Ancho Beef and Bean Chili

Todays' recipe is from the Weight Watchers Points Pus Power Foods cookbook, page 69

2 dried ancho chile peppers, seeded and torn into pieces
2 dried pasilla or New Mexico red chili peppers seeded and torn into pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3/4 pound boneless sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
1 1/4 cups canned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained.

1. Set medium skillet over medium-low heat.  Add ancho and pasilla peppers; toast until fragrant, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes.  Transfer to medium bowl; add enough boiling water to cover peppers.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Drain peppers, reserving 2 tablespoons of soaking liquid.  Combine peppers, reserved soaking liquid, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt and cinnamon in mini-food processor or blender and process until smooth.

2. Spray large saucepan with nonstick spray; set over medium heat.  Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until onion softens, about 4 minutes.  Add ancho pepper mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add steak and cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.

3. Stir in broth and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer covered 20 minutes.  Stir in beans and simmer, covered until beef is tender and chili thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. 

makes 4 servings

6 WW Points Plus per serving

269 cal, 6 g total fat, 2 g sat fat, 0 g transfat, 31 mg chol, 362 mg sod., 29 g carb, 5 g sugar, 12 g fiber, 27 g protein, 48 mg calc.

May cut up 4 tortillas into 1 inch strips, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon chili powder and bake for 6-8 minutes, until crisp.  Points/Nut info would vary depending on tortillas used.

My changes:

Used can of pintos as that is what we had on hand
couldn't find dried peppers (despite looking in 3 stores) so used 1 fresh pasilla and 1 fresh Anaheim chili, seeded, chopped and sauteed.
Byron added crushed hot red pepper to up the heat level
used less onion than called for (Byron doesn't much like onion, so I routinely cut onion in recipes by about 2/3 - 3/4)
added 4 t olive oil (1 t per serving) to add in 1 healthy oil serving (1 PP) per serving, bringing PP to 7.

Beef with Broccoli

This recipe is one from a book my Uncle gave me for a gift over 10 years ago. Chinese Cookery by Rose Cheng & Michelle Morris, ISBN-89586-088-0. I've loved the recipes I've made from it and the techniques it shows.

The recipe says it serves 6. I think that's if it is part of a several-course Chinese meal or people with small appetites. Or a family of 2 adults and 2-3 small children. I have figured this at 4 servings, as part of an entire meal, served with rice.

6 Weight Watchers Points Plus per serving.

Beef with Broccoli

2/3 lb. beef flank steak or other tender beef

Marinade:
1 teaspoon rice wine or dry sherry (I use Mirin)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 lb. broccoli tops (I used part of a bag of broccoli tops from Costco)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/3 cup water
7 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I use 2 Tablespoons olive oil)
1 garlic clove crushed
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons chicken broth (today I used vegetable broth, it's what I had in the fridge)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Slice beef across grain and at an angle into thin strips.

2. Mix marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add beef strips, mix well. Let stand at least 30 minutes.

3. Dissolve cornstarch into water to make a paste, set aside (can add remaining sauce ingredients too, just makes it easier at the end).

4. Heat oil in wok over high heat, 1 minute. Add beef/marinade, stir-fry marinated beef about 2-3 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove beef, draining well over wok; set aside.

5. If necessary add oil to wok. Heat 30 seconds, stir fry garlic 30 seconds. Add broccoli tops. Stir fry 5 minutes. Add cornstarch paste, salt, soy sauce, broth and pepper. Stir fry till sauce thickens slightly. Add cooked beef, mix well. Remove from wok and serve.

We serve this with white rice. Also tonight we had Minh brand egg rolls and sweet & sour sauce.

Byron's Beef Curry with Pineapple and Rice

Ok, this is Chef Byron's "recipe" - I have school tonight and it's his day off, and he cooked dinner.  He cooks as he goes, and this is what he told me he did (after the fact). It smells divine and dinner's ready at 3:45!  I don't have to leave till 5:30-ish, so it will simmer till we're ready to eat. He said "Wife, I didn't measure anything." So I told him to take his best guess on measurements.

So, if you cook a lot, you'll be able to follow this. If not, shout out and I'll add further direction.

Rice

2 cups rice
4 cups water
about 2 T mirin (Japanese rice wine/sweet cooking wine - find in Asian section of your grocery store)
saffron (just a pinch, pricey but worth it)
cook as you usually cook rice (we use Pampered Chef microwave rice cooker)

Beef

1.5 pound steaks sliced as for stir fry
1-2 t peanut oil (I do WW so we use minimal oil, use more if you like)
black pepper/salt to taste
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can pineapple drained (reserve juice for sauce)

slice steak, brown in oil, cook as you would for stir fry till desired almost (but not quite) done
add garlic or add with steak, saute with beef slices
add pineapple
When done combine with sauce and vegetables (below)

Sauce 
(mix together and simmer)
pineapple juice (from canned pineapple in beef step)
beef stock (2 14 oz cans)
2-3 T sweet curry powder
black pepper
cornstarch to thicken slightly

vegetables 
(saute together)
1 t peanut oil
1/4 t sesame oil
celery
carrots
green pepper
sugar snap peas
Use whatever vegetables you have on hand and want to put in (clean out the veggie crisper time)

Put sauce, beef and vegetables in a pot and simmer till you want to eat.
Serve with rice

Serves -- well, serves however many you want it to, depending on how many vegetables you put in and how much meat.  In our case it will probably serve us all for dinner and lunch tomorrow and a midnight snack for the 19 year old.

This ended up being a very mild curry. If you like a stronger curry flavor increase the amount of curry powder and/or use hotter curry powder.

Orange Beef

This is from my friend Kelly's "Cooking with the Guys" blog. Kelly is an amazing cook, a long time forum friend who I really want to meet in person some day!

Orange Beef & Broccoli ~ WW Healthy & Happy Celebrations Cookbook

1 large bunch broccoli
4 navel oranges
1 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 T reduced-sodium soy sauce (I used regular)
1 1/4 lb. flank steak, trimmed, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (I used round steak)
1/3 c. water
3 scallions, cut into 1" pieces
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 T minced peeled fresh ginger

Remove florets from stems of broccoli and cut into bite size pieces.  Trim, peel and thinly slice stems.

Grate 1 tsp. orange zest from 1 orange, then squeeze 3/4 c. juice (from about 2 oranges)* into measuring cup.  Whisk in cornstarch, pepper flakes, orange zest and 2 T soy sauce.  Remove peel and pith from remaining oranges and cut into chunks.

Spray nonstick wok or large deep nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat (I used 1 tsp. olive oil).  Toss beef with remaining 1 T soy sauce in large bowl.  Add beef to skillet and stir-fry until beef is no longer pink, about 1 min. (Do the beef 1/2 at a time if the skillet isn't large enough for all of it in a single layer).  Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add broccoli and water to wok.  Cover and cook 1 minute.  Uncover, add bell pepper and stir-fry 1 minute.  Stir in scallions, garlic, and ginger; stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in beef and cook until heated thoroughly through.  Spoon mixture onto platter and top with orange segments.  (I tossed the orange pieces in the last minute of cooking.)

YIELD:  6 servings; 1 serving (about 1 2/3 c.) = 6 WW PP

*I added water to my fresh OJ to measure 3/4 c.
**I served this with brown rice.  It was delicious!  You'll need to adjust the WW points accordingly for the rice.