South Indian Inspired Veggie Chili

Whether eaten simply in a bowl or served over whole wheat spaghetti and topped with cheddar cheese, this recipe has been my go-to since discovering spice layering. This chili is more than a stew mimicking the feel and flavor of chili, it is a fun to cook and reliable recipe for making a vegetarian chili that suits the palettes of almost anyone. 

A couple of notes: 

1) A heavy-bottomed stock pot works the best for this recipe. 2) Be sure to use canned black beans for the recipe – and use the cheapest available. They break down during cooking and give the chili a wonderful body that you cannot get from dried beans unless you cook them to the point of breaking down. 

3) If you do not have portobella mushrooms, white button mushrooms will do just fine. 

EQUIPMENT

Chef’s knife

Cutting Board

Stock pot with lid

Wooden Spoon

Can Opener

Colander

Measuring spoons 

INGREDIENTS

2T extra virgin olive oil

1T mustard seed (any color)

1T cumin seed

2-3 dried chilies (optional)

1 medium Vidalia (or sweet onion), diced

1T minced garlic1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, crushed

2 15-oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed 

1 6-oz can tomato paste

2 rounded tablespoons of ground cumin

¼ t hot madras curry powder

¼ t ground cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

1 8-oz package of portobello mushrooms

Recipe

Bring a stock pot to heat over medium high flame. While heating the pot, dice the onion and set it aside. Once the pot is hot, add the olive oil, mustard seed and cumin seed. Cover. The seeds will begin to pop open (much like popcorn). Once the rate of popping starts, turn the heat to medium low, add the dried chilis, diced onion, and salt. Cook until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently. This takes 5-7 minutes. If the edges of the onions slightly brown, it’s completely fine. While the onion is cooking, mince your garlic. Once the onion is cooked, add the onion and saute for another 2 minutes or so. 

 

Crush the whole tomatoes in a large bowl, removing any remaining skin or hard cores from the tomatoes. Add the crushed tomatoes and juice to the pot. Fill the can with water, swish to remove adhering tomato from the can walls, and pour the water in your pot. Increase the heat to medium high.  Add in the cumin, curry powder, and cayenne. While you can increase the amount of cayenne pepper, do not increase the amount of curry -- doing so will make the chili taste like curry. 

Drain the beans in a colander and rinse them well. add the beans and tomato paste to the colander. Mix well to dissolve the tomato paste. Chop the mushrooms into bite-sized (½  – ¾ inches diced) pieces and add to the pot. Remember, they will shrink when cooking. 

Bring the pot to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 40-45 minutes until desired thickness. 

Serve over your favorite pasta, served with cheese and crackers or simply with a dollop of lime-coriander yogurt and sprinkle of cilantro!

Tahini Granola Bars

 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup roasted and salted sunflower seeds

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 tbsp chia seeds

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup tahini paste

Combine ingredients.  If mixture seems too wet, add oats.  If mixture seems too dry, add tahini.  Place into a prepared pan, lined with parchment paper.  Using a rubber spatula, press down to flatten.  Freeze for 2 hours.  Remove from freezer and cut into bars.  Keep refrigerated.

You can substitute any nut or seed you like or prefer, and, of course, any nut or seed butter in place of tahini.  

"Meat" Sauce and Veggies

I have been trying to up my protein, after tracking my macros for several months.  I have returned to using TVP in this extremely simple, high protein recipe.

1/2 cup red lentils, washed, picked through

1/2 cup TVS (textured vegetable protein)

1 fistful of walnuts, broken into pieces

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 cup pasta sauce, any brand

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 cups frozen vegetables - I would gravitate to peas, broccoli

1 cup of diced carrots and onions

1 tbsp oil

Place lentils and TVP in a pot of water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes.  Both TVP and lentils will cook quickly.  Add your dash of soy sauce and garlic and walnuts. In a separate pot, cook the vegetables - saute onions in oil, add diced carrots.  Once cooked, add the frozen vegetables.  Saute until tender.

Drain the "meat" mixture and add pasta sauce. Stir to combine well and heat thoroughly.  Combine vegetables and "meat" into one pot and serve hot.  

Lentil Pasta with mushrooms

 1/3 cup lentil pasta (from Trader Joe’s)

1 Tsp vegan butter

1/3 cup onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced 

4 cremini mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 large handful of spinach

1 tbsp Italian herbs

Pinch of salt and pepper

1/4 lemon zest

Vegan Parmesan to taste 

Optional nutritional yeast

Cook pasta as directed.  Meanwhile, heat butter in pan.  Once hot, add onions and garlic until fragrant.  Add mushrooms, then peas and corn, stirring frequently.cheese at the last minute.  Plate and add lemon zest.    Season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning.  Add cooked and drained pasta and stir.  Toss in spinach and Parmesan  at the last minute,  remove from heat and plate, and then sprinkle lemon zest on top.  Serve hot. 

Chow Mein!

 I have been obsessed with Chow Mein since trying my local vegan restaurant’s version.  I was craving it, but they are not open today, so I tried my hand at it.  This recipe is quick and delicious!

You need:

Fistful of noodles - I used spaghetti, but you can also use ramen

1/2 bag of shredded cabbage and carrot from Trader Joe’s, or make your own

1/4 cup diced onion

Cubed tofu, I used about 1/2 cup

Scallions

For the Sauce:

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp peanut butter 

1 tbsp blackstrap molasses 

2 tsp seasoned rice vinegar 

1 garlic clove, finely minced

2 tsp sesame oil

First, boil the water for the pasta.  Begin to mix the sauce in a jar - whisk until fully immersed.  As soon as the water is ready, toss it in to cook and begin to heat up a pan. Throw a couple of dashes of water in the pan to cook onions first.  Once the onions are translucent, toss in the vegetable mix and tofu to the pan.  Mix until slightly wilted, cooking on medium heat.  

Once the noodles are cooked, drain and add them to the pan, turning up the heat to high.  Stir around for 30 seconds or so, and slowly add the sauce to the pan to reach desired consistency (I only used about half for 2 servings).  Let it begin to boil, so you can scrape the glazed bits off the pan as you fervently stir the mix.  Remove from heat and garnish with scallions.  Serve immediately.

If you make this, let me know!