mediterranean chili

while i'm on a roll, i guess i'll just photograph and post everything we're eating. this trend will last probably one or two days longer and then i'll drop off the face of the blogging world again for many months. ;)

a few years ago andy and i went to a greek restaurant in sellwood for my birthday. eleni's served me a wonderful meal that i immediately tried to replicate at home. originally, the dish was served with pasta. at one point i was serving the sauce over polenta and now i'm adding chicken broth to use it as a soup.

mediterranean chili

1 red onion, diced
3-5 garlic cloves, pressed or 3 frozen dorot garlic cubes or 2 t preminced garlic
2 T extra virgin olive oil

in a large stockpot over medium high heat, saute onion and garlic in oil, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes. add:

4 C chicken broth (1 qt)
1 - 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 - 16 oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained
1 t dried oregano
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

using an immersion blender, puree everything in the stockpot. alternatively, if you don't have an immersion blender, put the broth, tomatoes, and peppers into your blender before adding them to the pot. post pureeing add:

1/2 16 oz jar of pitted kalamata olives, chopped
16 oz garbanzo beans (i cook my own beans and store them in 16 oz ball freezer jars)
8 oz feta, crumbled

bring to a boil. serve.

by skipping the chicken broth and garbanzo beans, this is a great pasta/polenta sauce. you can add chopped chicken to the soup, if desired, or ground turkey to the pasta sauce. for the sauce, i usually add a little water as i rinse out the can.

enjoy!