Spicy Vegan/Vegetarian Bean Chili

Football and Autumn scream chili. CHILI. CHILI. CHILI.

I'm always in search of a mouth-watering, irresistible vegan chili recipe. The mouth-watering recipes always seem to be too time consuming with too many ingredients and too much preparation time; we've also all tried that quick-mediocre recipe. (Enough said.) Alas, you have stumbled upon a tasty, spicy, minimal effort (limited ingredients) vegan chili recipe (courtesy of me!) Yay! :) Enjoy!

Spicy Vegan Bean Chili Recipe:

Serves: 6

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cook time: (unsupervised) 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced

1 cup chopped carrots

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 bag frozen corn

1 medium red pepper, chopped

1 small green hot pepper, diced

1 small can of tomato sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp of chili powder

1 tbsp of ground cumin

1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp shredded mozzarella/vegan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large pot.

2. Add minced garlic. Stir frequently for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.

3. Add onions and peppers. Stir frequently and cook for approximately 5 minutes as vegetables begin to soften.

4. Add carrots, tomatoes, beans, corn, tomato sauce, and spices. Stir well.

5. Cover and simmer mixture over low heat for about one hour or until carrots are cooked. Stir occasionally.

6. Remove from heat and serve in mugs with mozzarella or vegan cheese!

Vegan Chili!! (and with a little UConn spirit!)

...don't forget the cheese!!

Tomato Swiss Chard Soup!

Yeah. I was thinking the same thing. Jen, don't you dislike soup?! Yup. I'm not a soup fan. BUT when you have tomato paste, swiss chard, and vegetable broth left over- what do you do with it?! You make soup. This is probably not the fanciest soup ever, but it's super quick and easy. It also warms your blood on these cool days.

Tomato Swiss Chard Soup!

Serves: varies

Time: less than 30 minutes

Ingredients:

anything left over from previous recipes and whatever is lying around inside the fridge!! aka....

1/2 bunch swiss chard, washed and chopped

2 heaping tbsp tomato paste

12 oz vegetable broth

water

baby carrots, chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp feta cheese

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan.

2. Sautee garlic until fragrant.

3. Add swiss chard to pan. Stir frequency. Cook greens down approximately 3-5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, pour vegetable broth into a large pot. Add tomato paste stirring until dissolved. Add additional water as needed.

5. Add cooked swiss chard and pre-chopped carrots.

6. Gently mix.

7. Simmer approximately 20 minutes or until carrots are cooked.

Voila! Soup in less than 30 minutes! Serve soup in a soup bowl. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Enjoy with whole grain pita on the side! Of note- I have made this with (leftover) beans before as well, which is also quite tasty! There are many varieties! Enjoy!!

Scrumptious Butternut Barley Bean Pilaf Dish

I sympathize with barely. It seems that barley is misunderstood! (Haha. Who doesn't have those moments?! I think we can all sympathize with barley!!) I personally love barley. I need to start cooking with it more often. (And so should you!!) I (very unfortunately) don't know many people who would scream at the top of their lungs "I LOVE BARLEY!" (However, I might just have to give it a try.) :)

Going with my Autumn theme, I wanted to give my hand at another winter squash recipe. I think you'll also find this a tasty dish- and this one's quick too!!

Butternut Barley Bean Pilaf Recipe:

(Original Recipe found here!)

Serves 7-8

Preparation 15-20 minutes

Cooking time (unsupervised) 45-60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

21oz vegetable broth + 8 oz water

1 cup pearl barley

2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash

1 can cannellini beans

1 tbsp dry cilantro

1 tbsp dry parsley

3 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare vegetables. (Hint- buy pre-peeled and cubed butternut squash. Saves so much time and effort!!)

2. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.

3. Add onion. Stir often until onions soften/turn translucent approximately 2-3 minutes.

4. Add broth, water, barely, beans, and squash. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until most of liquid has been absorbed approximately 45-60 minutes.

5. Add parsley, cilantro, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix gently. Turn off heat. Allow to sit a few minutes.

