Feel the burn.

Kids, be careful. Hot oil + water droplets = danger.  I think I'm going to have a scar. On the bright side, my wrist is the only thing that feels burned tonight, because this turned out relatively mild.

Today I'm using Target's Simply Balanced brand meatless smoky chipotle chicken. I asked a friend what he'd make with it, and chili was a suggestion. Chili it is! I used my basics: tomato sauce, chili powder, salt, cumin. .. but then threw in an extra chipotle pepper and some cinnamon for fun.

Smoky Chipotle Chick'n Chili
makes six servings

1 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil
1 package Simply Balanced meatless Smoky Chipotle Chicken, thawed but not combined with the sauce, cut up into smaller pieces
2 14oz cans beans (I used pinto beans and black beans)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp dried oregano
juice of 1/2 lime 
salt and pepper to taste
optional: 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (about a tbsp of pepper and sauce)
1/2 cup beer or water
2 tbsp masa harina
vegan sour cream, cilantro, cheeze shreds to garnish

In a soup pot over low heat, heat a tsp or so olive oil. Cook the onion, and garlic for about a minute. Add the chicken. Cook until chicken is starting to brown, and the veggies are soft. Add beans, sauce packets, tomato sauce, corn, salt, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, oregano, and lime. Taste for heat and seasoning. Add the chipotle if you can take it. In a cup, mix the beer with the masa harina, and add to the chili. Cook for five more minutes, and serve with garnishes.

Skol!

This week will be dedicated to comfort foods, more specifically, quick comfort foods. That means I'll be taking a lot of shortcuts, but to me, that's what comfort food entails. When you want to be cozy and warm, with one of your favorite foods, shouldn't it take the least amount of time from fridge to bowl? Exactly. Needless to say, I'm kind of leaving Engine 2 on the sidelines until MoFo is over.

This chili came together so quickly, I call it Halftime Chili, because you could make it during halftime. As long as you use already cooked or canned beans, and a chili seasoning packet, you're in and out of that kitchen pretty quick. What took time was baking the cornbread (by the way, Betty Crocker's cornbread muffin mix is vegan, but it's kind of sweet and not so good).

Halftime Chili

6-8 servings

1 onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

4 cups cooked beans, or two cans 

         I used a can of chili beans (pinto, kidney, black) and a can of garbanzos

1 14-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes with chilies (Can I just say, "those yummy Muir Glen tomatoes?")

1 12-oz pkg burger crumbles (I used Lightlife's Smart Ground Mexican Style)

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp barbecue sauce

1 tsp liquid smoke

1 envelope chili seasoning

1 tbsp dark cocoa powder

ground chipotle (if desired), to taste

shredded vegan cheese, sour cream, scallions, cilantro to garnish

Cook onion, pepper, and garlic in oil until soft. Throw in everything else up to the chipotle, plus a splash of water and cook, stirring, for about five minutes.  Serve hot with cheese, sour cream, chopped scallions, and cilantro with a wedge of cornbread. Pop open a beer. 

GO VIKES.

Cuban Black Bean Stew

I woke up this morning feeling like 100% crap, yet managed to pull through a ten hour day after taking an Allegra (which I forgot to pick up at work today GOD DAMMIT). I really really wanted something spicy to get the junk out of my sinuses. I think this was just spicy enough, but it's not going to scare anyone off. I think it's absolutely delicious. Too bad I don't have a special someone to share my cold, and my stew with.



Engine 2 Cuban Black Bean Stew
makes about 6 servings

1 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
4 cups cooked black beans (or two cans, drained)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes with chipotles (Muir Glen), or diced tomatoes with chilies
2 tbsp tomato paste
splash sherry vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar)
hot sauce, optional
cooked brown rice
cilantro, red onion, lime wedges

In a large pot, with a little bit of water (no oil!), cook and stir the onion, peppers, and garlic until soft. Add oregano, beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Cook about five minutes. Stir in a splash of vinegar. Hot sauce to taste. Serve over rice and garnish with chopped red onion, cilantro, and lime wedges.

Hoppin' New Year!

This week's theme is holidays. I'm glad I came up with seven holidays that are easy to find traditional and/or original ideas for, and still leave some holidays to fend for themselves (wtf do people eat on Labor Day?).

New Year's Day is all about good luck. Hoppin' John is a traditional southern meal eaten in the south on New Year's Day. The peas symbolize coins, and the greens (collards, etc) served with the meal are the color of money.

This is also another dish I can use that giant vegan ham to season!



You guys, this turned out so yummy! I was pretty scared to improvise with a dish I've never had before, but from reading the various recipes I found online, it stays pretty true to tradition (except for the veganness and the sherry). The sherry added a snap that was needed. Some HJ recipes call for vinegar, but I thought this would give it the right kick. Like my totally 80's champagne flute?

Vegan Hoppin' John
Makes 4-6 servings

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 cup diced vegan ham, diced or vegan sausage, cut up
1/2 lb dried black eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed
2 cups veggie broth
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cayenne
pinch salt
few twists fresh pepper
1 tsp liquid smoke
couple handfuls collard, mustard, or turnip greens or chard or kale, shredded
splash of sherry
steamed rice for serving

Heat oil in a largish pot. Cook the veggies for about five minutes, then add ham. Cook until veggies are tender and the ham is browned. Add broth, peas, and spices. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 40 minutes or until peas are creamy and tender (you may have to add liquid periodically; stir often!). Stir in greens and heat through. Add a splash of sherry and stir. Serve over rice.

