It wasn’t intentional, the vanilla part.
This week my family is under a lot of pressure: one sister is sick and caring for two toddlers while her husband sits exams, another sister is juggling teaching and three kids on her own, and my parents are preparing to move, which means clearing the house and doing repairs before listing it. With everyone stretched thin, I decided a delivered dinner would help — and I needed some time with W. I pulled ground bison from the freezer and we made a big pot of chili.
Willem loves to help in the kitchen. He drags up a stool, helps chop, and leans in to stir. While I was at the sink scrubbing the garlic smell from my hands (rub your fingers on the bowl of a stainless steel spoon under cool running water), W found a 1 L jug of vanilla in the cupboard and, thinking to help, tipped the whole thing into the pot. A full jug of vanilla.
Luckily we were only at the stage of browning onions and bison, so I quickly poured the contents through a colander, rinsed the meat and onions, and put the pan back on the stove to finish. My cleanup worked well enough — there’s only a faint hint of vanilla on the finish.
Chili is forgiving and I rarely measure precisely. Start by browning about a pound of ground bison (much leaner than beef, higher in protein and lower in fat) with a chopped onion in a little canola oil until the meat is no longer pink and the onion is soft. Add a few crushed garlic cloves and cook briefly.
To the pot add a large can of diced, stewed or plum tomatoes, a drained can of kidney beans, a can of brown beans in tomato sauce, a tin of tomato paste and a few glugs of salsa. Season with a couple heaping spoonfuls of chili powder, a spoonful of cumin, salt and pepper. For extra depth and color you can stir in a small spoonful of cocoa or a pinch of instant coffee. Simmer the chili for a couple of hours — it always tastes better the next day.
The quinoa cookies were a test batch for a camping-food article I’m preparing for a regional food magazine, and they turned out very well. Quinoa flour, available at many natural-food stores, has a grittier texture than wheat, rice or oat flours, but it bakes into a crisp, protein-rich cookie. Expect a distinct quinoa flavor — it’s part of the charm — and these are a good gluten-free option for friends who need it.
Chocolate Chunk Quinoa Cookies
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2–1 cup chocolate chunks or chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/4 cup dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots
Preheat oven to 325°F.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, stir together the quinoa flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir by hand until nearly combined; fold in the chocolate, nuts and dried fruit just until blended.
Roll the dough into balls slightly larger than a walnut and place them on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Flatten each ball slightly with your hand. Bake 14–16 minutes, until barely golden at the edges. Let the cookies rest on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool — they’re crumbly while warm but firm up as they cool.
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.
Nutrition (per cookie, approximate): 190 calories, 6.5 g fat (3.4 g saturated), 29.8 g carbohydrates, 3.3 g protein, 2.4 g fiber.