Crockpot Chile Chili

The weather is starting to get chilly here in Mid-Missouri and there is nothing better (at least in my opinion) to eat when it is blustery than a hearty soup, stew, or chili. So I decided to make chili!

I like my chili to be really spicy - well, if I am honest, I like EVERYTHING to be really spicy, but Brett has complained many times that the reason he does not like me to make chili is because it is too hot. I decided to be nice and use chiles for flavor, and just a little bit of heat and we ended up with this super tasty chili that we enjoyed with Fritos!

















Sorry for the horrible picture. Hopefully someday I will figure out how to use my camera.

The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Crockpot Chile Chili
1/4 cup Anasazi beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup cranberry beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup pinto beans, rinsed ****
1/4 cup navy beans, rinsed
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed +
2 pasilla chiles, stems removed and rinsed
2 ancho chiles, stems removed and rinsed

4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 habaneros, seeded and minced *
2 gypsy (or other sweet peppers), seeded and minced *
2 yellow onions, chopped *
4 large tomatoes, cored and chopped *

2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed *
1/2 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed *

cumin
cilantro
salt
pepper

(Start this chili in the morning.)

Combine beans and dried chiles in a crockpot and let simmer on low all day.

Before you go to bed, add all the vegetables except the sweet and regular potatoes.

In the morning, add the potatoes, and season to taste. Let cook for an additional hour or so or until potatoes are soft.

This chili was super tasty and would also be excellent with tortilla chips or on a baked potato. Mmmmmm.

'Til next time.

Local Kidney Bean and Veggie Burgers

I was going to post about a meal of local Walnut Pesto and pasta, but I decided against it for a number of reasons. First off, I forgot to take a picture of the meal. Secondly, I have posted about our Walnut Pesto before and since I had plans for another local meal in mind, I decided to make this post our weekly One Local Summer entry.

One of the many things I really love about summer is bean and veggie burgers. I don't know why I associate these foods with summer, but I seem to. I have so many created recipes and ideas for bean, grain, and veggie burgers that it is often hard to know where to start. I've noticed now that I've been regularly going to market for a few years now, that we go there and let the produce plan the meals. Based on what is available, what looks best, a menu begins to form in my head and we just roll with it.

With the weather being warm and summer-like and the local veggies abounding, I decided to make a local bean and veggie burger. These burgers were amazing and they have so much potential to be even better. I will share the initial recipe, but let me tell you - this, like most of my other recipes will be tweaked to our liking over time until we get it just right. You all get what I like to call the "rough draft" of the recipe. Sometimes when we are done modifying these recipes, they are nothing like their originals, but that is part of the fun of evolving recipes.


We served our burgers with local garlicky roasted asparagus. I sliced up about 4 baby garlics, tossed the asparagus with olive oil, salt, and the garlic, and roasted it on 375 for about 15 minutes. So, so good.


The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Local Kidney Bean and Veggie Burgers
Makes about six patties.

4 cups kidney beans, mashed with a fork +
1 habanero, seeded and minced * (frozen from last year)
2 hot Hungarian wax peppers, seeded and minced *** (frozen from last year)
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and minced *** (frozen from last year)
1 cup oyster mushrooms, minced *
6 spring onions, minced *
4 baby garlics, minced *
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced *
1/2 cup garlic chives, minced *
4 tbsp regular rolled oats
6-8 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour +
1 egg *
squirt sriracha
chili powder
cumin
black pepper
salt

Combine all ingredients and seasonings except egg in a bowl using the seasonings to taste. Add the egg.

Form into patties and refrigerate for about an hour to allow patties to get a bit more firm.

Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bake burgers in oven for 15 minutes, flip patties and cook for an additional 15 minutes on the other side.

Remove from oven and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Serve on a bun with your favorite toppings, we used:
veganaise
organic ketchup
pickles +
sliced tomatoes *
leaf lettuce **

These were so good. I cannot wait to try out all the crazy combinations I have for burgers and patties in my head. I love summer!

There hasn't seemed to be too awful much interest in the It Seemed Like A Good Idea At the Time Writing Contest, but I'm not too upset by that. I am a fan of quality over quantity, so if just one person writes a good piece, I will think the contest has been a success.

A bit of house cleaning related to the Writing Contest - if you want to participate, but do not have a blog, just send your entry to jheartschilepeppers@live.com and I will post it on Veg*n Cooking as a guest post.

Also, while you can still vote for what you think the prize for the contest will be, the winner will ultimately get to decide between the choices given.

I hope you all consider writing a short (or not-so-short) piece for the contest, I know there are a lot of witty people out there with great minds, let's use 'em!

'Til next time.