6. Serve and enjoy!!

Side note: The amount of vegetable broth might seem obscure. I did not use broth from a can (Noooo BPA!!); I used it from a 32oz cardboard container. Therefore, I experimented with the amounts of liquid (broth vs water) to use. Lucky for me, I had extra vegetable broth to put into another recipe!! :) Almost any variation will do! Give it a try! Happy cooking!

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Swiss Chard & White Beans

Autumn just screams winter squash! As the cool weather rolls in (again), I just want warm food. If you're not creative, then those warm choices become boring and repetitive. Lucky for me- lucky for you- we like to tap into our creative minds and produce tasty yummy-ness that swells our bellies to complete satisfaction!!

Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe:

Original Recipe for four and for two!

Serves 2

Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Preparation time: 30-45 minutes

(This recipe is WELL worth the effort and little extra time!!)

Ingredients:

1 medium acorn squash, halved and deseeded

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic

2-4 tbsp water

2 heaping tbsp tomato paste

1/2 bunch swiss chard chopped

1/2 can of white beans

1/4 chopped kalamata olives

feta cheese

Directions:

1. Cut acorn squash in half and deseed

2. Put in a glass dish and fill 1" deep with water

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until a fork goes through

4. Ten minutes before the squash is cooked, begin preparing the filling

5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium heat

6. Add onion. Stir frequently. Cook 2-3 minutes or until onions begin to brown.

7. Add garlic. Stir and cook for about 1 minute. You should begin to smell the garlic fragrence.

8. Stir in tomato paste, salt and pepper, and water. Start with 2 tbsp water and add enough water until you get a liquid, smooth consistency of the tomato paste.

9. Stir in swiss chard. Cook for 3-5 minutes. The swiss chard will become soft and lose volume. Stir often.

10. Stir in white beans and olives. Cook until warm or 2-3 minutes. Stir often. Remove from heat.

11. Remove acorn squash from over. Turn broiler on.

12. Stuff winter squash. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

13. Broil for 1 minute.

14. Remove from oven. Let cool for a few minutes. Enjoy!!

Additional Comments: I did try this recipe with bread crumbs. (That is why you see them in the picture.) I, however, did not enjoy the breadcrumbs in this dish. Of note, I did not use panko breadcrumbs as the original recipe calls for; I used store bought regular bread crumbs. That very well could have simply been the problem. I did try this recipe again sans breadcrumbs (as above) and I thought it was delicious!! If you want to try breadcrumbs, I recommend against store bought ones. I might, in the future, try this recipe with homemade breadcrumbs. We'll see... Enjoy!

Cranberry Sauce Extraordinaire

With November upon us, it's that time of year to start thinking about those family Thanksgiving traditions. My personal favorite dish is actually just a side dish- cranberry sauce. I recently came across a twist to the original cranberry sauce or relish recipe. Surprising, even to me, this recipe held up to the approval of my taste buds! I highly recommend this cranberry sauce recipe if you're looking to spice up your recipes this year!!! (Original recipe can be found here!)

Cranberry Sauce Recipe:

Prep time: 10-20 minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

(I promise. This recipe IS really quick and easy!!)

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/2 cup white sugar

1 12 oz package fresh cranberries

1 orange, peeled and pureed

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

1 pear, peeled, cored and diced

1 cup dried mixed fruit

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp all spice

1/2 tsp ginger

Directions:

Prepare all fruits initially. Then, in a medium saucepan boil water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium/medium low and mix in all of the ingredients. Cover and allow mixture to simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until the cranberries burst. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Additional Comments:

For dried fruit I used cherries, cranberries, and apricots. Of note, I pureed the apricots into tiny bite-size chunks. And I ended up really enjoying the consistency that they added to the dish. I did try to puree the other dried fruit, but it just didn't work for me. In the end, the cherries and cranberries in whole form was also the perfect consistency; I loved it. I used a little more spices and less sugar than the original recipe called for, which I'm very pleased I did so. Also, this dish is great served both warm and cool. Therefore, it's great as leftovers too!! Happy cooking... and enjoy!

Simmering Cranberry Sauce