Food

Food — 1 Comment
5
Mar 10

Recipe: Three-bean (vegetarian) chili

I’m back! Did you miss me? Life has been crazy hectic lately, but I’ll try to me more consistent with this from now on. I figured it was about time to post that vegetarian chili recipe that I talked about, oh, three or four months ago. It might not be as appropriate now that the weather is starting to get warm again, but still.

Three-bean Vegetable Chili

Ingredients:

  • 6 cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
  • One large green bell pepper
  • One large red onion
  • One medium jalapeño pepper
  • One large (28-ounce) can of diced tomatoes
  • 3 standard (15-ounce) cans of beans, any type (I usually use kidney, black, and cannellini/white)
  • One standard can of whole corn
  • One bag of Boca meatless crumbles (optional; carnivorous souls can substitute cooked ground beef)
  • 3 tablespoons cumin
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • Powdered cayenne pepper to taste
  • Salt and pepper
  • Sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese to garnish
Chili Supplies

Building castles with ingredients can be a fun pre-cooking activity.

Directions:

Peel and mince garlic and sauté in vegetable oil for about 3 minutes on low to medium heat. While this is simmering (and filling your house with one of my favorite aromas ever), finely chop the jalapeño and roughly chop the bell pepper and onion. Add these to the garlic and cook over medium heat for about 7 minutes, adding more oil if necessary.

Sizzle sizzle, y'all

Sizzle sizzle, y'all

Meanwhile, lightly drain the beans and corn and start them cookin’ in a large pot over medium heat. Add Boca crumbles now, or pre-cooked ground beef if you prefer; both are optional and I promise that your chili will still be super delicious with beans and veggies only.

If it looks like this, you're doing it right

If it looks like this, you're doing it right.

As the peppers and onions are finishing up (they should be getting soft), I would advise requesting a whiskey and ginger from your boyfriend (or girlfriend, or other minion). This step isn’t necessary necessary, but it’s kind of necessary. Let’s be honest, cooking is much better with alcohol. Those cutesy “I cook with wine! Sometimes I put it in the food too.” magnets don’t lie.

Other cocktails maybe be substituted if desired

Other cocktails maybe be substituted if desired.

See? Delicious. Now to proceed with the task at hand. Um, okay, set the drink down for one second. There. Good. Add the pepper and onion mixture to the large pot, along with the diced tomatoes. Stir everything up and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper, tweaking my amounts to taste. Turn heat down a little so that mixture simmers but doesn’t vigorously boil.

So close, young warrior

So close, young warrior. Breathe it in!

You can get by with simmering the chili for 5 or 10 minutes since you’re not actually cooking stuff. I generally prefer to let it go longer, though, just so all the flavors have more time to meld themselves into the proper conglomeration of Delicious. I’d recommend up to 45 minutes, if you have time. Just make sure you stir occasionally and monitor the heat so it doesn’t start to stick to the pot.

When you’re good and ready, give it a taste. Adjust your seasonings if you need to, then serve it up! Garnish with shredded cheddar and sour cream.

Serving suggestion

Serving suggestion.

If you try it, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Food — 4 Comments
7
Oct 09

Recipe: Cheesy potato and broccoli soup

The onset of fall brought some cold, rainy, and miserable weather to Winston-Salem: perfect conditions for making soup. So, after leafing through a couple of our cookbooks in search of The Perfect Rainy Day Soup, J and I decided to improvise one ourselves. We used the potato soup recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (by Mark Bittman), one of my favorite cookbooks, as a very general starting point. I rather enjoyed the outcome of our little experiment and wanted to share it with you, my dear few anonymous readers. It definitely will be showing up again at our house soon, especially with colder weather coming on. Without further ado, I give you:

Cheesy Potato and Broccoli Soup

(Note: One of the potato soup recipes we saw used wild rice, so we decided to give it a try. In retrospect, I’d prefer to leave it out, but I’ll include it in this recipe as an option in case you’re feeling adventurous.)

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium baking potatoes
  • 2 cups broccoli
  • 1/2 large yellow onion
  • 6 cloves garlic (more or less, to taste)
  • Handful of scallions
  • 3/4 cup wild rice (optional)
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Directions:

If you’re including wild rice, go ahead and start preparing it according to its own instructions. This usually means combining with water (for 3/4 cups rice, use 1-1/2 cups water) in a saucepan, bringing to a boil, reducing heat to low, and simmering for about 45 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Prepare the broccoli before getting started on everything else. Steam it or cook it as you normally would, and then set it aside.

Wash and peel the potatoes, then roughly chop into approximately 1.5″ cubes. Sauté these for about 5 minutes in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Go ahead and season with some salt and pepper at this point. After a few minutes, add 4 cups of water and continue cooking until potatoes are very tender (about 20 minutes).

Potatoes. Cooking in a pan. Impressive?

Potatoes. Cooking in a pan. Impressive?

Oh, and I’m going to interrupt myself and say that this would be a good time to crack open a cold one. I, personally (and I think J can back me up on this), endorse the following:

If you're making this soup in November, too late. Get a different beer.

Although, if you're making this soup in November, you're too late. Get a different beer.

While potatoes are cooking, chop the garlic, scallions, and onion (and yes, I know that 6 cloves is a bit much–we’re garlic freaks, so use less if you aren’t as dedicated as we are). Sauté these three ingredients with a splash of olive oil in a separate, shallow saucepan. Cook until onion is soft, which should take 2-3 minutes.

Onion, scallion, and garlic mixture. Mmmm.

Onion, scallion, and garlic mixture. Mmmm.

When the onion mixture is nice and soft (and your kitchen starts to smell heavenly), combine it with the potatoes in the larger pot and cook the whole thing for a few more minutes. We added some crushed red pepper too, just for a little kick, but that’s up to you.

Looks gross, smells great.

Looks gross, smells great.

Now, get ready for things to get crazy! I hope you have a blender, because you’re going to need one. Transfer the potato, onion, etc. mixture into a blender or food processor and carefully pureé, working in batches if necessary. When you’ve done this, transfer everything back into the pot and add the sour cream and milk, stirring gently. If the soup is bubbling violently, turn the heat down a bit.

Creamy, potatoey goodness.

Creamy, potatoey goodness.

Next, add the cooked broccoli and shredded cheese (and the wild rice if you’re including it). Cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, and season with salt and pepper. We also added a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, but we’re spice-lovers. Take a little taste and tweak it to your liking. Make it your own, people!

All finished! Mouth, time to commence watering.

All finished! Mouth, time to commence watering.

Now (what are you waiting for??) spoon it out and devour it! Let me just repeat, it’s probably enjoyed best sitting on the couch on a rainy or cold day…

Yum.

Serving suggestion.

If you try it out, leave a comment and let me know what you think. I hope you like!