Two Bean-Pumpkin Chili

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I am a bit beat from my weekend, but I had a lot of fun nonetheless. I am working on a baking project, whose purpose will be revealed at a later time, so my weekends have been filled with quite a bit of baking (and dishes too of course). This weekend my focus was cookies! I made a few different kinds and they all turned out wonderfully. I'm not sure if I will get to it due to Thanksgiving this week, but if I have time, I might schedule at least a couple of them to go up over the holiday. I have a very short week at work this week, and a lot of prep and planning to do for Brett and I's contribution to Thanksgiving, oh, and then there is the whole going out of town thing - so needless to say, I will probably be absent from commenting on everyone's blogs for the rest of the week. If I can, I will schedule some cookie posts, otherwise, you will get them next week in addition to pictures and recipes from our Thanksgiving meal.

In the meantime though, I hope you will not be disappointed with this week's Dark Day's 90% local meal, a two bean chili with pumpkin! I think I mentioned before, chili is one of the first things I learned how to cook, as a result, Brett and I ate far more chili than I care to mention, we were so burnt out on chili - poor Brett more than myself. Long story short, we are both, particularly Brett, very picky about chili now. Most of the time I make it, it gets an "eh" from both of us, and doesn't get blogged about. The last "hit" I had in the chili department was the Two Bean and Lentil Chili and then this.

This was my first attempt at using pumpkin in a savory dish and it is really good. This chili was really good. It was hearty, and had a deep, rich tomato flavor, was just spicy enough, it had hints of sweetness and creaminess from the pumpkin, and even a meaty quality from the oyster mushrooms. And with the two beans, you know it was filling.

The only thing I would do differently with this chili next time would be to chop the pumpkin up a little smaller. We like to eat our chili with tortilla chips and the chunks were hard to scoop up.















(Not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but so, so tasty.)

The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Two Bean-Pumpkin Chili

4 cups black beans, cooked ****
2 cups pinto beans, cooked ****
4 medium to large tomatoes, chopped +
1 habanero, seeded and minced +
1 hot Hungarian wax pepper (ours was ripe and red!), seeded and minced ***
1 serrano (this one was ripe and red too!!), seeded and minced ***
1 green bell pepper, seeded and minced +
1 purple bell pepper, seeded and minced +
4 cloves of garlic, minced +
1 red onion, chopped +
3 cups fresh pumpkin, chopped +
8 oyster mushrooms, minced +
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely minced +
5 cups water
chili powder
cumin
Mexican oregano
salt

Combine all ingredients, except the beans, in a large soup pot and simmer for about 2 hours.

Add the beans, and more seasoning if desired, and simmer for an additional 30 minutes to an hour.

This makes a lot of chili. I froze the portion we didn't eat and we will thaw it for a quick meal when we get back from visiting my mom.

I hope everyone has a wonderful (and as local as possible) Thanksgiving!

'Til next time!

Whole Grain Spelt Pizza with Jerk Sauce and Veggies

I have been wanting to do more experimenting with whole grain pizza doughs for awhile. We've tried whole wheat pizza doughs and either the taste has been off or the texture has been fairly unpleasant. Not wanting to consume a bunch of white flour laden pizzas, I felt like I was in a rut. Courtney suggested spelt flour awhile back, and I noticed some whole grain spelt flour in the bulk bins at the nearby Hy-Vee. We picked up a few pounds and successfully made our Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits using it (they were actually better with the spelt flour), so we decided to try our hands at making spelt pizza dough.

The verdict? This is the best pizza dough we've had so far! We both agree that we really like spelt flour and plan on using it for the many baking adventures I have planned for the near future. The crust had a hearty, slightly nutty flavor and the crust was flaky and soft in the center. It was really, really good. The recipe (found below) is just the Using Up the White Flour Pizza Dough recipe with 2 parts spelt flour, 1 part organic all-purpose flour.

I've also been wanting to try out a "jerk" recipe for awhile now, but couldn't figure out what to do since a) "jerking" is a lot like BBQ, it is a seasoning mix yes - but more so a way of cooking things and b) meat is the most oft "jerked" item, and since I'm a vegetarian who doesn't like meat analogues or tofu, tempeh, or seitan, I didn't know what to do. Then somewhere along the way I decided it might make a good sauce for a pizza. So, that is what we did! The recipe is based off of the many jerk seasoning recipes online, combined with what was available, and our tastes. This jerk sauce is pretty spicy - it contains habaneros - so those who prefer mild food should beware.

You may also notice that there are sliced sweet potatoes in the picture, but that pineapple is called for in the recipe, and that there is no mention of the sweet potatoes. This is because I had originally conceptualized there being pineapples on this pizza - not sweet potatoes - but we are participating in the Eat Local Challenge this month, and I thought sweet potatoes and jerk sauce would complement each other well. I think that sweet potatoes and jerk sauce would be a good pairing - just not on this pizza. The texture of the sweet potatoes didn't turn out well, so we ended up taking them off.

