingredients (except corn). Cook over low heat for 4-6 hours. Stir in corn and serve immediately with desired toppings.

Notes

Cook time includes time for the pressure cooker to come to fully pressurize.

https://chattavore.com/taco-chili-pressure-cookerinstant-pot/

$Making this taco chili in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot means slow cooked flavor in a fraction of the time! Slow cooker instructions included, though. | recipe from Chattavore.com$

Sesame Chicken Salad with Almonds

August 12, 2016

Sesame chicken salad has a sweet, creamy honey-sesame dressing, crunchy almonds, and sweet Mandarin oranges. It’s a delicious way to do chicken salad!

Last year I went through a Mason Jar salad kick here on Chattavore. One of my favorites was (and still is) the Asian chicken salad. It was a nod to one of my favorite menu items at Applebee’s, the Oriental chicken wrap. They don’t have that on the menu anymore, but they do still have the Oriental chicken salad, which has all the same flavors.

Anyway, that dressing…that dressing is just so good. I started thinking about how delicious it would be to make chicken salad with it. Not eat it with a fork chicken salad with lettuce, but chicken salad you could eat on crackers or bread or in a wrap (lettuce or tortilla). My ideal sesame chicken salad would be sweet and crunchy, with small chunks of chicken. Shredded chicken would be good too, but the first time I made this, I shredded my chicken by pulsing it in the food processor very briefly and it was a little too fine.

I used my dry-brined chicken thighs, because they are basically my go-to for any recipe that needs precooked chicken. The dressing comes together quickly and a then few runs with a sharp knife through some almonds, green onions, and drained Mandarin oranges is all it takes. I used smoked almonds because that’s what I had and I thought they’d work perfectly. I was right.

This sesame chicken salad took me less than ten minutes to make (besides cooking the chicken). I divided it up into Easy Lunchboxes (<–affiliate link) with fruit and crackers and stacked them in the fridge and Philip and I had lunch for several days. It was absolutely delicious and a nice way to start off the school year – no sad lunches here!

This sesame chicken salad with almonds and Mandarin oranges is great for lunch or an easy dinner!

Shared on the Meal Plan Monday Link-up on Southern Plate and the Weekend Potluck link-up on The Country Cook.

Mary

Yield: 4-6 servings

Sesame Chicken Salad with Almonds

10 minPrep Time:

10 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1 pound chicken thighs or breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded (I use this recipe )
1 recipe creamy honey-sesame dressing (see below)
1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped (I used smoked almonds)
1/2 cup Mandarin oranges, well drained and chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced

For the Dressing

3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients to the dressing. Toss to combine and coat all ingredients with the dressing. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

Prep/Cook time does not include time to cook the chicken.

https://chattavore.com/sesame-chicken-salad-almonds/

Sesame chicken salad has a sweet, creamy honey-sesame dressing, crunchy almonds, and sweet Mandarin oranges. It's a delicious way to do chicken salad! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Perfect Meatloaf – Plain and Simple!

July 29, 2016

Everyone has their own idea of what perfect meatloaf is, but this meatloaf, with Parmesan, parsley, and plenty of sweet ketchup-based sauce, might make your list!

I have a love-hate relationship with meatloaf. Meatloaf is one of those meals that is either really, really good or really, really bad…like mystery meat bad. I think that’s why a lot of people don’t like meatloaf….it can be grayish and mushy (or hard!) and covered in any kind of random sauce. Some people use gravy, some people use ketchup, some people use barbecue sauce, and some people use tomato sauce. Whatever sauce you prefer….that’s your business. I’m not here to judge. I’m just saying, meatloaf is so easy to do badly…but when it’s done well, it’s can be absolutely delicious.

This perfect meatloaf recipe is adapted from Pioneer Woman’s first cookbook, Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl (<–affiliate link). I’ve adapted it just a bit – for example, I leave out the bacon because YES, bacon DOES make perfect meatloaf but we do all have to draw a line at how much bacon we eat. I do my bread a little differently than she does, and my tomato gravy isn’t exactly like hers. By the way, if you don’t have brown sugar, you could use a little maple syrup or some granulated sugar + molasses (I always have a little molasses in the fridge from my Thanksgiving ham).

This meatloaf has helped me to reconcile with meatloaf. It doesn’t have any chunks. Too many chunks can ruin meatloaf for me quicker than you can blink. I never use green peppers or onions in my meatloaf. For me, perfect meatloaf is smooth and tender, not chunky or crunchy. This meatloaf meats that criteria. And my perfect meatloaf is topped with a sweet ketchup-based sauce…with more on the side for dipping. Always more on the side for dipping. This meatloaf – this is my perfect meatloaf.

