We had a ton of fun on our recent trip out to the Bay Area. We have since decided to attend Stanford Law School, so it’s great to know we’ll soon be able to know the place more like locals. Here are some pics, with accompanying recommendations.

Where would I go first? Ghiradelli Square in SF — for the chocolate, of course! Wearing the now-passe Harvard hat.

Mission Dolores in the Mission.

A bar we didn’t go to.

Christina really wanted these shoes. I told her no.

The Haight. Where else?

Us on the bay beach in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Beautiful San Francisco.

My even more beautiful wife!

Us with the redwoods in the Muir Woods.

Marin County.

Did I mention we’re moving half an hour away from THIS BEACH? Jealous? Wanna come visit?

Christina and I have had this song stuck in our heads for the past few days.It’s a pretty great song to have stuck in the head.

See, What A Morning

See, what a morning, gloriously bright,
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce, “Christ is risen!”
See God’s salvation plan,
Wrought in love, borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

See Mary weeping, “Where is He laid?”
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;
Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;
It’s the Master, the Lord raised to life again!
The voice that spans the years,
Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us,
Will sound till He appears,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty.
Honor and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned with pow’r and authority!
And we are raised with Him,
Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered;
And we shall reign with Him,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

We also sang a song I’d never heard before. The tune is “Regent Square,” which is the same tune used for the more familiar Christmas hymn “Angels from the Realms of Glory.” The song is newish, andI really liked it.

Worship Christ, the Risen King!

Rise, O church, and lift your voices, Christ has conquered death and hell.
Sing as all the earth rejoices; resurrection anthems swell
Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the risen King!

See the tomb where death had laid him, empty now, its mouth declares:
“Death and I could not contain him, for the throne of life he shares.”
Come, and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the risen King!

Hear the earth protest and terble, see the stone removed with pow’r;
All hell’s minions may assemble, but cannot withstand his hour.
He has conquered, he has conquered, Christ the Lord, the risen King!

Doubt may lift its head to murmur, scoffers mock and sinners jeer;
But the truth proclaims a wonder thoughtful hearts receive with cheer.
He is risen, he is risen, now receive the risen King!

We acclaim your life, O Jesus, now we sing your victory;
Sin or hell may seek to seize us, but your conquest keeps us free.
Stand in triumph, standing in triumph, worship Christ the risen King!

So in all, a really nice Easter Sunday. We’re in the middle of crazy travel season, as you can see below:

Trip 1: Boston
Trip 2: New York
Trip 3: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Trip 4: Kansas City/Mayetta, Kansas
Trip 5: San Francisco/Palo Alto, California
Trip 6: Boston
Trip 7: Boston or Ann Arbor
Trip 8: Marksville, Louisiana

We’re leaving for California tomorrow. We’ll try to take a bunch of photos.

PS: No pics of Michigan, but here’s a couple of the law school from elsewhere (click through for links):

Pics from our trips to Boston and our anniversary in Washington.
—

The Old North Church in the North End.

For Scott.

Another view of the Old North Church.

Chilling out on Boston Common.

Appleton Street in the South End. Appleton Bakery. Place to visit when the in-laws come.

The altar at Trinity Church in Boston. A bit blurry, but you get the idea. Beautiful architecture.

The outside of Trinity Church. Also in Boston’s South End/Back Bay area.

Us outside the Institute of Contemporary Art on Boston Harbor.

Celebrating our first anniversary at Tony and Joe’s brunch in Georgetown.

Our posse. We had, for your information, done special and romantic things the night before.

On our way to view the cherry blossoms, in front of whatever those trees are.

Sarah and her new love. Christina made me say it that way.

NYTimes | Recipe Redux: 1966: Maida Heatter’s Popovers
NYTimes | Recipe: Sugared Puffs

I saw these delicious-looking “sugared puffs” on The Kitchn the other day, and couldn’t stand it anymore. Last night I made them for dessert.

Apparently, the New York Times gave David Lebovitz (of Chez Panisse fame) the popover recipe and asked him to make it and modify it. He did, but simply by brushing the popovers with butter and rolling them in cinnamon and sugar.

