This week, we’re making chili! The prompt page on our Foodways During COVID-19 site briefly outlines some of the fascinating history of chili. On this post, I’ll not only have the video outlining my chili-making process, but also the context of visiting the Thurston County Food Bank (TCFB), and how that factors into both our cooking lab and my own personal experience with food insecurity.
Because I’ve been producing these weekly labs (and, hopefully, getting a little better at them as I go), I was approached to provide a lab for the Pandemic Academy lecture series with the purpose of showing what could be done with Food Bank ingredients in concert with whatever I already had on hand, or had gotten from the store or farmer’s market.
The point here was less cooking instruction and more cooking inspiration.
The narrative dovetails here perfectly. As a recently unemployed student, I’ve had to rely on supportive resources like the Food Bank to sustain myself. So in making this week’s recipe and accompanying lab, I’m hoping to inspire food insecure members of our community to take advantage of the opportunities available to them, to support those resources whenever possible, and to provide ideas as to how best to utilize these tools.
The TCFB-provided ingredients for this week’s recipe came from two visits to the downtown location, two weeks apart. This feels appropriate, as most of these foods are either shelf-stable canned goods, or frozen items.
I recorded “unboxing” videos for both trips, so ya’ll can have an idea of what kinds of food you can get from a food bank visit.
As you can see, it is no small amount of food that you get with each visit. As long as you make use of the fresh produce as soon as you can, you’ll be able to eat every single ounce of it, because most of it can sit for so long, either in your cupboard or in your freezer. As we’ve already seen, that big pork loin has become portioned out pork chops, some of which I’ve already made for you all to see.
I mentioned it in the prompt page on our Foodways site, but I think it’s worth noting again: the food bank is really on top of it when it comes to social distancing, and reasonable caution.
They have changed the way you receive food, so a visit right now no longer allows you to choose what you get. They pre-package bags, and at each station you receive one or two bags or boxes full of items. No more than five customers are allowed inside the building at any one time, and because of the nature of the grab-and-go system the line moves quickly.
Once in the door, a brief chat through the window provides you with a colored card that dictates how much food you receive at each station. This is also when you’d let them know about any dietary restrictions, as they’ve impressively provided vegetarian and diabetic pre-packaged options.
In a discussion about my food insecurity and the availability of resources that have helped me out, I have to mention the Olympia Farmer’s Market. I am fortunate enough to receive some meager EBT (Food Stamp) benefits each month, and the most productive place to spend those is at the farmer’s market. With each visit, they will match up to $40 EBT dollars–meaning, if I go to the market with just $30 dollars in benefits, I can purchase up to $60 of consumable goods. In this way, I can support local food producers, even if I couldn’t normally afford it.
The great folks down at the farmer’s market have also taken steps to ensure safety during a visit, including additional hand-washing and sanitizing stations, implementing a one-way loop, and limiting entrances and exits to avoid too much cross traffic.
This week’s recipe doesn’t feature many farmer’s market ingredients, but the fresh chives I topped my bowl of chili with really livened it up.
I really enjoyed putting this recipe together, basically live-time. You really get to see me in the process of writing a recipe, which I always think is a disjointed, guess-timated, heckuva good time.
Now, without further ado, Stephen’s Original Food Bank Turkey Chili:
And, just in case you can’t read my handwriting, here’s that recipe:
2 large yellow onions + 2 tbsp cooking oil, caramelized
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp red chili flake
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground Pasilla chili powder
1/2 tsp ground California chili powder
After removing the caramelized onions from the pot, add the olive oil, heating on medium-low heat until warm, then add spices and heat until fragrant. Then, add:
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 tbsp tomato paste
Cook the entire mixture for another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Then, all together, add:
1 15-oz. can mixed vegetables
3 15-oz. can kidney beans
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
About 3-4 cups vegetable stock (Enough to cover, plus 2 inches)
Simmer everything for about 30 minutes. If the chili is thinner than you’d like, add:
2 slices plain white bread, torn into small pieces, for thickening
(For those of you who are gluten intolerant, you can use a corn starch slurry–corn starch and a little water stirred together).
I also want to briefly mention a couple other dishes I made, utilizing food bank ingredients:
“Southwest” Chicken & Romaine Salad
Seared Pork Chops with Navy Bean Puree
Pork Fried Rice
And, to top it all off, a trip down memory lane. Thanks TCFB, for everything you do!
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