Veggie Chili

To make up for my extended absence, I have decided to share with you my very favorite chili recipe ever. Just use it as a basic guideline, because this chili turns out great no matter what you have on-hand. It turns out slightly different every time I make it, based on what I have available in my fridge and pantry when I whip it up. This recipe is 100% vegan, although the picture shows cheese (I forgot to take a picture of the chili before I served it up to the hubby--he loves cheese). There is virtually no fat in this chili, but it is packed with loads of fiber and protein from the beans and TONS of flavor!

Some helpful hints for this recipe:

• I like to rinse my black beans, northern beans, and corn well using a strainer over my sink. This removes a lot of that unnecessary salt added in the canning process. If you LOVE salt, I suppose, just drain the liquids and don't rinse.
• I prefer to use only 1 can of kidney beans. Just my preference. But, that can of kidney beans is nearly always the Bush's Chili-Ready beans in a medium sauce. I put the whole can and juice into the crockpot.
• Use fresh corn cut from the cob when you have it. It gives a great taste. otherwise, use a small can of corn, rinsed well in a strainer.
• Be adventurous and add whatever veggies you have in your fridge. I usually make this when I have some unused veg about to buy the farm.
• My top secret weapon of choice is a very tiny pinch of cinnamon added in the last 20 minutes of cooking.
• I use a crockpot to make mine, but if you don't have one, just use a dutch oven or stock pot on your stove over a medium-low heat.

Here's the Basic Starter Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 can diced tomatoes in chili-ready sauce (I like the Red Gold brand)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 can Northern beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 can chili-ready kidney beans in a medium spicy sauce
• 1 ear of fresh corn, kernels cut from cob (or 1 small can of rinsed corn)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 - 3/4 bell pepper (I prefer the orange or yellow), ribbed seeded and diced
• 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• The following spices in whatever amounts you prefer: garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, chili powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt
• Miniscule dash of cinnamon...I probably used 1/16th of a tsp. A little goes a really long way.

Method:

1. Heat your crock pot to high. Add your corn, Northern beans, black beans, tomatoes, and kidney beans. Stir well. Cover.
2. In a small skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Once hot, add bell pepper, onion, celery and garlic. Stir every minute or two until the veggies are soft and onions transparent.
3. Add your onion mixture to the crockpot and stir well.
4. I add my spices after the veggies and beans are heated well (about 30 minutes) so its easier to get a real feel for how your chili is going to taste. I add the spices just a bit at a time until the taste is exactly what I want. Then, put the lid on and cook another 30-40 minutes. You can stop there, or cook longer. I usually cook mine about 2 hours so the sauce is thicker and the flavors are well blended, stirring about every 30 minutes and taking tastes to see if I need to add anything. In the last 20-30 minutes I add in my cinnamon. Just a personal preference, but it always seems to taste better to me when I add it in the end.
5. If you're into cheese, add some cheddar to the bowl when serving. I, personally, like to just add a few oyster crackers and forego the cheese. I also add a small handful of fresh diced onion to my bowl and stir it in when I'm about to eat. It's just something I grew up on and I LOVE onion. Well, enjoy!

Spiced Red Potatoes

 

These red potatoes are really tasty, especially dipped in a tiny bit of vegan ranch dressing.  They have a nice mix of chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and paprika.  I tried making these last night for Sara's birthday dinner, but I cut the potatoes too large and they burned outside while they remained raw inside.  It was a total failure.  I don't deal well with failure, so I gave them another go for dinner, and they turned out really well.

My hints for this recipe:

• Be sure if you make them, cut your baby red potatoes really small (I cut them into 1/4-inch pieces or slightly larger).  That way they'll cook evenly and won't result in total cooking failure like I experienced last night.
• Mix the spices in a tiny prep bowl and add slowly, tasting as you go along.  What tastes amazing to me might be too much for someone else or vice versa.