The result: delicious! And super-easy. Everything (everything!) goes in a blender, or for us, the Cuisinart. I just stopped mid-way to scrape down the sides with a spatula, dropped them into a cooking spray-ed muffin tin and baked them for 35 minutes. They truly were like dougnuts, but baked instead of fried.

You really should invite us to brunch now.

We spent the weekend in Boston, checking out Harvard Law School. We stayed at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge (though right on the river across from downtown Boston), which was quite nice. The folks were very helpful, storing our luggage and such, and you get a New York Times every morning. They have a free coffee service in the lobby, which is great and unusual for nicer hotels. The cheetah and zebra print bathrobes were nice, but a little awkward.

While the hotel was nice, the location was only so-so. It was a 15-20 minute (cold!) walk to the Red Line (to Harvard Square) or we had to take a bus that left from another subway stop that is five minutes away. One immediate plus that we found: buses in Boston are actually on time! DC folks, I know you’re shocked. It’s crazy, right? The only problem is that the bus runs every 20-40 minutes depending on the time and day, so the subway became the only option at one point. The other subway stop (Lechmere) runs right into downtown Boston, and is convenient for that purpose.

The evening we arrived, we went down to Harvard Square to get dessert at Finale. Finale only serves desserts and appetizers — and Christina fell in love. I fell in love with the Harvard Coop, the most amazing bookstore ever. Sorry Scott — I thought it was better than the one in Lexington.  Interestingly, the only place I’d ever been in Boston before this trip was Harvard Square (back in 2004), and I bought a book at the Coop. The book was How To Get Into Harvard Law School, but I gave it away to a friend because I thought I would never go to law school. Oh, the irony.

The second day, we wandered around downtown. We weren’t particularly impressed at first. The North End is the historic heart of Boston, but is a little touristy. We saw the Old North Church and ate some Italian pastry (there’s a reason the French are more famous for pastry), before running into a great farmer’s market near the Haymarket T stop. It’s the kind of farmer’s market that existed before they got all organic and trendy. Everything looked fresh, and it was cheapcheapcheapcheap! We couldn’t even imagine paying those prices in DC. We would eat far more fruits and vegetables if they were that price!

Saturday evening, we headed to HLS for an intro and reception. The intro was pretty impressive, and the reception was standard. Free Sam Adams — at least they didn’t skimp on the beer. When I say “free,” I really mean $43k per year in tuition.

Sunday, we went back to HLS to register and enjoy a free (and decent) breakfast. We then headed to Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, near the Central Square station. We loved the folks there — genuine and welcoming. The service itself was a little more traditional than Grace DC’s service, but the congregation is a great size for newcomers. There were maybe 100 folks there, and I’m told another 200 or so attend the earlier service. We ran into some folks that are friends-of-a-friend, and they gave us a great tip for lunch. These folks are actually moving to DC the first of June, so we’ll enjoy seeing them for a month before we (probably) switch places. The sandwich place they recommended is Darwin’s, which produced an amazing turkey reuben. Get a mint brownie there — we went back for another one two days later. The woman that recommended Darwin’s was due at any moment, and she said she was bringing one of those brownies to the hospital with her.

HLS itself was incredibly impressive. I’m not going to bore you with specifics about law school programs, but the opportunities coming out of HLS make it worth every penny it costs on the front end. The public service opportunities are outstanding, and are unmatched by any other law school. I’m sold — though I’m attending other admitted student events with an open mind. We “celebrated” the weekend with pizza at Cambridge 1 — delicious, but we should have ordered a salad or something to go with it.

The last days, we spent our free time wandering around Boston’s Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. We visited a couple of famous churches, Trinity Church and the Old South Church. Whenever I visit a UCC church, I like to ponder how they came up with the awkward politically-correct rephrasings of classic hymns in the hymnal. The big point of these rephrasings is to neuter God into a gender-neutral fluffy big Best Friend in the sky who loves you and would never challenge anything in your life. Oh wait, I spoke too quickly — God will challenge your capitalism and use of styrofoam containers! Christina enjoyed this experience for the first time with me. My closest friends know this experience well.

We visited a delicious bakery, Flour Bakery, in the South End. Try the stuffed bread if you ever go there. We walked down to the cathedral, forgetting that it was St. Patrick’s Day, and walked in on St. Patrick’s Day Mass. Given the fact that folks were so dressed up and had sashes with the Irish colors, I felt a little out of place, so we left. The consul-general of Ireland was there (presumably). Quite the event.