Comment below and tell me – what is your perfect meatloaf?

This post contains an affiliate link. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will make a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Mary

Yield: 4-6 servings

The Meatloaf They’ll Serve in Heaven

This recipe is adapted from Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl .

15 minPrep Time:

45 minCook Time:

1 hrTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1 cup torn white bread (about 4 slices)
1/4 cup milk
1 pound ground beef (I used ground chuck)
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

For the tomato "gravy"

3/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If using a cast iron skillet to cook your meatloaf, like I did, place it in the oven as well.
Place the torn bread in a bowl. Pour the milk over the top and stir to coax the bread to soak up the milk. Set aside.
In a small bowl, stir together the ingredients for the tomato gravy. Set aside until ready to use.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, eggs, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and seasoned salt. Remove the torn bread from the bowl, lightly squeezing to remove the excess milk, and place it in the bowl with the rest of the meatloaf ingredients. Use your hands to combine all the ingredients until well-mixed. Be careful not to compress or squeeze the ingredients.
Form the meatloaf mixture into a loaf about 4-5 inches wide. Place on a broiler pan or the preheated cast iron skillet. Coat the top with tomato gravy and place it in the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and spread more tomato gravy on top. Return to oven for 20-25 more minutes. Serve immediately with remaining tomato gravy for dipping.

https://chattavore.com/perfect-meatloaf/

Everyone has their own idea of what perfect meatloaf is, but this meatloaf, with Parmesan, parsley, and plenty of sweet ketchup-based sauce, might make your list! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich with Bacon

July 18, 2016

If you love fried green tomatoes and bacon, you’ll love this fried green tomato sandwich with bacon and remoulade! It’s a new Southern classic.

How do I love fried green tomatoes? Let me count the ways. Tomato season is my favorite part of the summer growing season, but waiting for those ripe tomatoes can get a little tedious. Sometimes you just have to pick up a pretty, round tomato that hasn’t yet developed a single spot of red and fry it up. It’s nothing like a ripe tomato…tart with more crunch, it’s completely its own entity, every bit as delicious and arguably more Southern.

The first time I ever had a fried green tomato sandwich was several years ago when we ate at a restaurant named Wisteria Café. I wrote about it but in my inexperience I deleted the post after the restaurant closed. I’d never thought about putting fried green tomatoes on a BLT, but their fried green tomato BLT was pretty tasty. Little did I know that fried green tomato BLTs were about to become totally trendy.

This is not a fried green tomato BLT. It’s really more of a fried green tomato po’boy, what with the crusty sub roll and the spicy remoulade. I’ve done fried green tomatoes here before, but they were batter-dipped and fried, whereas these are breaded with cornmeal and oven-fried, hence way less mess. They’re every bit as delicious, maybe even more so; they are certainly much closer to traditional fried green tomatoes.

Crispy bacon and a drizzle of remoulade (recipe courtesy of Simply Recipes by Elise Bauer) complete this fried green tomato sandwich. Since it was just the two of us eating, that meant that we got to eat the leftover fried green tomatoes on the side: fried green tomato sandwich with a side of fried green tomatoes. Who’s complaining?

For a simple and Southern summertime dinner, try this fried green tomato sandwich!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck link-up on The Country Cook!

Mary

Yield: 4 sandwiches

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich with Bacon

The recipe for remoulade sauce was adapted from Simply Recipes .

15 minPrep Time:

20 minCook Time:

35 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup cornmeal (not self-rising cornbread mix)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large green tomatoes - cut into 1/4 inch slices
4 sub rolls (I like rolls from the grocery store bakery)
8 slices bacon, cooked and coarsely crumbled

For the Remoulade Sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon or Creole mustard
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning
1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon pickle juice (dill or sweet)
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1 small clove garlic, minced

