Chili is one of my favorite meals to prepare in the winter months. There’s just something comforting and satisfying about a nice, hot bowl of chili on a cold and snowy day, and having the aroma of spices and simmering vegetables and meat filling the house. It’s also a great way to make use of inexpensive meat, beans and other items from your freezer and pantry while still enjoying something delicious and healthy.
This week I’ve been busy working the Salem County Fair, so I haven’t had my usual time for daily cooking. It’s also been so hot and humid outside, I’ve been craving cool summer salads and meals to enjoy – either packed up in my cooler to eat at the fair, or when I get home at the end of the evening and just want a light bite before bed.
This summer I decided to try growing bok choy (Chinese cabbage) in my vegetable garden, to great results. Indeed, if anything I now have an overabundance of bok choy to eat up quickly, and other fresh summer vegetables are never in short supply here in Southern New Jersey. Checking out one of my favorite roadside farmstands the other day I found some beautiful bring and yellow wax beans that were just too pretty to pass up. But what to prepare for dinner with bok choy and wax beans? “Easy!” I realized. “I’ll come up with a stir fry!”
The "South Jersey Foodie" is Nicole Pellegrini, sometimes known as sockii. She enjoys life as a writer, artist, webmaster, crafter and avid food-lover living in some of the last vestiges of active farmland in Gloucester County, New Jersey. She shares her home with her partner David, a podiatrist in Woodbury NJ and their six cats: Peanut, Norman, Sammo, Mischief, George and Benny.
I believe in enjoying life - and that includes enjoying as many different kinds and styles of food as possible. I am an omnivore with a personal passion for small, sustainable, ethical farming and natural foods. I have little patience for the "Food Police" or those who advocate that one dietary plan is the only "right" one for everyone. Find your personal balance and conscience; make food a joy in your life - that's my motto.
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