In sum, a very nice weekend. I loved HLS, and both Christina and I loved Boston and Cambridge. That winning combo makes HLS my current top choice — and I doubt Michigan or NYU will be able to win me over.

Pictures to follow.

So I’m trying to decide where to go to law school. I’ve been extremely blessed in having been admitted to just about every law school I’ve applied to (read: no news from Yale), and I’m trying to sort things out. We’re about six weeks out from the decision point, and I’m still up in the air.

In summary, it comes down to Harvard or Stanford for $100k-120k in loans. Michigan would be free (!!!), and is itself a well-respected top-10 law school. NYU recently asked me to interview (with Justice Clarence Thomas, no less!) for a scholarship that would cover all tuition, making it nearly free as well.

Of course, I’m not going alone. Christina is coming too — and is a factor, despite her graciously having left the decision entirely up to me.

If I were picking based on quality of life alone, I’d be sorely tempted to pick either NYU or Stanford. Living in New York would be great, at least for a time. Stanford is in suburban Palo Alto, but is virtually paradise in all other respects. Perfect weather year-round, near the beach and the mountains, and a short drive from all the fun in San Francisco. It’s not as if Harvard and Boston are terrible either. We’re headed up there for the weekend to check things out, but I’m sure Boston is a great town, though a little cold in the winter. Ann Arbor (home to the University of Michigan) is probably fine as well, and we’ll be about to rent an amazing apartment or house (!) for the same price we pay now.

If I were picking based on program alone, I’d probably pick Harvard. Stanford is Harvard’s equal in many ways, but Harvard has a much strong American Indian law program and a lot more diversity with regard to career interest. Stanford doesn’t have much going on in the Indian law arena, at least compared to Harvard. Plus, Harvard prints your diploma in Latin.

Then there’s the topic of money. Given the economy, is it wise to turn down free law school? I mean, I’m not talking about online law school, or the University of Phoenix law school. A really great law school, for free. FREE. Michigan even sent a note that said not to worry about a deposit, because Darrow Scholars (the scholarship I received) don’t pay tuition. It is for this reason that I’ve been leaning toward Michigan.

Don’t worry, I’m not trusting the blogosphere to help me decide where to go. Feel free to offer suggestions, but more than anything, we would appreciate your prayers. It’s not as if there’s that “one perfect place” in the “center of God’s will” that I have to figure out. I’m convinced that God will use us both wherever we go — He’s certainly opened enough doors. I’m also visiting each of the schools, and we’ll be at Harvard Law this weekend. Pray that our visits would make one choice a little clearer than the others and, if necessary, that God would give me the faith to sign a $110k promissory note.

Ada Evening News | Coburn cultivates friendship with Obama

Finally, Tom Coburn is doing something I like. Apparently, there was a backlash when a photo appeared showing him hugging President Obama after the quasi-State of the Union address.

“We had about 50 letters that were highly critical of him hugging me and me hugging him,” Coburn, R-Okla., told The Oklahoman’s Washington bureau. “But you need to separate the difference in political philosophy versus friendship. How better to influence somebody than love them?”

A remarkable antithesis to Washington’s standard operating procedure. I am in substantial disagreement with Tom Coburn’s politics and the way he conducts business here in town. But I do respect him — and that’s something I can’t say very often.

WaPost | Michelle Obama at Miriam’s Kitchen

I lived around the corner from this place for a summer, and it’s interesting to see how the posh neighborhood reacts to a soup kitchen in the middle of Foggy Bottom.

Two things I appreciate here. One, is the Obamas’ continuing commitment to actually engaging the people of the District of Columbia. Whether eating at restaurants or serving the homeless, that is something I really do appreciate. Second, Michelle Obama is actually deigning to come into close and personal contact with the poor, downtrodden, and rejected. She’s rejecting the stratified power system in DC — good for her.

Maybe to prove to our new President that we’re not wimps, OPM has only given us a two-hour delay instead of closing the government outright. Apparently, we need more “flinty toughness.” Here’s the view from our window:

Now you know the largest chuck of our rent goes for the awesome view we have.

And here’s how MUCH snow we have. A pretty decent dusting, I’d say.