Instructions

For the remoulade sauce, whisk together the ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To make the fried green tomatoes, preheat a baking sheet or stoneware pan in the oven at 450 degrees. Set a wire cooling rack over another baking sheet.
Set up a breading station with the 1/2 cup flour in one bowl, the egg and buttermilk beaten together in another, and the cornmeal combined with the salt, pepper, and cayenne in a third.
Dip each tomato slice into the flour, egg mixture, and the cornmeal to coat completely. Set on the wire rack as you finish each.
When all of the tomato slices have been coated, remove the preheated pan from the oven and spray generously with olive oil spray or cooking spray. Place the tomatoes on the pan and spray the tops with oil spray or cooking spray. Bake for ten minutes. Flip, respray the tops, and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Slice each fried green tomato slice in half.
Cut the sub rolls down the center or make a hinge slice. Place 2 pieces of crumbled bacon and 2-3 fried green tomato slice halves on each roll. Drizzle with remoulade and serve immediately.

https://chattavore.com/fried-green-tomato-sandwich-bacon/

If you love fried green tomatoes and bacon, you'll love this fried green tomato sandwich with bacon and remoulade! It's a new Southern classic. | recipe from Chattavore.com

Fried Chicken Salad with Buttermilk Herb Dressing

July 11, 2016

Fried chicken salad is a perfect way to use up leftover fried chicken. It’s chicken salad, NOT salad with fried chicken on it, and it’s surprisingly tasty!

We have been a cable-free house for a little over five years now. We cut out our cable in 2011 to trim costs a little bit after Philip quit his job in corporate America. We waffled on it for a while, unsure of whether we could live without music television (not MTV, as the MTV that we grew up – that actually played music – had long since turned into a reality show network) or food television. Five years later, though, we’ve learned that Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and YouTube fill the void nicely. From time to time I do miss Food Network (their limited offerings on Netflix really don’t do the trick for me) but overall I’m good with the food TV fix I get from America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country, and bloggers on YouTube.

The one show that I regret that I never got to follow was Southern at Heart with Damaris Phillips. Damaris was the winner of a season of The Next Food Network Star. Being a Kentucky girl, she went with Southern food for her show. After a reader told me about her show, I watched as many episodes as a could (read: not many) on Food Network’s website. I (briefly) considered renewing my cable subscription just to access her show. I’m glad I didn’t, because the show was canceled after 3 seasons.

Anyway, let’s get to the point of this: fried chicken salad. It’s something that I never would have thought of on my own. Damaris, though…Damaris knew. On her show, she made some fried chicken salad…cutting up leftover fried chicken that she’d kept in a bag in her freezer, mixing it up with a fresh dressing and some chicken salad-y mix-ins. I was intrigued, and I had to try fried chicken salad PRONTO.

My chance came almost immediately. We had lunch at my in-laws’ house and they served fried chicken. They had ordered way too much – half a chicken for each person!!! – so we came home with a couple of chicken breasts. I took this as a sign that I needed to turn it into chicken salad. I was sold. With the crunchy bits of breading, tender white meat chicken, and whatever you like in your chicken salad, fried chicken salad is perfect on a sandwich, on a cracker, or on a fork.

I don’t have a fried chicken recipe on my blog, but if you sign up for my newsletter you’ll get a free southern cooking ebook with my fried chicken recipe. I’m not going to lie, though…I usually buy my fried chicken at Publix. It’s just so good. We are dark meat lovers so we eat the thighs and drumsticks for dinner the first night (well, I eat a thigh and Philip eats a thigh and a drumstick) and then the breasts and the little bit of meat on the wings get turned into fried chicken salad. This is my version – inspired by Damaris but not copied from her. I like pickles, celery, and shallots (which I quick pickle in a little vinegar to knock down the oniony flavor a bit) plus a quick, creamy buttermilk-herb dressing.

If you make fried chicken salad, you may never eat chicken salad any other way!

Mary

Yield: 6-8 servings

Fried Chicken Salad with Buttermilk-Herb Dressing

This recipe was inspired by Damaris Phillips .

45 minPrep Time:

45 minTotal Time:

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1 shallot, finely diced (or 1/4 cup onion)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 stalk celery, wiped cleaned and finely diced
1/4 cup finely diced dill pickles (I used about 6 "baby" kosher dills)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
meat and coating from 2 fried chicken breasts and 2 fried chicken wings, cut into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and vinegar. Place the shallot into the pickling liquid. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, and parsley. Drain the pickled shallots and fold them into the dressing, along with the diced celery and dill pickles.
Fold the chopped chicken into the dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve alone or on sandwiches or crackers.

Notes

The prep time includes inactive prep to pickle the shallots.

https://chattavore.com/fried-chicken-salad/

Fried chicken salad is a perfect way to use up leftover fried chicken. It's chicken salad, NOT salad with fried chicken on it, and it's surprisingly tasty! | recipe from Chattavore.com

« Previous Page