Fried Chicken & Waffle Sammies

We interrupt your regular scheduled Wednesday posting, to bring you this message.

This is not a recipe post.  This is a public service announcement. Go here.  Make this.  I'll be taking monetary donations as a thank you.

My waffle maker isn't reliable, so I used frozen.

The waffle recipe in the link has green onions, cheddar, and bacon in it.

I know.

Because my store-bought waffles had none of that, I did a third coating on my chicken.

I used a mix of bread crumbs, panko and cheddar, after the double-flour dunk.

Yep.

To get the bacon and green onion in there, I just piled them on the sandwich.

Uh-huh.

Even if you aren't gonna make this sandwich (why?!?!) you should go look at the post.

Hands down my favorite food blogger.

He doesn't post very often, but when he does, holy mother.

His pictures will make you cry.

I want to be his friend.

And eat his food.

Here's my, nowhere-near-as-amazing-to-look-at, version.

Seriously, go scroll through his post.

And see if you can walk away without thinking about his sandwich, all day long.

Then, go to the home page.

Make a mental note of those fry bread breakfast tacos.

Fry. Bread. Tacos.

Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.

Black Bean & Quinoa Chili Nachos

As threatened, I'm back with a leftover idea for the chili recipe I posted yesterday.

Nachos.  Is there anyone in the world who doesn't love nachos? Just pile your chili up on top of some chips, add whatever goodies you like, pile the cheese on as high as you can, and heat those puppies up.  Dinner's done.

Here's heaven comin' together at my house:

This may look like a lot of cheese, but the camera adds ten pounds.

 I actually added more after I took the pictures.  Ha!

Now, watch the background and see what happens in my house when you turn your back on cheese.

They're a sneaky bunch.

This one was tryin' to get in on the action, too.

Does this look like an innocent face to you?

Hardly.

Okay, so I put some green onions on one end for The Kid and I.

Then I popped everyone in the oven till the chili was hot, and the cheese was melted and gooey.

And here they are, loaded up on my plate:

So good.
We still had a little bit leftover after nacho night, so over the weekend I made breakfast burritos with it.
The chili, scrambled eggs, cheese, salsa and sour cream.
I've also made burritos and rolled and stacked enchiladas with leftovers as a second night dinner.
I'm tellin' ya, that chili recipe is so good, so easy, and you could easily get three meals out of it.

Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.

Black Bean & Quinoa Chili

I can't believe I've never shared this recipe before.  I've posted a lot of black bean recipes, so I don't know how this missed the cut. It's sooo delicious.  One of my favorite dinners, hands down.

Like a lot of the vegetarian meals I've posted, you could go either way with this.  It wouldn't hurt my feelings if you wanted to crumble some cooked chorizo up on top.  But hey, guess what? Vegetarian chorizo is AMAZING.  Like, insanely delicious.  You could cook that up with the veggies, satisfy the carnivore in the group, and still have a Meatless Monday meal.  Uh-huh.

Okay, here's the recipe, (I cut it out of our paper years ago), with my notes:

Black Bean & Quinoa Chili
Printable Recipe

1 C quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 C water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup chopped celery
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 medium tomatoes, cored and diced (I didn't use fresh tomatoes this time)
1 C diced carrots
2 15.5-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (I used petite diced this time)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp dried parsley (I've never bought this)
1 Tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin (I used more 'cause I love it)
1 to 2 tsp ground black pepper
1 to 2 tsp salt
Optional garnishes:  sliced green onions, grated cheese, chopped bell pepper, sliced pickled or fresh jalapenos, cilantro, sour cream, avocado, salsa, hot sauce

Combine quinoa and water in a small saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Cook until liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pot; add onion, bell pepper, celery and jalapeno.  Saute over medium heat until onion starts to brown, 5 to 7 minutes.  Stir in fresh tomatoes and carrots, and saute for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in beans, crushed tomatoes, chili powder, parsley, oregano, cumin, and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper; cook for about 25 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Stir in reserved quinoa.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve in bowls with optional toppings.

*This is really thick.  If you prefer your chili soupier, you can add a cup or so of broth or water when you stir in the quinoa.

You can load it up with whatever toppings you like.

This time around, I did jack cheese, pickled jalapenos, green onions, cilantro, sour cream, salsa, and hot sauce.

Here's dinner in my bowl:

Let me scoot some of those goodies over so you can see the actual chili.

Soooo delicious!

And one of the best parts is, all the different second-night meals you can get out of it.

I'll be back tomorrow to share one of them.

Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.