Here's My Recipe:

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Ingredient:

• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. baby red potatoes
• 3 TB olive oil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Method:

1. Chop potatoes as noted in the hints above.
2. Heat oil in a 12-inch straight sided skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until shimmering not smoking.
3. Add potatoes in single layer in leave about 5 minutes without stirring (this helps brown the potatoes on that side).  Check a few pieces to see if the bottoms are browned.
4. Stir potatoes around with a wooden spoon and arrange in a single layer again, trying to get the browned sides of potatoes up so the opposite sides brown.
5. Cook another 4-7 minutes, or until fork inserted into potatoes meets little resistance and outsides are lightly browned.  
6. Place a layer of paper towel into a bowl and place potatoes on top to soak grease.  Using another paper towel, dab at potatoes until most oil is removed.  Then, remove the paper towels.
7. Shake spice mixture, a little at a time, over potatoes and toss to combine..  Add more spices as needed.

Enjoy!!!

Spectacular Snickerdoodle Cookies

 

I really LOVE snickerdoodle cookies, but had never made them before today.  It's not like I need an excuse to make some goodies, but I was pretty glad that my friend, Sara, was coming over because she likes them, too.  And, tomorrow is her birthday, so there was just another reason to make these fabulous cookies.  I got the recipe here.  I love these snickerdoodles!  They were really easy to make and taste great, especially once they're cooled completely.  

My hints for this recipe:

• If you like poofy cookies, don't smush them once on the cookie sheet.  I rolled the dough to about 3/4 inch to 1-inch balls.  Once they are rolled in the cinnamon/sugar mix, you can smush the dough somewhat with your thumb and they will spread out more when baking.  This makes a thinner cookie.  I liked them a little poofy, so I didn't smush all of them down.
• I baked some on a silicone baking sheet and the rest on parchment.  The parchment was great too, and didn't even grease the paper.  It was perfectly non-stick.

Here's the Recipe:

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Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar (found in the spice aisle)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons Earth Balance or your preferred butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
• 2 egg replacements (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine your butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 
4. Scrape down sides of bowl. 
5. Add egg replacements, and beat to combine. 
6. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.
7. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon.  This is what you're roll the dough balls into.
8. Using your hands, roll dough into small balls about 3/4 of an inch to 1 inch in size.  Roll dough balls in cinnamon sugar (I placed them in the cinnamon/sugar bowl and put the lid on and then shook it to coat them in small batches). 
9. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets (smush them down a bit if you'd like). Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking trays halfway through cooking (transfer bottom sheet to top rack and vice versa).
10. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack.

Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Russian Tea Cakes (aka Mexican Wedding Cookies)

 

Call them what you will: Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, and I think a few more names.Why a cookie has so many different names is beyond me, but I do know that we really love these cookies.  I've never made them before, but these turned out to be absolutely delectable.  Buttery, rich, and they melt on your tongue.  Sometimes when you get them from others, they just don't hit the spot...maybe too floury or hard as rocks.  But, I swear, if you follow this recipe, you will be in cookie heaven.  

This recipe makes 2 dozen 1-inch cookie dough balls.  They poof somewhat when cooking, so put them about 1/2 to 1 inch apart on your baking sheet.

Here's My Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (8 TB)  vegan butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar for dough
• 1/2-3/4 cups powdered sugar for topping
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup pecans, ground fine (I put them in a baggie and pound with a coffee mug until they reach a fine consistency)

Method:

