Fast Recipes for Sweet Chili Sauce and Dip, and Black Bean-Honeydew Chili
Just Ask Susan asked for a recipe for Sweet Chili that uses fruits and placed her request under "Spreads and Dips." I've replied with recipes for a sauce, a dip or spread, and an actual full chili dish made with fruit.
Black Bean-Honeydew Chili
This is a basic recipe that is a cool and slightly sweet mixture of vegetables, beans, and honeydew melon. From this recipe, which I like without changes, I can also find ways of changing the taste for variety.
For a sweeter taste, add 1/2 cup of Golden Raisins and if you want more sweetness, add a tablesoon of raw sugar.
In the summer, you might like to add cilantro and lime juice for a Mexican flare. For a savory mixture, I add a little salt and some cayenne, to taste.
Adding additional vegetables is a good way to extend the recipe and to enjoy a wider range of flavors. I like to add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of frozen green peas or 1/2 cup each peas and small cauliflower florets.
How to Slice Honeydew Melon Into Chunks
Nutrition Of the Honeydew
One cup of honeydew melon balls or equal-sized chunks contains only 64 calories, with only 1/4g fat, 16g carbohydrates (part of which is 1.4g fiber), and about 1g protein. It also contains over 50% of the standard daily adult requiremnt of Vitamin C,
- Honeydew can be expensive, but one of my local markets regularly sells pre-chunked honeydew melon in containers of 2 cups each for $0.50 to $1.00, which is a very reasonable range. Check out smaller markets, Marc's grocery stores and Drug Mart grocery-deli departments.
Honeydew is light and cool in the following recipe:
Cook Time
How do you rate this unique chili?
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Black beans (canned), Partially drained
- 3/4 Cup Red onion, Coarse chopped
- 8 ounces Cooked White meat chicken, Chunked or shredded
- 1 1/2 Cups Honeydew melon, Chunked small
- 1/2 tsp. White pepper
- A little Olive oil
- If you like, adjust the recipe with additional vegetables and your favorite seaonings, or add 1/2 Cup Golden Raisins.
Instructions
- Chop red onion coarsely and measure out 3/4 Cup or purchase pre-chopped at the market. Saute onion in a frying pan with a little olive oil until beginning to soften. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Place beans in frying pan and cook over medium high heat for 10 minutes.
- Add chicken meat and white pepper, stir, and cook another 5-6 minutes.
- Add onions back into the mixture, add the honeydew melon chucks, stir slightly, and cook 3-5 minutes or until melon begins to soften.
- Remove from heat and serve in bowls as the centerpiece of a meal or as a side dish.
Interesting Honeydew History
Henry A. Wallace was Vice President under Franklin Delano Roosevelt after serving previously as the US Secretary of Agriculture. One of his interests was hybrid seeds and other farming innovations. he provided seeds for what we call "honeydew melons" to China in the early 1940s and the resulting melons were nicknamed Wallace Melons there.
Wallace also founded Pioneer Hi-Bred (for "hybrid) Seed Company. It became today's DuPont Pioneer, which controls most of the seeds permitted to be used by US farmers.
A shocking commentary on DuPont, without mentioning any company names, is provided by Dennis Quaid's performance in the 2012 film At Any Price. The seed industry portrayed includes underground resistance, the feared goverment Men In Black, and aggravated murder.
Many home gardeners use heritage seeds obtained from companies not under the umbrella of DuPont.
Sweet Chili Dip or Spread
- 1/3 Cup Crushed Pineapple
- 1, 8-oz. package of Cream Cheese or Neufchatel (fewer calories)
- 1 Cup Chili Sauce (purchased, or use the recipe below for more fruitiness)
Sit the cream cheese in a medium sized srving bowl on your counter until the cream cheese is room temperature. Gently combine the crushed pineapple. Pour the chili sauce over the mixture in the bowl and refrigerate until time to serve as a dip or a spread.
Sweet Chili Sauce
Using fresh peaches, peel and cut into small chunks, and measure 1 1/2 Cups of the chunks into a small bowl. Add 3/4 Cup of your favorite chili sauce, homemade or purchased, and stir. Add a little light honey to taste.
Serve over pork or chicken.
If you liked the limited-time Edy's Red Pepper Ice Cream (vanilla with peanuts rolled in red pepper), then try a little of this sauce over vanilla ice cream.
