I struggle often on the weekends to eat well-balanced, thoughtful meals. Monday through Friday I plan my every meal down to my mid-afternoon snack, even cooking elaborate dinners. Then when Saturday and Sunday roll around, I hardly have the energy to make a sandwich. All too often, I find myself reaching for convenience food (chips, hummus, pretzels) to quell my hunger instead of creating a wholesome meal for myself. By the time Sunday evening arrives, I haven’t eaten anything except for oatmeal, chips, and chocolate covered pretzels. Definitely not a good way to keep a trimmed waistline.
Since we’ve embarked on a new year, I figured it was about time to kick this habit to the curb. So I woke up early Saturday morning and started prepping a healthy dinner that was low maintenance to cook (remembering the birds were still chirping outside) and that was easily reheatable (because I’m definitely not making dinner on Sunday again too). Something quick and easy, that didn’t create a lot of mess or cause a lot of fuss—why not a one pot chili? Seemed like the perfect excuse to use my brand new dutch oven (shout out to my Aunt and Uncle for this awesome Christmas gift).
White Bean Corn Chili
Ingredients:
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cups potatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup fresh oregano, minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 15 ounce cans of white northern beans
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 4 ounce can fire roasted green chiles
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Start by sautéing your diced onion and potatoes on medium heat in a dutch oven for about 10 minutes, until they start to brown.
Add in garlic, paprika, oregano, and cumin and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Place one can of your white beans into a food processor and process until smooth.
Drain and rinse the remaining three cans of beans.
Now add beans (both processed and rinsed), green chiles, corn, and vegetable broth to the pot.
Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Allow chili to simmer for at least 40 minutes or more if you desire.
I actually kept this pot on low on our stove all day long. Every now and then, we would open the lid, take a scoop or two, and dig in.
It’s actually the perfect solution to our weekend meal slump. It’s an easy one pot meal that can stay on the stove for hours at a time and it tastes delicious no matter when you eat it.
I’m thinking about starting more Saturday mornings cooking an easy one pot meal that we can munch on throughout the weekend. At least that way, I can say that we got one good serving of vegetables.
Any of you guys out there have other great one pot meals that we have to try?
Anybody else fall into the too lazy to make a sandwich on the weekend rut?