The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

















J's Jerk Sauce
Makes 1 1/2 cups (I frozen the left over cup of sauce)

2 habanero peppers, seeded *
6 cloves of garlic, peeled *
2 small yellow onions, skins removed **
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp allspice
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp shoyu
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup safflower oil
pepper
salt

Combine in a food processor and let blend in fridge for a few hours.

Whole Grain Spelt Pizza Crust
2 cups whole grain spelt flour
1 cup of organic all-purpose flour
1 small package of active dry yeast
2 tbsp organic raw sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of very hot water

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Slowly add the oil and the water. It's easiest to use your hands to work the dough.

Spread out the crust on a pizza stone dusted with flour, using your fingers to pinch the dough at the edges to create a crust.

Whole Grain Spelt Pizza with Jerk Sauce and Veggies
1/2 cup of jerk sauce
1/2-1 cup of black beans, cooked ****
1 cup pineapple chunks (if using canned, drain)
1 pimento pepper, seeded and thinly sliced *
1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced ***
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced *
sliced black olives (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.

Spread jerk sauce on the crust and top evenly with the ingredients.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

A yummy spicy, sweet, tasty pizza!

'Til next time!

Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros, Batata, y Seta (Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Mushroom Quesadillas)

Wahoo for sweet potatoes being in season! Sweet potatoes, like mushrooms and olives, are a food that I have only enjoyed since going vegetarian - Brett has always loved them. Do we ever enjoy them now though! They are incredibly versatile, easy to work with, and have I mentioned delicious?

I don't know about anyone else, but we love sweet potatoes in Mexican food. I can't speak for Brett on this one, but I also love sweet potatoes in spicy Mexican food. They work great in quesadillas, who needs cheese? In fact, both Brett and I agree that putting cheese and sweet potatoes together just sounds plain gross any way. So I guess this, and most of the other things I try to pass off as a "quesadilla" aren't really since there is no cheese in most of them - real or fake. I just don't know what else to call a folded over stuffed tortilla - so alas, my poor attempts at a Spanish translation and the misnomer "quesadilla" is what you all have to settle for.

But you guys do get a picture and a yummy recipe, so perhaps my minor indiscretions aren't so bad after all, eh? ;-)

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden















Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros, Batata, y Seta
1 large sweet potato, roasted *
chipotle chili powder
cinnamon

1 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
2 cups white button mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, seeded and minced **
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced *
1 spicy mystery pepper from our CSA, seeded and minced (jalapeno, serranos, or another habanero would work just fine) **
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
1/2 a yellow onion, minced *
1 large tomato, chopped **
1/4 cup salsa
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
white pepper
salt

tortillas
Green Chile Taco Sauce (*, **, and ***)

After sweet potato is baked, remove flesh from the skin and mash with chipotle chili powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and onion and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Add the beans, rice, tomatoes, salsa and spices and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Layer sweet potatoes and bean/rice/veggie mixture in warmed tortillas and fry if desired.

Serve with Green Chile Taco Sauce (or other spicy thin salsa).

Yummy, local, healthy, and veg*n. Wahoo!

'Til next time!

J's Spicy Mexican-ish Brunch Hash

I made this for brunch over the weekend. It was very easy and very tasty - an excellent way to enjoy the abundance at the farmer's market. We are really trying to relish in it while we can. We are going to attempt to eat as locally as possible over winter, but it will be more difficult. Tomorrow when I post a "mini round-up" of how folks are doing in the Unplug Yourself initiative, I will outline our goals for eating as locally and sustainably as possible over the winter. I am also pondering a "what's local on our table" either page or element on the sidebar for easy viewing of what we are eating locally each week. Would anyone be interested in this element or page?

Anyways, there are a lot of peppers in this, so it might seem like it was really spicy, but it wasn't too spicy for Brett to enjoy. He's lucky I didn't add that second habanero, I wanted to, but thought I was pushing my luck with the one.

As those of you who have been following this blog know, we gave up avocados back in June for Chile's Quit Now Challenge. Since then, the only time we have had avocados has been when we go to our favorite local Mexican restaurant El Rancho, or when my dad brought a bunch down with the (apparently dying) avocado tree. In doing the challenge, the idea wasn't to give up avocados completely but rather, to become less reliant on them, and I think we very much succeeded. I bought an avocado this weekend for the first time since before the challenge in June. I thought it would really round out the brunch hash and would also be a really nice treat. So this meal includes guacamole!

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

Well, here it is!


J's Spicy Mexican-ish Brunch Hash
4 small new potatoes, cubed *
2 white mushrooms, minced
1/2 a zucchini, cubed ***
1/2 a yellow summer squash, cubed **
1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced *
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced *
1 habanero, seeded and minced *
1/2 red onion, minced *
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped ***
2-3 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced (or 1 tsp dried) **
chili powder
cumin
Mexican oregano
black pepper
salt

guacamole
homemade salsa

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Drain potatoes.

