Chunky Vegan Chili with Oven-Baked Fries

For about a week the blazing Arizona sun succumbed to a change in air pressure and brought a sense of relief just when I thought fall might abandon us this year. Translation: it chilled the hell down for a few days. Overwhelming illusions that it was time to break out the stockpot and possibly a cashmere sweater were brought into check eventually, but I did seize the small window to squeeze in a cool-weather dish. A comfort food craving came on with an itch for spice, so chili was the obvious choice.

I don’t have extensive chili experience, but it’s one of those dishes that give a certain flare to the reputations of real cooks. Do you recall ever hearing of someone who made a “decent” chili? Do you have a favorite cafe that makes a “pretty good” chili? Of course not. Mediocre chili does not invoke or enliven the soul in a blissful tango with taste. Those who make incredible chili leave a mark. That delectable memory gets to camp out in a special place reserved for things like Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup and Grandma’s Swedish Kringle. Chili hits a spot that is best reached after raking leaves or building snowmen - a spot which is not as easily accessible in my current environment as it was when I was little. Therefore I have to seize every semblance of opportunity I get. Which means, when it drops below 90, I can pull out the crock pot.

Now that I’ve built up chili so much - it might be a let-down to learn that this is not the recipe that will make me an infamous vegan chef. It’s not my best, worst, or last attempt. But it was very exciting prancing around the kitchen throwing in spices Emeril-style...BAM! In fact, I based this off of one of his recipes and it turned out quite well. I think I need more onion next time, because soups never seem to have enough. Regardless of it’s small imperfections or opportunities for enhancement, the enthusiasm was doubled by the batch of french fries so perfectly prepared by my loving omnivore. Chili and fries! I can’t seem to pair the two together without an exclamation point!

Chunky Vegan Chili

Makes 4-6 servings
Total cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2 T. Olive or Canola oil
1 1/2 c. Onion, chopped
2 T. Garlic, minced
1 Anaheim chili, chopped
1 Summer squash, chopped
1 c. Yellow corn (1-2 ears)
1 c. Brown or portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 c. Garbanzo beans, cooked or canned
4 Tomatoes, chopped
1 Chipotle chili in adobo sauce
2 T. Chili powder
1 T. Cumin, ground
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Cayenne or piquin pepper
1 tsp. Oregano, dried
1 can Tomato sauce
1 c. Vegetable broth
Pinch of sugar

6 oz Tempeh, chopped or sliced
Taco seasoning: 1 tsp each - chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder

Toppings

Shredded vegan cheese
Chopped red onion
Chopped avocado

Directions

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions. Cook until the onions are soft and transparent, about 10-12 minutes. Add garlic and Anaheim pepper. Cook another minute and add squash, mushrooms and corn. Cook vegetables 4-5 minutes and add beans, tomatoes and spices. Stir well to coat veggies in seasoning and pour in tomato sauce. Bring chili to a boil. Add vegetable broth and reduce heat. Simmer chili on low for 20-25 minutes while you prepare the tempeh.

In a small sauce pan, bring 1 c. water and seasoning to a medium boil. Add tempeh and reduce heat to medium. Steam tempeh in seasoned water until tender, about 7-8 minutes. Pour entire contents of pan into food processor and pulse 5 times, scrape tempeh down and pulse another 5 times. Heat a skillet over medium high heat, coat with cooking spray and add ground tempeh. Cook until browned, another 10 minutes.

Returning to chili, turn heat off but leave pot on the stove. Add pinch of sugar and tempeh. Let sit on warm stove another 10 minutes to let the flavors blend and cool. Serve with assorted toppings and side of fries.


Perfect Oven-Baked Fries
Makes 4-6 servings
Cook time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients

2 medium russet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut potatoes into wedges about 4” long and 1/4” thick. Coat with olive oil and generous pinch of salt and pepper. Spread on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Turn fries and bake another 10-15 minutes. Remove fries when dark golden brown and crispy.