Well, Christina survived Restaurant Week. She had five twelve-hour days in a row, but now can rest and enjoy a three day weekend! If we had known she would have a three day weekend, we probably would have made travel plans. Such plans would have likely involved Durham, North Carolina and a beautiful new baby girl.

Friday night, we couldn’t wrap our minds around defrosting chicken for dinner. So we made an impulsive choice to head to Red Rocks for dinner. Red Rocks is a brick-oven pizzeria in our neighborhood — and is owned by the folks over at 2 Amys (which is certified authentic by the government of Napoli, Italy). It’s a great place in a tiny rowhouse. We would normally walk, but we were exhausted and cold, so we drove. Even though 2 Amys is better known, Red Rocks has better pizza. It’s also slightly cheaper, which is nice.

Saturday was the typical cleaning and exercise day for me. We had competing social activities — a couple of different events/parties. I turned them all down, thinking Christina would be too tired. But when she got off, she was energized by the freedom of the weekend, so we went to a birthday party until the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday, we had brunch with a friend who lives a few blocks away. She suggested we bring something sweet, and she’d complement with a frittata. I had seen this recipe review on The Kitchn for no-yeast cinnamon rolls, and made them late Saturday night. They were fine in the fridge overnight, and were remarkably light, given the lack of yeast. Very tasty. You need to make these now. You can find the recipe here. The whole thing took an hour, including a trip to the grocery store for pecans and cottage cheese! If you have everything on hand, there’s no reason this couldn’t go from ingredients to table in an hour.

Sunday night, after church, we got dressed up and headed to Farrah Olivia for Restaurant Week. I was honestly a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong — it was good — but it wasn’t as good as I’d been lead to believe by some folks at Saturday’s birthday party. I had a traditional New England Chowder to start, which was good, but unremarkable. Christina had a yummy first course of fried grits with a chili sauce, which really was good. Christina had a parmesan gnudi (like ravioli without the pasta — the interior) for the main course, which was good. I had a portion of braised beef short ribs, which was extremely well-cooked. Again, it was good, but I wasn’t wowed. We both had chocolate espresso cheesecake for dessert (with a nice apricot sauce). Again, good, but not wowed. That said, I rarely expect to be wowed by dessert, given the amazing desserts my pastry chef wife makes. We did find a great bottle of wine — which seems to be virtually unavailable anywhere around here. Remy Wines’ 2007 Sangiovese — let me know if you find it anywhere. I was quite proud of my ability to decide what I was going for in a wine (light red, given both of our entrees/desserts), and actually follow through with picking a correct wine. I doubt I’ll ever play golf, but I can be lawyerly by learning wines and whiskys.

I’ve decided that I don’t have the discipline to become a food blogger, or really a blogger at all. I can’t “make” myself post. I never can remember to take pictures of the food I make, which is really a shame given all the beautiful cookware/serving dishes we own.

And, umm…. I don’t remember who gave us that red cast iron skillet for our wedding, but a million thanks. It is used somewhere between 1-300 times per day.  Anyway, here’s a loose recipe for some pasta I came up with. We’ve had it a couple of times and like it — plus, it’s 20 minutes start to finish.

Pasta (yep, real imaginative)

Ingredients: 
Enough of your favorite short pasta (farfalle, fusilli, etc) to feed whoever you’re feeding
Parmesan to taste — approx 1/3-1/2 cup fresh grated
1/2 small bottle artichoke hearts, cut into small pieces
1 lg tomato, diced, or 1/2 quart cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lb good italian sausage — we’ve used turkey italian and chicken basil/pesto, both with good results. Pork would be best (if your arteries can afford it), but you’ll have to drain off the fat.
1/2 stick butter
Couple of glugs of white wine
1 lg shallot, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed

Directions:
Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Sautee the shallot in a little olive oil over medium heat in a heavy (preferably cast iron) skillet. Cut the sausage into small pieces, and add to skillet with more olive oil. The oil won’t be necessary if you’re using pork sausage, but it will be necessary if you’re using lean turkey or chicken sausage. While the sausage is cooking, add the pasta to the water. As the sausage is nearing completion, turn the skillet up to medium-high, until delicious pieces of burnt crust appear on the sausage and pan. Those little bits are flavorful and desirable! In another, smaller skillet, melt the butter and cook on medium heat until browned.Add the glugs of wine, and deglaze the pan by scraping with a wooden spatula. Add the garlic and artichoke hearts, and cook until wine has reduced to a semi-thick sauce. Add browned butter and tomatoes, and reduce to desired consistency. Drain pasta and return to pasta pot — add sausage mixture and parmasan to taste.