Meanwhile, heat a couple of tablespoons of safflower oil in a large skillet. Add all the veggies except the tomatoes and cilantro and cook for 10-15 minutes, adding the potatoes whenever they are done.

Once veggies begin to soften, season to taste and add the tomatoes. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Stir in the cilantro.

Garnish with guacamole and homemade salsa.

We also at a few tortilla chips with our meal.

I don't fuss over brunch very often, we generally eat veggie bagel sandwiches and fruit, but every once in awhile a nice cooked brunch sounds good.

'Til next time.

Marinated Portobello Mushroom and Veggie Fajitas with Chile-Lime Sauce

I've been on a slight marinating kick lately - especially marinating mushrooms and veggies for Mexican-ish food. This time I decided to highlight the portobello mushroom in a marinated fajita as, well, they are one of both Brett and my favorite mushrooms.

This is another spicy dish, for less fire, omit some of the hot peppers from the 'veggie mix' in the fajitas.

Since Brett and I aren't eating avocados for a month, I've decided to try to be creative with salsas to go with our meal so guacamole and avocado won't be necessary. I decided to go with a Chile-Lime sauce this time and it paired with the marinated mushrooms and veggies well. The sauce is also pretty spicy, remove the seeds from the peppers before blending if you want a milder sauce. Brett made some tofu sour cream and it turned out excellent this time, I love the way the tofu sour cream compliments really spicy food.















Chile-Lime Sauce
2 serrano chilies, minced
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup veggie broth
juice of one lime
cumin
pinch sugar
pinch white pepper
pinch salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onions and cook for about 10 minutes, add the garlic and cook another 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess water and transfer to a food processor.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Return to the stove in a small sauce pan. Simmer on low for about a half hour until thick.

Mushrooms and veggies marinating.

Just Another Fajita Marinade
1/8 cup vegetable oil (you could get away with less, but this marinade does need some oil)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
juice of one lime
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 chipotle chilies in adobo, roughly chopped
4 dried New Mexican Chile peppers, roughly broken up
1 tsp. sugar
Mexican oregano
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt
dash white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and marinate veggies for at least an hour. Remove dried chilies and chipotle chilies (if desired) before cooking veggies.

Marinated Portobella Mushroom and Veggie Fajitas
Marinate the following veggies:
2-3 cups portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 serrano pepper, seeded and sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced

The Other Stuff:
small tortillas
Chili Lime Sauce
tofu sour cream

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the veggies and cook for 15-20 minutes, adding more marinde if neccesary, or until soft.

Divide filling in two bowls. Serve with warmed small tortillas, Chile-Lime sauce, and tofu sour cream.

I love fajitas, and marinating veggies is an incredibly easy way to take a meal to a different level.

'Til next time.

Black Bean Burgers and Lisa's Cantina Potato Salad

We had these last Saturday, May 31st as our send off to avocados for a month. I've just been busy with work, and then came down with a cold, so have been slow to getting around to posting about them.

They were really good, and I was particularly happy to find a 'new' black bean burger. You see, Main Squeeze, the vegetarian restaurant here in town, used to serve a black bean burger, topped with vegan chipotle mayo, avocado, red onion, the works. It was so good. It had actually made it's way to my top favorite foods, then Main Squeeze stopped serving them. I was crushed, and haven't had a black bean burger since, which is such a shame. I think I did a fairly good job replicating my old favorite and I'm happy it's back in my meal routine! I adapted this recipe from a Vegetarian Time's recipe which can be found here.

Lisa (the Show Me Vegan) posted about a chipotle potato salad awhile back which she dubbed 'Cantina Potato Salad'. It seemed like the perfect accompaniment to the burgers so we whipped up a batch. This potato salad was AWESOME. Seriously good stuff. I will definitely take this to the next potluck I attend, you couldn't even tell it was vegan! Brett really liked the dressing for the potato salad and thought, if toned down in spiciness a bit, it would be an awesome salad dressing too. Lisa, you rock, thanks for the recipe.

J-Style Black Bean Burgers

Makes 3 MEGA burgers

1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked

1 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

1/4 cup sweet corn, cooked

1/2 cup Matzoh meal

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced (optional)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of one lime

1 tbsp ketchup (I use organic, no sugar added)

chili powder

cumin

ground coriander

onion powder

dash white pepper

salt

1/4-1/2 cup water, as needed to get desired consistency

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes.

Transfer all ingredients in a food processor and blend. Add the water a little bit at a time until you get the desired consistency.

Form batter into three large patties and refrigerate for an hour.

Heat just a tiny bit of coconut oil in a medium skillet. Add the burger and cook for about 5 minutes on each side.

We topped our burgers with vegan chipotle mayo, lettuce from our CSA, red onion, and avocado.

Really, really good, we will be having these often!