1.  Put crushed pecans in small saucepan and turn heat to medium.  Stir often about 3 minutes or less. Remove from heat when you begin to smell the aroma of the pecans and they are heated through.
2. Using electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy.
3. Add in 1/4 cup powdered sugar and vanilla, beat until well combined.
4. Beat in flour and nuts. The dough that forms will be clumpy and moist-looking.
5. Place dough on plastic wrap and shape into a ball.  Place in fridge about 30 minutes.
6. Heat oven to 350.
7. Spray a cookie sheet.
8. Remove dough from fridge, and lightly flour your palms.
9. Break off bits of dough and roll into 1-inch balls using your hands.
10. Space cookie balls at least 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheet.
11. Bake about 15 minutes, or until bottoms are golden and tops feel firm to the touch, but are not really browned.
12. Once you remove the cookies from oven, add the rest of the powdered sugar to a pie pan or bowl.
13. Roll cookies in powdered sugar until coated on all sides.
14. Sit powdered cookies on a cooling rack with a sheet of foil underneath to catch extra sugar.
15. The sugar will seem to melt into the cookies, so what I did is take the rest of the leftover sugar from the bowl and sifted it lightly over the tops of the cookies on the cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Lemony Linguine with Bell Pepper

 

 This recipe is entirely my own creation based on things I had a lot of and needed to use up.  It turned out to be delicious and rather nutritious.  I served the linguine with some homemade garlic bread.   I think that the sweetness of the bell peppers is contrasted nicely with the lemon's tartness.  I really loved the lightness of the linguine, but I think I would have liked angel hair pasta even better.  I loved this one, so I knew I had to post it here.

My Hint:

Make sure that you read how long your desired pasta is supposed to cook.  Different brands and kinds (linguine takes longer than angel hair, etc) take different times to cook.  My linguine said 7 minutes, but that doesn't mean yours will. 

Here's My Recipe:

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Ingredients:

• 8 oz dried linguine
• 3 medium to large bell peppers (I used one each of red, orange and yellow), seeded and ribbed, cut in 1-inch chunks
• 1/2 red onion cut in large chunks
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• Juice of 2 average size lemons
• 3 TB olive oil
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• (optional) 1/2 cup parmesan or vegan equivalent

Method:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Add a tsp. or so of salt.
2. Using a 12-inch skillet, pour about 2 Tb oil in and heat until shimmering on medium heat. 
3. Add pasta to boiling water and stir occasionally so it doesn't stick together or to the bottom.
4. Add peppers to skillet and stir occasionally, about 4 minutes.
5. Add in onion, stirring about 6 more minutes, or until peppers softened and onions translucent.
6. Add in garlic and stir, 1-2 minutes. 
7. Add lemon juice and take off of the heat.
8. Drain pasta (it is okay if it has a touch of water left on it).
9. Add past to the skillet and use tongs to gently toss and combine. 
10. If the pasta is a touch too dry, add the rest of the oil and continue tossing.
11. Add the salt and pepper to your own taste. 
12. Add about 2/3 of the parmesan cheese and toss more.
13. Serve it up!

I put the rest of the cheese in a bowl and used it to top our individual servings.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
February 7, 2010 Edit: This recipe was not good left overnight in the fridge.  It turned too oily when re-heated.  I'm not sure how to change that.  However, my mom said she added Italian dressing and parmesan to the leftovers and ate cold, like a pasta salad and she loved that.  I just wanted to let everyone know that!

Uncle Richard's Fettuccini Alfredo

 

This delicious recipe comes direct from my Uncle Richard, who makes this dish pretty much any time my family gets together for any reason.  It is a staple in our clan.  This was the first time I've ever attempted to make it and it turned out surprisingly well.  I have to keep reminding myself not to get bummed that mine doesn't taste exactly like Richard's.  Well, really, he's been making fettuccini for over two decades, so his is definitely going to be tastier than mine.  I paired the fettuccini with some fresh lemon slices that, when squeezed over the fettuccini, taste great.  Also steamed some carrot, broccoli and cauliflower.  I wanted to make some fresh garlic bread, but I forgot to buy some at the market today.  Regardless, we loved it.  The recipe below is cut in half from his original as there are only 2 of us.  We both ate plenty and have a bowl with leftovers, which is big enough to be a meal for one of us tomorrow.