I’m just not going to do it.

Folks around me probably wish I had been just a little more irresponsible at points in my life.

Well, you’ll soon enough get your wish, at least according to a British government official:

Couples who have more than two children are being “irresponsible” by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government’s green adviser has warned.

Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government’s Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. He says political leaders and green campaigners should stop dodging the issue of environmental harm caused by an expanding population.

It’s safe to say that my wife and I plan to have more than two children.

It’s worth noting that, no longer a “right” or a “choice,” abortion is becoming a European tool of choice in manipulating population. The article notes that “The global population of 6.7 billion is expected to rise to 9.2 billion by 2050,” which is in fact true. The article neglects to note that, given already existent trends, population will probably peak at or before 2100, and may go into free-fall after that. Birthrates in many developed countries are already far below replacement level. It’s no exaggeration that, given disparate birthrates between native-born Europeans and immigrants (and the ensuing rise of political power among immigrants), Europe may well be majority-immigrant within our lifetimes.

So we’ll be irresponsibly bucking the trend and growing God’s Kingdom the good old-fashioned way.

Salvo | Our Smear Campaign: Congratulations, My Fellow Atheists; We Have Successfully Demonized Religion (However Speciously!)

A funny satire piece on the illogic of the new atheism.

NYTimes | Restaurants Return to Washington Neighborhoods

Nice article on the growth of real, sit-down restaurants in the “real DC.” One of the restaurants featured, Sweet Mango Cafe, is across the street from our apartment building. It’s not really a “real” sit-down restaurant, but it serves great Jamaican jerk chicken. Furthermore, CakeLove, which made our wedding cake, was featured in the article.

The article also features the new Southern-style sit-down restaurant opening in the Park Place development, which is across the street from our building on the OTHER side. Prediction: by the time I graduate from law school, we’ll be priced out of Petworth altogether. Here’s to hoping the housing slump lasts at least three more years.

That said, the article has a few inaccuracies. The city’s only Target is in Columbia Heights, but there is another BB&B in Chinatown. The open-air drug market in Petworth has left the core area (where we live), but has only migrated a few blocks away to nearby recrecation centers and schools. The open-air prostitution market still exists, but that’s true in most of DC. The H Street NE renaissance (near where Christina used to live) is going strong. Our pastor’s band played at an H Street club last weekend, and I felt perfectly safe walking around. The area is definitely not in Trinidad, and most of the 22 killings weren’t within shouting distance of the new restaurants and clubs. H Street is still the “‘hood,” but it’s headed for U Street-like gentrification soon. Now’s certainly a great time to buy near the area.

Time | What Church Will President Obama Attend?

STEPdc, a faith-based nonprofit in our neighborhood that I’m (sadly, less) involved with, made Time magazine’s discussion of where Obama will attend church. The article is from November, so I’m way behind the times, but it’s still worth mentioning. It’s also worth noting that the guy that suggested the Obamas attend Washington Community Fellowship is Joe Loconte, who is a member of our church (Grace DC).

Can anyone see Obama in a Mennonite church, like WCF? I’d be thrilled to see him there.

I was reading in 2 Corinthians and thinking a little this morning, mainly on what our God is up to in the world.

“And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!‘” Revelation 21:5, NLT

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, ESV

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3, ESV

So God is in the making-everything-new business. What does that mean, in the context of 2 Corinthians 5? A couple of things.

First, God is making us new. Most evangelicals stop there. “I’m new, I’m clean, yay me!” The old us, and our old ways of doing things, have passed away. This is accomplished through God making “him (Christ) to be sin who knew no sin,” or placing our sin on Jesus Christ, so we could become new people via Christ’s righteousness. Those that reject the biblical idea of the atonement have no claim on the biblical idea of redemption. They are wedded to one another — in fact, the idea that one is “redeeming” something or someone involves the idea of trading one thing for another. Christ traded his righteousness for our sin. The result is a redemption as true and beautiful as our sin is false and ugly. We truly are “hidden with Christ,” viewed by the Father as beloved children.

