Quinoa Chili

There is nothing that says comfort better than a nice hot bowl of chili! Especially on a cold, snowy winter day. Oh yeah, and it also happens to be Super Bowl Sunday! Chili is essential Super Bowl food, right? The other thing I like about chili is that it can be a "pot-luck" meal. Yes, it is one of my favorite ways to use up things in my refrigerator. Today, Iam using up leftover quinoa and the pulled pork chops from the other night. We also got corn and tomatoes frozen from the summer in this week's share, as well as some young garlic shoots. I put all of this together with more traditional chili ingredients in my Crockpot last night and woke to an apt fullof wonderful chili smells! Of course, the big debate is always beans or no beans? Well, Iam a big beans in chili girl, but I really think this chili is hearty enough that I wouldn't miss the beans of they weren't there. However, since protein is my focus, I added the beans. Make it however you like it best!

 Slow-Cooker Pork Quinoa Chili

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 cups leftover Parmesan Honey Pork Chops*, shredded
• 2 cans Rotel (R) tomatoes with chiles
• 2 cups frozen tomatoes*
• 2 cups frozen corn*
• 2 cups cooked black turtle beans* 
• 1 can pinto beans, drained
• 1 Tbsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 6 garlic shoots*, sliced thin 
• 1 medium onion*, diced 
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. Add garlic and onions; cook until translucent. Add all ingredients to slow-cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Serve with cheese and onions, if desired.

*CSA ingredients

Pork Chops

A couple weeks ago, I got some thick-cut pork chops. I have never been a huge fan of pork chops. I guess probably because I've never had them cooked right (sorry, mom). I wanted to try something different because these were about twice as thick as I've seen before and they were loin chops. I probably looked at 16 recipes before I found a slow-cooker recipe that looked interesting and utilized my CSA a bit. I had to wait for a day when I could be on top of the cooking. It is very easy to overcook pork loin. As it happened, Friday was one of those days. I had worked 19 hours only Thursday, getting home at 3 am. Thus, I woke at 10am, started the chops first thing and then went to work for a couple hours. About an hour after I got home from work, the chops were done.

 Slow-Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Chops
Adapted from: www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/12/slow-cooker-parmesan-honey-pork-roast.html

•  2 thick-cut pork loin-chops*
•  2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
•  1/2 cup honey*
•  3 Tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)
•  2 Tbsp minced garlic*
•  2 Tbsp dried basil
•  2 tbsp olive oil
•  salt, to taste

 Spray slow-cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chops in slow-cooker. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Pour sauce over the chops.Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or until meat thermometer reads 160F.

* CSA ingredients