Brokeity ass broke.

So, the trip ended up costing me a wee bit more than I'd planned. I have a little wiggle room once my cell phone bill is paid, but not enough to go dropping mad cash at Whole Foods like I need to.



So, the Vegan MoFo theme until payday is: Eat What's in the House. Today's lunch: Smokey Acorn Squash Chili. Items used: one acorn squash, one onion, two cloves garlic, some leftover kidney beans, two chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (found that in the back of the cabinet), canned diced tomatoes, and some spices. A little agave and cinnamon made it interesting.



Another sucktastic picture. The breakroom isn't exactly a photo studio, what with the formica and fluorescent lights.

For tomorrow...something with that can of coconut milk lurking in the cabinet? Um, black mango tea? Uh...some Newman's Own Marinara? I guess it all depends on how the election turns out. I may just eat cereal for the next few days.

More from the test kitchen

Eggplant Lentil Chili Molé with Fresh Corn and Scallion Cornbread. This was totally worth the week-long hunt for an eggplant.

Smoky Tempeh Stew with Greens

Feast your eyes.



A year from now, when you get this book, remember to use artichoke hearts instead of lima beans. Unless you're some kind of lima bean freak. Freak.

My heart is as big as a sweet pa-tay-ta!

There are two parts to this entry. One, I used to make this dish all the time before I went veg, so it has seen a lot of evenings in my home. It's sort of an Anglo-Indian type stew that is perfect for chilly fall evenings or winter lunch breaks. It's a misnomer; I usually use garnet yams instead of sweet potatoes. But "Sweet Potato Chili" sounds better than "Yam Stew."



Sweet Potato Chili
serves 6

2 large garnet yams, peeled and chopped
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes with chiles
2 cups cooked chickpeas, or 1 14-oz can, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked black beans, or 1 14-oz can, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp chili powder
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp curry powder

Throw all that in the slow cooker and set on low. Go to work and forget about it for 8 hours.

Throw in 1/2 cup raisins (I prefer the golden ones in this recipe), stir, and heat for another 20 minutes.

Serve in bowls with a blop of plain soygurt (Wildwood plain is nice and unsweetened) and a sprinkling of toasted almonds. Tonight I used toasted almonds, pepitas, and pine nuts.

Now, part two. In honor of Barack Obama and how much he kicks ass.



Homemade Sweet Potato Pie. I used this recipe. Right now it's too warm to slice up, but the smell is OH MY GOD so good.

Now that's a fire!

Today I cleaned my house top to bottom. I got out the Magic Eraser and everything. As soon as I was satisfied with the sparkle, I headed out to Home Despot in search of a plant hanger. You know, like a stupid plastic hook with armlike protrusions. Or some kind of hook/chain type thing. After an excruciating bus ride into Nordeast Minneapolis, I come to find out that they don't have anything like that. They have hanging plants, sure. Ferns and shit. But I just wanted the thing, not the plant in it. Dammit. Home Depot was my last resort. I've tried florists, Target, everything. Am I crazy? Are hanging plants passe? At least I found some poor bastard's $85 31-day bus pass that they'd only used for three days before dropping it. Heh.

I got home and was in no mood for anything really involved, but I knew I had to get cracking. I have three more chapters in VFaS I still have to do (although I may not get to India in time, as my sambar needs to be delivered). Tonight is Middle East/Africa. My choice was the Vegetable Tagine with Seitan and Apricots. One of the ingredients it called for was harissa, which I distinctly remember leaving behind in the fridge of my old apartment. Oops? Luckily, there was a recipe to make my own. Which I did.
With Indian dried chiles. 40,000 hus. I added a little extra olive oil to temper the flames. Good thing, since the Tagine recipe called for a half teaspoon of cayenne. I don't think I've ever used more than 1/4 or 1/8 teaspoon of that shit. Anyway, Robin said to do it, so I did. All in all, the recipe was LOVELY. Yes, it was hot, and I was grateful because I was beginning to wonder where exactly the "fire" was in this book. I loved how all of the flavors blended, but didn't mush together. Everything retained it's own personality, while still playing nice with the other kids in the pot. I served it over couscous with the recommended toasted almonds (yes, I know I kinda burned mine SHUT UP). I also suggest pairing this with about six glasses of ice water. It was also pretty quick to put together once the harissa was made and the apricots were soaked. Not a lot of attention is needed. Just what I needed after spending a whole day on the friggin' bus.



I wanted to do the food shoot on my Persian rug, but Bowie was insistent that he be a part of this.

Callalooooooo!

'Tis a new week in this, the Vegan Month of Food, and I am on to a new cookbook. I bought Vegan Fire & Spice a few months ago, but just haven't had the time or ingredients to make anything. Well, I decided to do Robin Robertson right, and give not three, but five days of this week to her book. Why? Because there is five sections: The Americas, Mediterranean Europe, The Middle East and Africa, India, and Asia. I need to go shopping, I know.

For The Americas, I chose a recipe called "Close to Callaloo." It's a Caribbean stew made up of sweet potatoes, peppers, and greens. It was pretty quick, and it turned out looking beautiful. I had to add a little more fire to this (red chile flakes), because it didn't quite seem spicy enough for me. Then again, I'm trying to knock out a bad case of congestion, and more spice just seems to be the cure. Along the side, I made a simple little bed of field greens with grapefruit sections and a homemade vinaigrette of grapefruit pulp and juice, herbs, coconut oil, and a little wine vinegar.


Take THAT, chest cold!