I apologize that I've gotten a bit behind reading everyone's blogs, I am hoping to get caught up soon. And this cold better split pronto, I am taking a four day weekend this weekend.

'Til next time.

Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros Refritos y Arroz (Refried Black Bean and Rice Quesadilla)

I hope I got the translation right. If anyone out there knows Spanish and wants to correct me, please, by all means, do so! I am essentially trying to 'learn' Spanish via eating Mexican food. :-)

These were really, really good. I can't believe, seeing how much we love Mexican food in my house, that I've never made refried black beans until now. What's wrong with me?! Refried black beans rock!

(Notice how I sneak in greens in the oddest places? How else can I make sure Brett eats his greens? Gotta be a bit sneaky sometimes, and it helps that spinach is seriously one of the best veggies there are, period!)

Frijol Negro Refrito y Arroz Quesadillas

Refried Black Beans:

2 cups black beans, cooked

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced

1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced

splash veggie broth

juice of half a lime

garlic powder

onion powder

cumin

chili powder

Mexican oregano

dash of white pepper

salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a seperate bowl, heat 1 tsp coconut oil. Fry the black beans until they begin to get mushy and split.

Transfer everything to a large bowl and combine with a mixer or potato masher.

The Rest of the Filling:

1/2 cup of corn, cooked

1 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

Mix corn and rice together in a bowl.

Heat a few tablespoons of veggie broth in a small sauce pan. Add the spinach (in batches if necessary) and cook until wilted. Drain any excess liquid.

The 'Other Stuff':

tortillas

guacamole

Jalapeno-Tomatillo Green Sauce

Layer beans, rice and corn, and spinach in warmed tortillas.

Fry if desired and top with guacamole and Tomatillo-Jalapeno Green Sauce.

We will be making these again very soon!

'Til next time.

Orange-Chipotle Anasazi Bean Quesadillas

This recipe is dedicated to Alice (in Veganland).

She declared her undying love for all things citrus when I posted about the Spicy Chipotle-Citrus Marinated Veggie Fajitas, and her comment reminded me of this other citrusy-spicy recipe I created awhile back.

Oh, and this is my 100th post! Wowsa!

I can only imagine what these tasted like in crispy tortillas, as I was only able to eat the filling (at least I could eat that!), and boy, it was good. Brett made some tofu sour cream to go with this and it complimented perfectly.

It may not look very pretty but don't be fooled, this is a sweet, tangy and spicy delicious meal. The spice level bordered on too much for Brett, so I may add the habanero just to my dish next time.

Orange-Chipotle Anasazi Bean Quesadillas

Serves 2.

1 cup Anasazi beans, cooked

1/2 yellow onion, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

1 orange bell pepper, seeded and minced

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced (optional)

2-4 chipotle chilies en adobo, minced

1 tbsp adobo sauce

juice of one orange

1 tbsp brown rice vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup veggie broth

2 tbsp dried cilantro

cumin

Mexican oregano

white pepper

salt

tortillas

guacamole

tofu sour cream

picante sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water. Add the peppers and onion and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Place all the filling ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan. Simmer, covered on low for 30-35 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

Layer mixture into warmed tortillas and top with guacamole, tofu sour cream and picante sauce.

'Til next time!

Black Bean and Quinoa Taquitos

So, my tooth is finally gone! I didn't think I'd ever be so happy to go to the dentist. I am now happily at home, with gauze in my numb mouth, but the jaw pain should be gone! Wahoo! It's likely that I won't be able to eat solid food for a day or so, but seriously, I'm just happy the whole 'tooth fiasco' is over with!

Last night, I was still able to eat solid foods, so I whipped up some taquitos. Yet another good finger food, and really easy. Enjoy!















Black bean, quinoa and veggie filling!















Taquitos ready to go in the oven.















Black Bean and Quinoa Taquitos
1 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked
1 cup mushrooms, finely minced
1 zucchini, chopped
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced
1 Anaheim pepper, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced (optional)
1/4 red onion, minced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small can of sliced black olives, drained
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt

corn tortillas (we used white corn)
toothpicks
guacamole
Green Chile Taco Sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers and onion and cook for 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 5 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste.

Layer filling in warmed corn tortillas and secure with a toothpick.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tortillas crispy and golden brown.

I hope when the numbness wears off that my mouth isn't too painful. We get our first CSA box this weekend and I want to be able to enjoy some of it!

Anyways, I'm off to read, it's a gorgeous afternoon here in Mid-Missouri.

'Til next time.

Spring Veggie Fusion Quesadillas

This meal consisted of an odd variety of ingredients, but I like to rebel against the norm and do crazy things with my food. Sometimes it turns out really good, other times not so much. This was a good one.

And on the name, Spring Veggie Quesadillas, I think the only 'spring' vegetable in here is the asparagus, but that's the idea I had for a name for it, and I'm not all that creative with titles, so there it is! :-)

My freezer has been filling up with the sauces I've been making for the past few weeks, so I pulled out a couple to have with the recipes I chose for this week.

