An Apple a Day: Monday

Since I have a bushel of apples in my fridge from going apple-picking on Labor Day (see previous post), it's time to put them to good use. Each day this week (M-F) I'll be posting a recipe that uses apples...some of them are tried-and-true favorites, while others I'll be testing out for the first time this week. I hope you'll find one or two recipes intriguing enough to try yourself! Happy autumn!

Today's recipe is for Creamy Chicken Apple Chili. There are so many things I appreciate about chili. Among them: (a) the way it warms you up from the inside out; (b) beans are a really inexpensive, healthy, and filling ingredient; and (c) there are endless variations. Of the many different kinds of chili I've made (including three-bean turkey chili, Hawaiian chili, smoky BBQ venison chili, vegetarian chili, and pumpkin chili), this is the recipe I come back to most often. It's not what most people think of when they think chili, but BOY OH BOY is it good. It's like a hug in a bowl. Even my meat-loving husband has declared this his favorite chili.

I make a few changes to the original recipe (by Rachael Ray):

• I use only about a pound or so of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (vs. 2 lbs of chicken tenders)
• I use about half as much shredded cheese (1 cup is plenty!), and whatever I have on hand, whether it's a jack-cheddar blend, sharp cheddar, mozzarella, or most recently, havarti. The flavor changes a little bit, of course, but it's always been good. 
• I make it with pinto beans; I really like their texture in this.
• I usually serve it with corn muffins instead of tortillas.

Leave a comment and let me know if you try this recipe yourself!