Dominican Beans over Brazilian Greens

I am recovering from a long and persistent canned food addiction. This is not news, I've admitted it before. But admitting the problem it has been a productive emergence from BPA denial. Now it’s no big deal to set up a bowl of soaking beans overnight and cook them in the morning while I get ready for the day. The taste and texture of home-cooked dried beans is beyond superior to their canned counterparts and I wouldn’t dare insult them now by calling them inconvenient. Can or no can though, they are still the magical fruit and there is no gettig around that.


While I have mastered the chickpea, mung bean and lentil, I am working on others to expand my repertoire. While not much skill is involved, sometimes I am insecure about the texture and “doneness” of my boiling beanies. Some are still kind of hard because I’ve become a nervous nancy about the cook time. Other have been mush because of my experience with the previous outcome. Black beans are pretty easy now, though I tend to undercook them slightly for some reason. Having expanded into my “Mexican/Latina fare” beans, I was finally inspired to try pinto beans.


Pintos were very easy to cook and I came out with a great batch on my first try. Once you cook the beans though, you have to figure out what to do with them. And for some reason, a typical quesadilla wasn’t going to cut it this time. Pintos are great with a little bit of vegan cheese or refried, but I really wanted to try something different. I went searching for a recipe and found a very intriguing one on Epicurious.com for Dominican Beans. It served as a great foundation, but I obviously changed it to suit my needs for timeliness and available resources. What I came up with was spectacular. I’ve never had a pinto like this and I don’t know if I’ll be satisfied by another pinto again.


The greens here were a great accompaniment but are only Brazilian because in my recipe meandering I discovered that this is apparently how collards are commonly prepared in Brazil. I would have made them this way anyway (with plenty of garlic) had I not found this out. Greens and garlic...duh. 

Dominican Beans over Brazilian Greens
Makes 2 servings
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes


Ingredients


For the Beans
1 c. Pinto beans, cooked or canned if you must
1 c. Bean liquid (from can or from cooking water)
1/2 c. Onion, chopped
2-3 Garlic cloves, chopped
2 T. Organic ketchup
1 T. Distilled white vinegar
1/2 c. Anaheim pepper, chopped (or other green pepper)
1/2 c. Chopped tomato
1 Bay leaf, ground or whole
1/2 tsp. Oregano, ground or crumbled
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Freshly ground black pepper
8-10 Cilantro stalks


For the Greens
4-6 Large collard leaves
2 tsp. Olive oil
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
Salt to taste


Directions


For the beans: In a medium bowl, lightly mash the beans so that about half are mashed and half remain whole. Reserve liquid on the side. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Cook onions and garlic, stirring constantly to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn, until onions are soft, about 6-7 minutes.While the onions are cooking, grind the herbs, salt and pepper together or mash in a mortar and pestle until well blended and set aside. Stir ketchup, vinegar, pepper and tomato into sauce pan. Cook until liquid is reduced slighty and increase heat to medium high. Stir in herb mixture, beans and liquid. Bring to a medium boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Tie cilantro stalks together or just group them together by the stem and lay on top of bean mixture, pressing into pan but with the stems still sticking out. Cover pan leaving a small edge uncovered and simmer until liquid has mostly evaporated and mixture has thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Turn heat off and let beans sit another 5-10 minutes on the burner. Remove cilantro and discard.


For the greens: To cut the collards into ribbons, destem each leaf, cut in quarters and lay each piece on top of each other in a neat pile. Roll the leaves from one end to another in a cigar shape and slice thinly from one end to another. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add garlic being VERY careful not to burn. Cook until garlic becomes fragrant, about 1 minute, and add collards. Toss in garlic oil and season with a touch of salt to taste. Cook until collards are just tender, about 3-4 minutes.


Serve beans over a nice little pile of greens and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Buckwheat Pancakes with Blueberry Cinnamon Syrup

Alas it has been too long since I last posted a recipe. Between a 2 week European vacation, and 2 weekends back in Minnesota, I have relied on a lot of convenient and simple eats rather than taking the time to invent, perfect or experiment with edibles. Simple bean and grain salads, pastas, steamed veggies, sandwiches, you know the drill. It’s like eating out of a lunchbox meal after meal without the time to sit down and dream up a masterpiece...or distaster. The fall is only going to get busier with weddings, visitors, more races, and holidays. So now is the time to squeeze in a post to help me feel like the creative juices are still simmering amidst the autumnal bluster.