Spring Veggie Fusion Quesadillas

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

1 small can chopped black olives, drained

1/2 bunch of asparagus, woody ends discarded

2 small red potatoes, srubbed and cubed

1 red or yellow bell pepper, halved

1 poblano, halved

1/4 red onion, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups mushrooms (I used a pack of Enoki and half a pack of baby portobellos)

4 jalapenos, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced (optional)

Mexican oregano

ground coriander

cumin

salt

vegan jack

tortillas

guacamole

Chipotle Tomatillo Serrano Sauce

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt 1 tsp coconut oil on a baking sheet in the oven.

Layer asparagus, potatoes and peppers on the baking sheet and toss with oil, sprinkle a pinch of salt over veggies. Roast for about 20 minutes or until veggies are soft.

You may have to remove the asparagus and peppers before the potatoes are done.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet. Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and peppers and cook for 10-15 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water and transfer to a large bowl.

When roasted veggies are cool, chop and put in bowl.

Add artichokes and olives and season to taste.

Layer filling and vegan jack in warmed tortillas and fry if desired.

Serve with guacamole and Chipotle Tomatillos Serrano Sauce.

'Til next time!

Black Bean and Asparagus Enchiladas with Green Enchilada Sauce

This recipe is dedicated to the Vegan Cow Girl.

Her love for all things asparagus inspired me to try to come up with a way to use it in a Mexican inspired dish.

I have to be completely honest with you, both Brett and I were a little skeptical at first, but these turned out really good. I cleaned my plate and Brett ate so much he almost made himself sick.

And I must state for the record, roasted asparagus seriously rocks. Seriously. :-)

Green Enchilada Sauce

Makes enough for a large dish of enchiladas.

1 lb tomatillos, husked and cored

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup veggie broth

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced

1/2 yellow onion, minced

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup of cilantro, washed and shredded

juice of one lime

cinnamon

dash nutmeg

dash cocoa powder

cumin

paprika

dash white pepper

salt

1 tbsp good canola oil

Soak husked and cleaned tomatillos in cold water to 10-15 minutes.

While tomatillos are soaking, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

Blend tomatillos and water in a food processor.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until very smooth.

Place sauce in a pan and simmer, covered for about 40 minutes.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend.

This sauce should last in the fridge about 2 weeks, it also freezes well.

The enchilada filling. So very good. I took the leftover filling into work the next day and ate it by itself for lunch! It was really good.

Black Bean and Asparagus Enchiladas

1 cup black beans, cooked

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends discarded, roasted and sliced into bite sized pieces

2 small zucchini, roasted and sliced

1/2 bell pepper, roasted and sliced

1 poblano, roasted and sliced

1/4 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

cumin

chipotle chili powder

Mexican oregano

paprika

salt

vegan jack (optional)

Green Enchilada Sauce

corn tortillas (we used white corn)

sliced black olives

guacamole

When veggies are done roasting, reduce oven heat to 350.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, garlic and serrano peppers. Cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Spread enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.

Layer filling and a little bit of vegan jack (if desired) in warmed corn tortillas. Roll up and place in the pan. Top with a little more enchilada sauce.

Bake, uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until everything is bubbly and tortillas are getting crisp.

Top with olives and bake for another 2-3 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with guacamole.

Yum!

So, a bit of sad garden news to end this post. I did some research, and it looks like we started our pepper seeds a bit late this year. This means we are going to start picking up starts over the course of this week to transplant into pots this weekend. We did, however, learn a lot, and will know to start them much sooner next year. We are going to keep the New Mexican Chile start going, as they seem to be taking off and I've never seen a start of this pepper. We're hoping to at least get one or two peppers off of it so we can save their seeds.

Anyways.... I'll leave you with a couple of cute kitty pictures.

We've created a monster. Brett thought it was cute that Nermal was getting interested in the sink one day not too long ago. She then discovered that she could drink the running water out of the sink. Now she will only drink the running water out of the sink. And she demands it, by loudly and constantly meowing when she's thirsty. I don't think she's drank out of her water bowl for a month. Let's just say it used to be cute and now we're stuck doing it! :-)

Gabby never misses an opportunity to get in a bag.

'Til next time!

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos with Green Chile Taco Sauce

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This meal was a slightly more 'experimental' idea that I had, but it turned out wonderfully. Both Brett and I weren't sure on our first bite, but in less than 10 minutes, the meal was gone!

And we both agreed, this taco sauce just plain rocks! Don't be turned off by the icky color, this stuff is fantastic.

Veggies for taco sauce.

Taco sauce simmering.

Green Chile Taco Sauce

8-10 Anaheim peppers

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2-4 tomatillos, husked and chopped

1/2 red onion, minced

5 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup white distilled vinegar

Preheat oven to 400.

