Dinner tag, part 1--White bean chili

Tara tagged me with a 5-recipe tag. And my sister-in-law Jennifer asked about crock pot recipes. So I'm going to post five of my favorite recipes, with a few focusing on the crockpot. Actually, I haven't decided which recipes I'll post, but I have decided to spread them out over five posts so no post gets to be too long. And to help me with the NaBloPoMo. Which I haven't yet decided if I'll commit to or not ...

I'll start with my recipe for white bean chili. I got this recipe from my friends mother-in-law, Linda Jensen, my last semester at BYU. Linda got the recipe from her daughter-in-law's family (also in Utah). It is a great recipe and always makes a good impression.

White Bean Chili
* 3 cans canalini white kidney beans or great northern beans, drained (or dump them in whole and reduce the amount of chicken broth)
* 2 chopped onions
* 48oz chicken broth
* 4 cups diced cooked chicken
* 1 7oz can diced green chilies
* 2 tsp oregano
* 4 tsp cumin
* 1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste) (I usually ignore the cayenne pepper, but I don't do well with hot)
* 6-8 garlic cloves minced
* 1 cup sour cream
* 3 cups monteray jack cheese (shredded)

Stove-top directions: Add all ingredients except sour cream and monteray jack cheese. Cook for at least 1 hour. Add sour cream and cheese five mintues before serving.
Crock pot directions: Add all ingredients, except sour cream and monteray jack cheese. Cook for desired time, add sour cream and cheese before serving.
Sarah's extra tip: I saute the onion and chicken together before adding it to the crock pot because I think the flavor is better that way.

Tomato Garnish
Make this several hours before serving the chili. When serving the chili, top with the tomato garnish. If you have added cayenne pepper, the garnish will cool the chili a bit.
* ½ c sugar
* ¼ c cider vinegar
* juice of one lemon
*1 tsp dried onion powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp paprika
* 2 tsp celery seed
* 1/3 c veg. oil
* a lot of chopped tomatoes
* fresh parsley

Directions: In sauce pan combine sugar and vinegar, boil until sugar is disintegrated. Add rest of ingredients. Cool and add tomatoes and parsley. Refrigerate until ready to serve.