Ascent into Addiction

The path to my blog addiction was born out of boredom at work. A friend innocently passed on a celeb gossip site to me about two years ago and a beast was created. The daily visits to this site were not enough and the slow updates bored me…I abandoned it for much greener gossip blog pastures.

But a gal can only take so much gossip. I found the now departed DC blog “Kathryn On” and it shut down a few months later. Isn’t this always the way? It did lead me to the usual local suspects, and hours filled with laughs, slight shock and even a friend. Things snowballed from there, and between local bloggers, makeup blogs (a secret dream of mine is to indulge my creative side and become a make up artist), gems from out of town and just general randomness, blogs became a time consuming obsession.

I finally found my blog bliss when I fell into the cooking blog world. Smitten Kitchen was the holy grail, but many others followed. Cooking is something I love! And something that I actually posess talent in! These places on the interweb spoke to me. It was home. Without all these blogs, I never would have learned that October 14th was “National Chocolate Covered Insect Day” (I cannot make this up) or that we are currently in the midst of “National Chili Month“.

The knowledge of all these food holidays, the unbearable weight of so many recipes to try, is your windfall. In celebration of National Chili Month, I adapted a chicken white bean chili for “Healthy Lunch Tuesday”. The main adaptations include using cooking spray instead of oil, fat free half-and-half in lieu of full fat cream and all white meat. It is a shame you cannot see the pale green flecks from the green chilis that run through this hearty meal in the photo; they are beautiful. This is all the flavorful, meatiness of a chili without an ounce of the guilt.

Who knew addiction could be so fruitful?

White Bean Chicken Chili

Adapted from Wine Skinny

Cooking spray

1 large onion, chopped

5 large garlic cloves, chopped

1½ tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper, or more to taste

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast,tenders, etc, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 15-ounce cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed

8 ounces chicken broth, fat free and low sodium

7-ounce canned diced green chilies, drained

1/2 cup fat free half-and-half

Grated cheddar cheese and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

Spray large heated pan. Add onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and dried red pepper. Sauté 5 minutes. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan. Sauté an additional 5 minutes.

Drain beans; reserving 1/2 cup bean liquid. Add beans, broth, chilies, half and half, and reserved bean liquid to chicken. Simmer until chicken is tender and cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle chili into serving bowls. Top with cheese and sprinkle with cilantro, if desired.