Place whole Anaheim chilies on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, until peppers soft and blistered, turning a few times through cooking.

Place chilies in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam, for about 15 minutes, this will loosen the skins for easy removal.

Remove stems and skins and chop.

Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring a couple of times through cooking.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

This sauce will last about 2-3 weeks in the fridge and freezes well.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas and Taco Salads

Spicy chipotle black bean filling.

Yum!

I thought this picture looked a little like a face. :-)

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos

1 cup black beans, cooked and warmed

1/4 red onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced

1 habanero, seeded and minced

2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

2 chipotle chilies in adobo, miced

1 tsp sauce from chilies in adobo

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp unseasoned brown rice vinegar

1 tbsp agave

cumin

ground coriander

Mexican oregano

salt

canned pineapple tid bits, drained.

hard taco shells

baby spinach

sliced avocado

Green Chile Taco Sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the bean filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer spinach, bean filling and pineapple in warmed taco shells. Serve with sliced avocado and Green Chile Taco Sauce.

So yummy.

Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!

'Til next time.

Marinated Mushroom, Pepper and Corn Flautas with Smooth Roasted Tomatillo-Garlic Salsa

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I love Mexican food (and I also dig on their music, especially instrumental guitar). It truly borders on obsession, but that's fine by me (and Brett). :-) If you all could only see my flash drive and the literally dozens (perhaps bordering on 100) of Mexican sauce, entree and brunch recipes I've created (and yet to try), you'd either be scared or impressed. The only problem with my insane quantity of recipes is that I forget about some of them or don't know where to begin when I go to plan my meals out for the week. Well, I've come up with a new organizational method (separating recipes by type, such as 'burritos and burros', 'enchiladas', 'flautas', 'empanadas', 'fajitas', etc) so now they are more readily accessible and I'm not faced with a HUGE folder full of recipes to choose from.

A couple of nights ago, I pulled out this flauta recipe that I was really excited about when I created it, but soon forgot about.

These did not fail to please at all. And, they only took about 20 minutes to prepare (I made the salsa over the weekend so that the meal would be quick), and then baked for about the same amount of time. A perfect meal after a long day at work!

Enough of my yammering, onto the pictures and the recipes!















Roasted tomatillos and garlic fresh from the oven. They look very appetizing, I know, but trust me, roasted tomatillos are amazing.















Roasted Tomatillo and Garlic Salsa

Makes about 3 cups.

Note: This is a very mild salsa.

1lb tomatillos, husked
1 head of garlic, 1/4 inch of the top sliced off
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1/4 red onion, minced
1 cup of cilantro, shredded
1/2 cup (or more) water
cumin
Mexican oregano
paprika
dash sugar
salt

Preheat the broiler.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook about 10 minutes.

Drizzle a little melted coconut oil and a pinch of salt over the tomatillos and garlic.

Roast for about 3-5 minutes, and turn. Roast another 3-5 minutes until tomatillos begin to blister.

The garlic should be removed as soon as it begins to brown and get fragrant.

Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing the skins from the garlic and transferring everything to a food processor.

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until well blended.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend.

This sauce will keep for 1-2 weeks in the fridge and freezes well.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas, Taco Salads, Burritos and Burros, Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Bowls, Tamales, Fajitas, Empanadas, Flautas, Taquitos

Marinated Mushrooms:
juice of one lime
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp shoyu (or other soy sauce)
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
cayenne pepper
salt

1 small pack of button mushrooms, diced

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the mushrooms, stir, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for about 8 hours. (I made the marinade the night before and put the mushrooms in to marinate before I went to work in the morning.)

Marinated Mushroom, Pepper and Corn Flautas

1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked

1/2 cup corn, cooked

1/4 red onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

juice of half a lime

chipotle chili powder

ground coriander

cumin

Mexican oregano

paprika

salt

small flour tortillas

guacamole

Smooth Roasted Tomatillo and Garlic Salsa

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers, onion and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes or until veggies are soft. Drain any excess water and transfer to a bowl and combine with cooked rice, corn and spices.

Using the same skillet, add the marinated mushrooms and a bit of the marinade to the skillet. Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until mushrooms are soft. Drain any excess liquid and transfer to the bowl with the rest of the filling.

Layer filling in warmed tortillas and roll up, securing at each end with a tooth pick.

Bake, uncovered for about 15-20 minutes, or until tortillas are crisp. Remove the tooth picks and the flautas should stay together on their own.

Serve with guacamole and Roasted Tomatillo and Garlic Salsa.

Flautas have to be the ideal finger food. Both Brett and I thought these were awesome and I definitely see more flautas in our future, so long as I don't forget about the recipes, which my new organizational system should help with.

Anywho, that's all for now.

'Til next time!

