March 29, 2024

Cooking with Ty

They say the way into a man’s heart is through his stomach. As a corpulent man who loves to eat, I find this to be true.

The reason I bring this up is because there is a little something about me that isn’t so much a secret, but just not a well known fact — I can cook. And I’m not talking boiling some water and throwing in some noodles, I mean I cook and very well at that.

Regular readers know I am poor, cheap and single. However, I live by a certain creed: “You can’t be a cheap, poor bachelor and not know how to cook.”

The reason I have these extraordinary culinary skills stems from taking home-ec in middle school. I fell in love with the art form and being able to create delicious cuisine the moment we made baked potato soup. Thanks Mrs. Watrack!

Ever since then, cooking has been just as synonymous with me as writing. I enjoy watching Food Network, cooking shows on PBS and just experimenting in the kitchen.

Any guy can deep fry something, add bacon, or cover it in cheese, but being able to make something that is tasty, healthy and covers multiple food groups requires skill.

For example, one of my most recent creations is “Rushing’s Vegetable and Grilled Chicken Chili.” As a special treat, I will share this low fat, no salt and high protein recipe and the steps to create it.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breast (cut the fat cut off of edges)

• 1 celery stalk

• 4-6 carrots

• 2 squash (dealers choice on type, I like summer and zucchini squash best)

• 4 medium sized red potatoes

• 2 cans of black beans

• 2 cans of red kidney beans

• 1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce

Garlic power, onion power, chili powder, cumin, minced garlic, black pepper, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper will be the seasonings that you will need. Use these seasonings and apply all them to your desired level of taste.

Pre-heat your oven to a “High” broil setting. Take all of your vegetables and chop them up to your desired size. Take all of those vegetables and mix them in a bowl and apply the seasonings. You then take the seasoned vegetables and spread them onto however many baking sheets you find necessary. Make sure they are evenly spread and not overlapping each other.

Broil the vegetables until you notice a nice coat of brown then switch the oven to a 450 degree setting for however long you wish. I like to make sure the insides are cooked thoroughly. The broil setting is great for a crispy texture, but not so great when it comes to thorough cooking.

While your vegetables are in the oven, take your chicken breast and combine them with the same seasonings you used for your vegetables. I like to grill my chicken on my Foreman Grill to melt more of the fat off, however, if you have an authentic grill go for it.

While the chicken cooks and your vegetables are in the oven, get a colander and rinse your beans off.

Once the beans are cleansed of the residue from the can, throw them into a pot and fill it with enough water so that it’s just slightly above the beans. Season them as well. The chicken should be done by now, so just sat it on the cutting board to let it cool, which makes it easier to cut, and check on the vegetables.

Proceed to then cut the chicken up in a Jardiniere style, which is a shorter and fatter cut than a Julienne cut. The vegetables should be done, so let them cool and turning on a medium heat, begin to boil the beans. Once the vegetables have cooled, add them to the top of the beans. Then pile on your Jardiniere-cut chicken.

While all the ingredients are meshing in the pot, add the tomato sauce and then add more of the seasoning and begin to stir it all up. Lower it to a low heat and cover the pot. This is done to help it thicken, but keep stirring on occasion.

Another nice touch is adding fresh cilantro to the top and stirring it in as well.
Once you have a nice red/orangish color and it's thick, it should be done. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes or began eating it immediately, it's up to you.

If you try this recipe out, feel free to share your photos on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/newtondailynews

So there you have it. From Ty’s kitchen to yours, I give you my “Rushing’s Roasted Vegetable and Grilled Chicken Chili,” which is not only good, but good for you.