A Handful Of The Stuff I Have Been Eating & Enjoying

Chipolte Corn Chili to use up some remaining soy crumbles Matt brought home from his work's potluck last week. I served it with sweet potato fries and a modified version of Isa's Red Hot Tahini Sauce on top.

Nib More Spicy chocolate. This is a pretty good bar with a nice amount of heat. It has more of a cinnamon sweet heat hotness than a peppery fire hot.

This is a red bean curry I made. I have been trying my hand at curries lately.This has lite coconut milk, red curry paste, some Thai peanut butter, garlic, jalapenos, soy sauce, Thai red pepper flakes, Sriracha, sweet potatoes and kidney beans. I am still working on getting my flavors down and trying to get it just right. I like my curry dishes to come with rice.

 

Beer and chocolate. Matt got the Red Hook and chocolate and on a different night we shared the Speakeasy Payback Porter. I have tried a few Speakeasy beers now and like them.

Small falafel pita from Extreme Pita. More tastier than expected but it cannot compete with my fave falafel pita spot. Matt and I both agreed what the number one offender was: that the pita was not warmed, so it was cold making the sandwich less tasty. 

My Aunt gifted me a Trader Joe's gift card for Valentine's so I gifted myself beer and coffee! The coffee is my go to - it has a darkly rich roasted flavor. The beer was split with Matt and was pretty good, mild and great with dinner (the chili above).

These are just a handful of the things we have been eating and drinking. I have been making and eating a lot of granola. Toast with jam is also on my 'eat it often radar'. What about you?

 

Bowls Of Vegan Warmth & Cheeze

Gloomy cold weather has me wanting things like stew, chili and soup lately.

Yummy chili with Beyond Meat, corn, kidney beans and some soy sour cream!

Another Beyond Meat creation. A rich hearty soup with kale, garbanzo beans and tomatoes.The bread is toasted and topped with melty Chao Creamy Original cheese - yummy!

I just released issue #14 of my zine The Stay At Home Girlfriend, however these recipes will be in issue #15 for sure!

[Vegan MOFO] WWGFE Wednesday - Firey Fieri Chili With Polenta Croutons

Guy cooked up a chorizo and polenta lasagna with a cranberry citrus side salad on Guy's Big Bite. I took some of the same ingredients and ideas and took it for a spin.

I made a soyrizo chili topped with polenta croutons and a cranberry, almond with spinach side salad. I added extra heat to the chili using up my farmer's market pepper stash and hot sauce. I kept the polenta croutons plain - so they could be mushjed up and absorb some of the heat and act like corn bread.
The salad is simple: dried cranberries, slivered almonds, spinach with a balsamic vinaigrette I whipped up super fast. The sweetness and tang go well to balance the fire of the chili.

Fiery Fieri Chili With Polenta Croutons 

[chili]

Olive oil for pan

3 (more or less) chili peppers – play around with heat varieties

½ package of soyrizo

2 cans of black beans drained

1 can of Muir Glen Diced Fire Roasted tomatoes (do not drain)

a few dashes of hot pepper sauce

[Croutons]

1 block of polenta cubed, drizzled with a touch of olive oil and baked at 350 for 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a soup pot, add peppers chopped up (remove seeds if you are afraid of heat), cook for a few minutes, add soyrizo, cook for 3 minutes add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cook covered over medium low heat for 30 minutes.

Place a big scoop of chili in a bowl. Top with a few polenta croutons and eat!

Spicy Sweet Potato Chili

I made this simple chili last night. Like everything I try to do, I kept it around $10 and under 30 minutes.  Matt said it was to spicy - I thought it was just right. Mar was happy because I baked a few sweet potato pieces for him when I made the Sriracha drop biscuits (Bisquick mix with rice milk and Sriracha swirled on top)...Yes my cat goes crazy for sweet potatoes!

Spicy Sweet Potato Chili

- 1/2 package of Trader Joe's (or your fave brand) of Soyrizo

- 1 cup of small diced sweet potato chunks

- 2 cans of pinto beans: drained

- 1 can of Rotel (original was used): drained

- 1 teaspoon (or less if you are a spice wimp - shout out to Matt!) of Mexican spice blend

- 3/4 cup of water

- a bit of olive oil

In a large stock pot heat up a splash of olive oil on medium. Add the Soyrizo, breaking it apart. Then add the sweet potatoes, let them cook down and blend together for about 5 minutes. Add your beans, Rotel, spice mix and water. Give it a stir and reduce the heat to a medium low and let it simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. To see if it is done poke a sweet potato chunk and make sure it is fork tender. Serve how you like it...I just went with simple biscuits because I was in the mood for them!

BBQ Tempeh Chili & Baked Breaded Tofu

So one of my goals for 2013 is to try at least 2 new recipes a month, so far I am making new to me recipes few times a week! I often get stuck in food ruts and I am always looking for new recipes that will satisfy both Matt and I.

I bought a bag of panko bread crumbs when I was at Whole Foods, because buying vegan bread crumbs around  here is not working out. So I wanted to make something that included them right away. Usually in the past I just used bread crumbs as a baked mac and cheeze topper...I decided to try the crispy baked tofu recipe from Chow Vegan. I used a 30 oz block of WildWood (my go to tofu). I served it with stove top mac and cheeze, a baked potato and BBQ sauce for dipping. It was good, however next time I am going to eliminate 1/2 of the bread crumb, I had so much left over after breading the tofu. Also I will be playing around with spices to kick it up.

In the current issue of Vegetarian Times there is a article on 5 ingredient chili mixes. I was curios. Matt and I both like BBQ, pinto beans and tempeh, while I like slaw...so we went with the BBQ Tempeh Chili recipe. It was easy to throw together after a trip to the gym. I baked some sweet potato pieces as a side (which Mar ate most of unless I wanted to get scratched up). It was good, simple and made a nice sized pot.


What recipes are you making lately that you love? Any food goals for 2013?

[day 3] Easy Vegan Chili

I love using my Crock Pot and I use it 2-3 times a week. It is a convenient appliance that saves time and energy! From beans to Banana's Foster you can get creative with this little pot!

The one thing that is the most popular in this house is my easy vegan chili recipe. It uses canned beans and salsa so there is no need for overnight soaking or chopping up vegetables. I like it served over corn bread or Fritos with soy sour cream! You can mix up the beans if you like -however this is the combo that gets the most votes in our house.

Easy Crock Pot Chili:

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes - drain the liquid out.
1 (16 oz) jar thick & chunky salsa (I use fresh salsa - mild)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans drained
1 can original Rotel
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 package of Mexican Smart Ground - it is made by LightLife

-Combine all ingredients in a sprayed pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours! Easy huh?