Potato, Veggie and Wild Rice Burros with Jalapeno-Tomatillo Green Sauce and Tomatillo Guacamole

This might, at first, seem like a very strange combination of ingredients to use in Mexican food. But I've learned that so long as you get the seasoning right, you can pair all sorts of interesting things together and get a fairly 'authentic' taste.

Note: This sauce is quite spicy. I would suggest using it sparingly, and if you aren't into spice, perhaps skip this sauce. Also, we are going to try this using a mix of long grain brown and wild rice next time, I think it would be even better that way.

Jalapeno-Tomatillo Sauce















Makes 3 cups

3 tomatillos, husked and chopped
15 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced
1/2 yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup of cilantro, washed and shredded
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
cumin
white pepper
salt

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Add the peppers and onion and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the tomatillos and cook an additional 5 minutes. Transfer veggies to a food processor.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until very smooth and fairly thin, adding the liquid in batches.

This will last about a week in the fridge and freezes well. I kept one cup out to use this week and froze two, one cup portions for later use.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas, Taco Salads, Burritos and Burros, Quesadillas, Fajitas, Flautas, Nachos

Spicy Tomatillo Guacamole
1 avocado, peeled and mashed
1 clove garlic, minced
4 Chiles Japones, minced (or crushed red pepper)
chipotle chili powder
cumin
dash of cayenne (optional)
salt
juice of half a lime

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and chill for about a half hour to let the flavors blend.

Potato, Veggie and Wild Rice Burros

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
dash cinnamon
pinch unsweetened cocoa powder
salt
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt coconut oil in a baking dish in the oven.

Combine the potatoes and spices and bake,covered with foil, for 30-35 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

1/2 cup frozen green beans, cooked
1 zucchini, roasted and sliced
4 serrano peppers, minced
1 habanero, minced
1 poblano pepper, minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup cooked wild rice
salt

tortillas
spicy tomatillo guacamole
jalapeno-tomatillo green sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet.

Add the peppers and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes. Drain any excess water and combine veggies in a small bowl and season with salt.

Layer rice, potatoes, veggies and some Jalapeno-Tomatillo sauce if you desire. Fry if you like andserve with spicy tomatillo guacamole.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I used to be averse to the idea of buying fresh spices as I didn't know what to do with an entire bunch. Well, I am still fairly averse with most fresh spices, though I'm going to be getting some through our CSA, so I better get over that. However, I will buy cilantro. After I've used what I need, we wash the rest of the bunch and hang it upside to dry. Then we use it as a dried spice. It's really easy and works great on most herbs.

If you notice, there are two jalapenos back there too. I've slit them and am hanging them in a first attempt to dry peppers (in anticipation of having to preserve some of my hopefully abundant pepper yield). I've looked into it fairly extensively, and from what I've read, all you have to do is slit them, hang them in a non-humid area and wait. We'll see.

'Til next time.

Lentil Chili Nachos

This was a really good dinner. I had something like this when I was in DC after graduating from college last year and the chili was way too flavorful and salty, but I loved the idea of a lentil chili nacho. Not only was this delicious, aside from the chips (which aren’t too bad), this was a very healthy, and easy to make meal.

Note: This makes a lot of chili, a lot. After I had filled our plates, I froze a quart, and put the other half quart of chili in the fridge for lunches this week. If you don’t like leftovers, you can always cut the recipe in half. It may also seem like there are a lot of hot peppers in here - this chili is not spicy at all (this was confirmed by Brett who is not a spice freak like me), however, if you are very sensitive or cooking for children, you might want to omit one of the jalapenos and the habanero.















This was Brett's plate topped with guacamole, olives, tomatoes and jalapenos.

This was my plate topped with guacamole, jalapenos, red onions, olives and tomatoes.

Lentil Chili Nachos

Lentil Chili:
2 cups dried green lentils
6-8 cups water

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, minced
1 habanero, minced
1/4 red onion, minced
1/2 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1-2 cans no-salt added tomato sauce (depending on how thick you want your chili)
chili powder
a couple large pinches chipotle chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
Mexican oregano
salt

Toppings (this is what we used - you can top it with whatever you want):
black olives
jalapenos
tomatoes
diced onions
guacamole

blue corn chips

Wash lentils well in a wire mesh strainer. Combine with water in a large pan, bring to a boil, and cook until lentils soft, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the rest of the veggies. Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium pan and cook the peppers, garlic, and onions until soft.

Once lentils are done, drain and rinse them. Transfer them to a large pot. Add the cooked veggies, tomatoes with chilies and tomato sauce. Add seasonings to your liking.

Keep on low heat and simmer for about an hour.

While the chili is simmering, it is the perfect time to get your toppings prepped.

Once chili is done, make a large ring of chips around a plate. In the center, layer the chili, whatever veggies you desire, and guacamole.

Having the ring of tortillas and dip in the center keeps the chips from getting soggy.

'Til next time!