My first experience with buckwheat pancakes was one of the most delightful eating experience one could have: after a morning that consisted of a road trip to Cleveland, TX (yes in Texas), an hour or so picking 17 pounds of organic blueberries and hopelessly scrubbing purple fingers, my sister, her other half and me with my partner in crime set out to make a dent in our fruitful berry booty. Our first blueberry blunder: buckwheat pancakes. We had them for lunch and ate so many I pretty much counted the meal as dinner too. I suppose it was actually dessert as well considering we put dark chocolate chips in half of the batch. There will always be a warm fuzzy memory of hunching over the counter, tearing apart the pancakes fresh off the griddle with our fingers and dipping them in a bowl of maple cinnamon syrup. Something about eating and standing while licking sticky pancake fingers makes the soul feel good.


So back home in Phoenix after a blustery, cold IronGirl race over the weekend that resulted in both a huge accomplishment and a huge cold, I had that kind of appetite that can only be satisfied by a certain soulful kind of grub and asked my breakfast-loving beau if he wanted me to make something before work. What shall it be? Oatmeal, scrambled tofu, pancakes? Buckwheat pancakes most definitely got the greatest, most enthusiastic response. Luckily I had a stray bag of frozen wild blueberries in the freezer. As I perused the cupboards to hunt down the maple syrup however, we of course had none. Never fear, a culinary solution is always near.


I looked up a few pancake recipes to use as a base and then (you know me) created my own. Most buckwheat pancake recipes call for regular flour in addition to buckwheat, but I was adverse for two reasons: 1) I wanted my pancakes to be gluten free, and 2) there are tiny wheat flour-loving bugs that lurk in the cupboard shadows, impervious to flour bags and even sealed jars. They don’t like gluten-free flours so I am finding myself increasingly reluctant to open up a cupboard bug crackhouse when they are not attracted by wheat alternatives. Some of the gluten free recipes called for rice flour instead of wheat, but chickpea flour is tastier and has more protein and fiber...and I had some in my flour stash. I don’t know if the xanthum gum was necessary or not, but the batter was nice and thick, holding together extremely well. If you have it, use it. If you don’t, try the recipe anyway. The syrup alone is worth it! Quick and delicious, just throw is on while your cakes are on the griddle.

Buckwheat Pancakes with Blueberry Cinnamon Syrup
Makes about 8 pancakes
Total prep/cook time: 20 minutes


Ingredients


For the Pancakes
1 c. Almond or soy milk
1 T. Cider vinegar
1 T. Agave
1 T. Coconut oil (or other mild tasting oil)
1/2 c. Buckwheat flour
1/2 c. Chickpea flour
1 T. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Xantham gum (optional)
1 c. Blueberries, frozen or fresh (thaw and rinse if using frozen)


For the Blueberry Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 c. Raw cane sugar
1/4 c. Water
3/4 c. Blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 Cinnamon stick or 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Toppings options: Brown sugar, walnuts, flax seeds, fresh bananas


Directions


For the Pancakes: In a small bowl, mix the milk and cider vinegar and set aside to curdle while preparing the rest of the mix. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients and whisk together. Add coconut oil and agave to milk mixture and stir into dry mix. Be careful not to overmix! That way you’ll have fluffy pancakes. Heat griddle or pan over medium-high heat. When ready to cook pancakes, reduce heat slightly. Using a 1/4 cup measuring scoop, ladle the batter onto the pan. When pancakes start to bubble slightly flip and cook on the other side until golden brown.


For the Syrup: Heat sugar, water and blueberries in a small sauce pan over high heat. When bubbling reduce heat to medium and let cook until liquid has thickened and reduced to 2/3 cup, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer syrup to a small bowl and grate 1/4 of the cinnamon stick over mixutre or mix ground cinnamon into the syrup. Add a touch of agave to taste if there is not enough liquid or if you would like a sweeter syrup.


To assemble: Top 2-3 pancakes with 1/4 cup of syrup, 1-2 T. chopped walnuts or flax seeds, and a pinch of brown sugar if desired. Add fresh bananas if preferred.

