White Bean and Chicken Chili

I believed her. She stared into the camera and with this innocent sincerity said "You're going to love this." I trusted her. Her words were delicious and her sense of certainty was inviting. Whater she was offering, I wanted in. I was taking this opportunity and running. I knew deep down inside this was going to be good for me.

This is the meal she promised me. She ensured me that when I followed every single instruction she laid in my path, not only would it look like this, but it would also taste very good. You see, when she took her spoon and dipped it in the chili, out came a big old chunk of happiness. She looked into the camera with a big smile, taunted me and said, "I wish you could smell this." Then, once she felt she had her way with me, she tasted it. Her eyes closed and she transcended into chicken and white bean chili bliss.

I was left on the other side of the screen in awe. I wanted to be submerged into savory goodness. My mouth was salivating (Ok, so I kinda sorta drooled) and I wanted what she had. I needed to transcend into chili bliss and close my eyes and say how DELICIOUS this was. I too wanted to share in that pride that comes with accomplishing a goal and immersing yourself in the sweet sweet glory that comes with knowing you worked your butt off. You know, that kind of self worth that only comes when you do something yourself and no one helped you and it all turned out just fine because you did it. I like to call it, THE ACHIEVEMENT OF INDEPENDENCE.

So, I hear her say that I could go to the website get the recipe and have a content tummy too. I did it. I went to the website, found the recipe and hit print. I was buying a one way ticket to culinary glory and there was no stopping me. YUM YUM CHILI HERE I COME!!! I read the instructions and start going through the ingredients. Of course since I consider myself a master chef, I have pretty much everything in my kitchen that needs to go into this thing. Except for the main ingredient, GROUND CHICKEN. Who has ground chicken lying around? Who came up with that anyway? Times like this I wish I had the meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. 

I write down a couple of items that I didn't have in my cabinets of awesome. Ground chicken, swiss chard(never cooked with it before) , cumin (ran out), cannellini beans (never heard of these things), frozen corn and ummmm oh yeah, chicken stock and some parm cheese. Got my list programed in my iPhone and I'm off to the grocery store.

Walking through the grocery store, temptation lies in every corner. I don't know if I mentioned it, but I am on a diet. I have made a commitment to myself to get into the shape that I have always dreamed of. Think Jillian Michaels. In other words, I am disciplining myself. Hence, there are items that I must refrain from eating. If its not taking me to the sexy mountain peak, then i'm not getting on that lift!

DOESN'T THAT 240 CALORIE COKE LOOK DELISH -------->

However, I can't help the delishishness that lies behind the magical glass doors of yum town. It seems that everything has my name on it. From the fresh baked bread in the bakery to the happy cupcakes winking in my directon. (Cupcakes goes great with chili right?) I fight the urge and move forward with my shopping list. Only because I've been really good on my diet (lost fifteen pounds in one month) and the fat lady eating the package of Entenmann's chocolate donuts reminds me that temptation only leads to demise.

Ok, back to the story. I get home and I start following all of the directions. I start off with prepping all of my ingredients. I want everything to be perfect so that I can pretend to have my own cooking show and be just as awesome, but not as crazy looking as Giada. I don't have cool little prep bowls but my Hello Kitty bowls and measuring cups do the trick. After a bowlful of tears (thanks to a whole chopped onion), I finally have everything prepped. I start going down the list of the steps and begin following them them one by one. I've become a tad bit familiar with the recipe since I read it over and over and over again, prior to starting. The cockiness settles in and I'm good to go.

I get everything in the pot and I'm happy with my results thus far. This ting is going to be amazing.

Not to shabby huh? Well, the directions tell me to simmer and I do just that. In order to kill time and wait for my bowl of goodness I grab my book, grab my Jeter and a bottle of water and wait it out. In an hour I will have perfect edible happy chili.

YEAH!! So like my arrogance over shadowed my ability to read directions. You see after I waited a whole freaking hour to have this amazing chili, I walk over to the stove and realize that I've been literally SIMMERING this thing for an hour. So the pot of chili didn't cook down the way it was supposed to due to the lack of heat. I turn up the heat a tad and decide to take a shower in order to wash away my pang of failure and redeem some sense of confidence. It also helped to distract my tummy from the aching desire to grab a spoon and eat it anyway.

Eventually, after beating my mind into a culinary pulp, I walk over and my delish creation is ready for tasting. It's reduced the way it's supposed to. The smell of cumin and fennel seeds and chicken and freaking delishishness is running through my house. I am a happy camper. I give it the finishing touches and BBAAAMM (SN:What the heck happened to Emeril Lagasse?) 

And here's the finished product:

Trust me when I tell you that it taste SO MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT IT LOOKS!!! It has a chili flavor but it's a tad bit sweet. The heat smacks your taste buds after the third spoonful. I know I am an amazing cook. But, I cannot bask in sweet glory until I have confirmation. After all, the falling tree only makes a sound if someone is around to hear it. (or does it?)

The tried and true test is once my friends try it and tell me how it came out.  For the time being, I am relying on my own taste buds and these bad boys don't lie! (ooo it's soooo delish)

I had a vision. I saw something that I believed was good for me. It's something that I wanted. I set a goal for myself and moved foward. She mastered it and I wanted too also.

I refused to sit on my rear end and hope that this wonderful bowl of chili would appear out of thin air. NO. I followed the steps that were laid out before me and discovered greatness. The minor speed bumps did not phase me. I reached my goal despite my set backs.

 

In sumbery (sorry I have some chili in my mouth) Don't sit back and complain about what you don't have. Go out there and work for it and get it for yourself. **CLICHE ALERT** It taste so much better when you enjoy the fruits OR CHILI of your labor. =) 

Thanks for reading... I'm going to get back to this bowl of chili. MMMM MMMM TASTE GOOD!