Second, God has entrusted us with the ministry of reconciling the world to Him. We’re God’s ambassadors, representing His interests in our world. Therefore, we’re also in the making-everything-new business, or we’d better be. If you need convincing, see what the sheep and the goats of Matthew 25 did (belief isn’t spoken of) and where they ended up, and figure out which one you’d rather be. So, our of our reconciliation we become reconcilers, seeking that the world be reconciled to God in Christ. What form does this take?

We primarily engage in making-everything-new by making all people new. The Bible is clear that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, so evangelistic gimmicks and gadgets (a la evangecube) aren’t necessary. Honest, open sharing of one’s faith with others is all that is necessary. When people are hidden in Christ and reconciled to God, they become reconciled to each other and to their communities. In a world of hurting, sick, and broken people, the most powerful evangelistic tool we have is extending God’s kindness to people. Because all we have is from God, when we show kindness and mercy to a person (or work for justice on their behalf), we are extending the sort of kindness that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). My big point is that this ministry of reconciliation can take many forms — verbal evangelism, working for freedom for those trafficked in the sex trade, making sure our job performance is a witness to our faith; caring for small children, day after day; visiting your elderly aunt — because we are to work for Jesus in everything we do, everything we do can include acts of reconciling a broken world to its Creator. The Christian can receive no “pass” on doing God’s work in the world, but because it’s God’s work and not our own, we can do it with joy and freedom and without stress and worry.

Praise be to our God for being in the making-everything-new business, and for blessing us by including us in His work.

CNN | CDC director resigns effective January 20

I’m partially posting this because I’m impressed with how fast CNN got this out — we got the email just over three hours ago, and CNN posted this story just an hour ago. More interesting, however, was the fact that the acronym for the Indian Health Service was misspelled in the Secretary’s email to the 80,000-some-odd HHS employees.

This is yet another piece of evidence that Indian Country generally, and Indian people in HHS more particularly, are the red-headed stepchildren of the Federal government.

For what it’s worth, the IHS Director will remain the same until further notice.

First Things | Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus has died. An influential theologian and figure in the public square, Neuhaus wrote about traditionally Christian viewpoints on the state and public life. I, for one, found him to be among the very best thinkers the Roman Catholic Church has offered the larger Christian community. Because he was originally Lutheran, his writing and perspectives tended to be written in a way that Protestants can understand and identify with. Be sure to read his post, “Born Toward Dying.”

I had a hankering for tortilla soup on Saturday evening, and we had a leftover roast chicken, so it made sense to use it up. I looked up a couple of recipes, but I’m pretty proud to say that I more or less made this one up myself. A lot of the recipes I found weren’t really heavy on the vegetables, and I wanted a vegetable-heavy meal. It came out really well.

Ingredients (all approximate):

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (suggestion: grill pan?)
1 small yellow onion
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot
1 small can whole green chiles, though fresh would be better
2 cups frozen corn, though fresh would be better
4 cloves garlic
1 small zucchini
3/4 large can whole roma tomatoes, with juice
3 tbsp mexican chicken flavoring, available in the hispanic food section
2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
6 cups (more or less) chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1 red pepper
2 green pepper
1 can black beans, drained
Tortilla strips, made from baking strips of corn tortillas
Avocado, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, cilantro (opt) for toppings

Directions: 

Chop onion and carrot and sautee in olive oil until onion is translucent, about ten minutes. While onion and carrot are cooking, roast whole green chiles (see photo). If you don’t have a gas stove, I don’t know what to tell you. Chop chiles. Add garlic (minced or pressed) and cook until fragrant, about two minutes. Add in chopped red and green peppers, chile, corn, zucchini, chicken flavoring, chili powder, cayenne, and wine. Cook for a few minutes, until everything is coated in the wine/oil/spice mixture. Add in tomatoes, crushing with your hands, tomato juice and chicken stock. Simmer for a while (30+ minutes), until the flavors have appropriately combined. Add in chicken, and simmer until heated through. Serve with crushed tortilla strips in the bottom of the bowl. Garnish with avocado, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and more tortilla strips.