Last night we hosted Wednesday friend dinner and my risk of cooking a new dish paid off! Every drop of chili was gone after the 6 of us enjoyed this hearty meal.  

I’ve been looking for a reason to cook The Pioneer Woman’s White Chili for some time and I chose it last night because it met the dietary needs of my guests. It is gluten free, it can easily be adapted for the vegetarians and then enhanced for the hungry ones of the bunch.

To start, I did the bulk of the cooking the night before (through step 6) then re-heated the chili base and added the cornmeal and milk the day of.  Around the table we each had our own way to eat this meal.  Some ate it directly from the bowl while others built mini tacos by putting a dollop of greek yogurt on a warm corn tortilla, adding some of the chili goodies, and topping it with avocado.

A highlight of the night  for me was the whole group’s participation in the ‘‘chili photoshoot.”  While they now have further proof that I’m a nut, I had a blast as my friends helped me determine the best bowl, lighting, etc.   Looking forward to hosting again in about a month. Any other suggestions for gluten free, vegetarian meals that also please picky eaters?

Ingredients:

• 3 large chicken breasts (3 cups shredded)
• 1 medium onion – diced
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 cans of chopped green chilies
• 1 pound of dried great northern beans – rinsed
• 8 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (or homemade)
• 1 jalapeno – sliced thin into half rounds (including the seeds if you like a good spice like I do!)
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon cumin
• 1 cup of milk (original recipe calls for whole, I used 1% and it still was OK)
• 2 Tablespoons of cornmeal
• Greek yogurt
• Avocado
• Corn tortillas

Steps and Notes:

1. Boil the chicken for 20 minutes.  Remove from the water and place in a bowl and shred with two forks.
2. Saute onions in a dutch oven for 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
3. Add the green chilies from the can (including the juice), then the dried beans and mix well
4. Add the chicken broth and the jalapenos then season with salt, pepper, and cumin
5. Cover the dutch oven and cook for 1 hour.
6. Add the chicken and then cook for another hour
   • At this point you can split the chili into two batches and only put chicken into one of the portions
7. Once the beans are tender, mix the milk and cornmeal on the side and then pour into the chili. Cook this for 10-15 more minutes
8. Adjust the final seasoning adding salt, pepper, and paprika.
   • She also added cayenne pepper here but I felt that there was good spice so I left that out
9. Serve with cheese, greek yogurt, fresh avocado and warm corn tortillas

Thoughts for Next Time:

• She suggest cotija cheese which I think would be delicious on top