Before you start cooking:

• Set stick of butter on counter to soften before cooking.
• Finely grate fresh parmesan because you won't have time to do it after you start cooking.
• Peel and mince your garlic and set aside.
• Slice your lemon (optional) - we like to squeeze a little bit onto the fettuccini once on our plates. Also looks nice in the larger serving dish.

Here's the Recipe:

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. fettuccini noodles
• 1/2 TB olive oil
• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups of Half and Half (found near the milk at the grocery store)
• 1/3-1/2 lb. finely grated fresh parmesan
• 1/2 head of garlic, minced (at least about 7 medium or large cloves)
• Grated pepper and salt to taste
• 1/2 TB salt to be used during the noodle cooking

Method:

1. Bring water to boil in large pot.
2. Add 1/2 TB salt and 1/2 TB olive oil to water.
3. Once boiling, add fettuccini noodles (follow directions on pasta package as different brands cook at different speeds).
4. Place a strainer in the sink and drain noodles.  DO NOT RINSE NOODLES.
5. Return empty pot to stove and turn to med-low heat.
6. Add the stick of butter to the pan and melt.  Be careful not to burn butter.
7. Add minced garlic to pot and cook until the garlic turns blond in color, 2-3 minutes.  Again, careful not to let it burn, as it can happen rather quickly.
8. Add the half and half to the pot.
9. Add the cheese to the pot, stirring often with wooden spoon to keep cheese from sticking to bottom.
10. Once the sauce starts to bubble, the cheese melts and the sauce will thicken (about 3 minutes).
11. Turn off heat.
12. Stir noodles into the sauce until well combined.  Should be quite thick and sticking to the noodles.  Here I added more cheese, fresh cracked pepper and crushed sea salt and mixed well.  
13. We put the whole mixture into a serving bowl and garnished with lemon slices.  Richard notes that you can also add some chopped parsley for garnish. 
14. Once on our plates, we squeezed a bit of lemon, added some more pepper and salt and more parmesan to taste.  Enjoy!!!

 

Quite easy and takes very little time at all!  Big thanks to my uncle Richard for sharing his awesome recipe with me!

Rigatoni with Squash and Zucchini

I have had several friends asking for this recipe lately, so I thought I'd post it here for everyone.  I made it last week and it was melt-in-your-mouth goodness.  I got the original recipe from Gordon Ramsay's cookbook called Healthy Appetite, and adapted it to my tastes, as I love garlic and onion in pretty much any dish I make.  It is an extremely easy and fast recipe to make.  I thought for sure that my husband wouldn't really like it, but here it is over a week later and he still mentions it and asks when I'm going to make it again.  To make it a more filling meal, I steamed some veg (carrot, peapods, broccoli) and made some fresh garlic toast with some bakery-made Italian bread.  I hope you like it as much as we do.

Here's My Recipe:
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Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Rigatoni
• 2-3 Small zucchini
• 2-3 Small summer squash
• 3 medium cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 TB olive oil 
• Small handful of basil leaves, chopped or torn
• 1/4-1/2 cup onion sliced or diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: Freshly grated parmesan to taste (close to a 1/2 cup)

 Method:

1. Halve the zucchini and squash lengthwise, then cut into half-moon slices
   
2. Boil rigatoni in salted water to al dente, or your preferred softness.
3. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet on med-high and add the oil. 
4. Add the garlic and cook less than 1 minute.
5. Add the onion, zucchini and squash to the oil. Stir to occasionally to keep them cooking evenly, about 4-5 minutes, or until the zucchini and squash are tender.
6. Toss the veg, drained pasta, and basil leaves together in the skillet.
   
7. Add the salt, pepper, and parmesan until it tastes good to you.  

It's a simple dish that fills you up very inexpensively.  And, it truly isn't bad for you.  I'm thinking that next time I make it, I'm going to add in some fresh peas and broccoli for added nutrients.  If you like pine nuts, you may want to toast them in a dry pan and add them in at the end.  The possibilities with this dish are virtually endless.

Try it out and let me know it it turns out!