Lemon Caper Alfredo with Asparagus and Leeks

July and August came quickly and whizzed by without leaving much of a trace. Starting a new job, albeit with the same company, that is much more demanding than roles of my past meant reallocating resources and benching hobbies for a short time. Hardly a memorable meal or truly ingenious recipe, barely enough time to muster over what to make, and small energy reserves for adventurous kitchen experiments. I’ve been a lame mock duck this summer. I can hardly crack out a batch of mac n’ cheez these days. So many hummus wraps and Whole Foods salad bar Wednesdays ($2 off!). Eating out, however health I try to be, has not encouraged or stimulated my creative cooking juices. By now it’s the end of August and prior to this delightful dish, I had yet to make something to write home about.

Now that I’m settled in my new department and have adjusted to my responsibilities, I’ve found it easier to bring back the aimless recipe wandering, thorough audience-preference analysis, and food analogue objective that inevitably lead to the crazy concoctions featured here. Another daily life feature lost in the buss was the intimate nightly dinner with my dearest recipe reviewer. It seems so long ago that we used to wine and dine chez nous a better part of the week, testing my edible innovations and having chatting about everything under the sun and moon. With both of our careers pressing us like a fine French roast, we lost that table time. Finally, as I’ve found a way to adjust my career time with home time, I’m rectifying all sorts of situations.

To reignite our dinner ritual and satisfy my gourmet thirst for challenge, I set out to make something my token Omni would thoroughly enjoy. He has a surprising love for capers –though he is a salt fiend, I am hard pressed to find something brined that he actually likes. No pickles, no Kalamata olives, negative on artichokes. Capers for some reason are the exception. And for someone who has had an even busier summer than I’ve had at work, he deserved something deliciously invented for him. I gathered all the ingredients of his kind of meal: bread and tomatoes (we started with bruschetta), pasta, a hearty sauce, and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Arguably, neither lemon cream sauce nor lemon caper sauce is original. But the mild lemon flavor in this thick, “creamy” sauce combine with a salty pinch and fresh asparagus gave this dish exquisite character.

The leeks could probably be optional, but they were from a 2 week old produce share from the farm and had to go. They were a nice touch with a texture that coincides with asparagus beautifully - but not necessary. The lemon level and caper capacity are of course totally up to you. For you non-veg heads that read the blog: please not that by using silken tofu instead of cream, you cut the fat (and subsequent guilt + next day laziness) by about 85%. Using cooking spray as I did of course reduces the fat content even further, though you could use traditional olive oil instead.

Lemon Caper Alfredo with Asparagus and Leeks
Makes: 2 servings
Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the Sauce
1 tsp. Olive oil
½ Small onion, chopped
2 tsp. Garlic, chopped
1-2 T. Dried mushrooms
1 ¾ c. Vegetable broth, from bouillon, divided
½ pkg. Silken tofu (6-7 oz)
½ c. Almond milk
¼ c. Capers, drained
1 T. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Lemon zest, divided
White pepper & nutmeg

For the Pasta
4-5 oz Gluten free spaghetti
Cooking spray
½ c. Leeks, white & green parts chopped
12-15 Asparagus spears, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a sauce pan. Cook onions until golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 additional minute. Add mushrooms and 1 ½ c. vegetable. Bring to a boil and reduce liquid to ½ cup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. In a food processor combine onion broth with tofu and almond milk. Blend until completely smooth (about 2-3 minutes), scraping down sides periodically. Return sauce to pan and cook over a steady low heat. Stir in lemon juice, ½ tsp lemon zest, and capers. When ready to serve, stir in a tiny pinch of white pepper and nutmeg.

While the sauce is heating on low, bring a pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to directions on package. Strain and set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add leeks and cook 3-4 minutes until starting to brown. Add asparagus, remaining lemon zest and use broth to deglaze pan when vegetables start to dry. Cook until asparagus is al dente, about 3-4 minutes.

To assemble: Combine pasta with asparagus/leek mixture. Pour sauce over top and mix. Garnish with parsley, lemon slices and freshly ground black pepper.