Vegetarian Chili & Cornbread

Day 365

Vegetarian Chili & Cornbread

Vegetarian Chili

I wasn't actually home when Laura made this so there aren't a lot of pics of the process, except the beans, which were soaking before I left. However, we've made chili one other time in the past year of doing this blog so there are lots of pics on that page.

Beans cooking

Last Time We Made Chili

If asked, I would have guess we had chili 4 or 5 times in the past year. Nope. Only once. I find that weird. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2014

Pot of chili

Directions

(As provided by Laura)
Quick soak and cook different types of dried beans, total of 2.5 cups dry. Drain and set aside.
Saute one onion and one red pepper in stew pot.
Add 2 cups cherry tomatoes and 1 can Italian diced tomatoes and half can crushed tomatoes.
Add 2 cups veggie broth and simmer until you can pop cherry tomatoes.
Add 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1/4 cup fresh chopped oregano, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tbsp. chili powder, 2 tsp chipotle powder, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 c. brown sugar and 7 cloves garlic, minced.
Simmer for 1/2 hour, add beans until heated through and serve.

Cornbread

Original recipe
Laura's cornbread tonight was super good. I had good cornbread at work earlier this week too, brought to our potluck by Caroline Davidson. Laura doesn't always use the same recipe, but the one she used tonight was a good one. Cornbread is good with chili. And I just realized that I used "good" four times in this paragraph. Good writing, there.

Cornbread

Reviews/Comments

This is about as awesome as it gets for comfort food with tons of flavor and a bit of kick. I love chili! I give it a 10.

Laura rates it a:"Hmmmm really good chili....9!"

Last Day of This Blog

This is the last entry for this particular blog. I committed to doing it for one year, and followed through! There were times I had to dig deep to keep going and times when I allowed myself a break (like most of the summer). There were also days when it just didn't seem worth it because we were having the same leftovers for a third night or just ate sporadic things throughout the evening rather than a proper meal and I allowed myself a pass sometimes. But altogether there are 272 posts, and that is 75% of the year.

I want to thank my most avid followers: Carrie Weeks, Missy Savoy, Devin DeGray, Stephanie Watson, Kenzie Connelly & Caroline Davidson who actually went in and read many (if not all) of my entries. Your comments, feedback and support were everything to me and if not for you I may have quit last November once the realization of what I had committed to set in. Missy actually tried some of our meals and would always give honest feedback for the blog. I'm sure Devin is super jealous of that since he wants us to adopt him. Carrie tried something Mexican we made not too long ago.Thank you all so much for the part you played in this project. It's more than you even know.

Honorable mentions to:  Molly Westcoat, Lisa Lyon, Robert Frenette & Gisele McClafferty for liking my posts on FB; your support was very much felt and appreciated.

Most of all, I want to thank Laura, who made many of these meals, clicked that link I tagged her in every night and proofread and helped make corrections to errors and omissions, and kept me encouraged throughout the life of the project. Thank you, Laur!

Final Thoughts

It was a fun project, looking back, and most times it was an enjoyable task. I had a lot of laughs at myself (because I'm hilarious) and enjoyed the feedback and comments very much. The blog was never about what a great cook I am (actually, Laura's pretty darn good) or how healthy we eat (I've proven that to be false). It was meant to track what we're eating for our own records, as well as show anyone who was wondering what vegetarians eat since people would ask me. As can be seen by the blog, we eat pretty much what you do, but either without meat or with a substitute. I think it will be a resource I will refer to sometimes, when I'm trying to think of something to have for supper, or remember how something was made.

I will continue to post all the best stuff on my Favorite Recipes blog.

UPDATE: New blog: E&L's Vegan Favorites

Best Beans on PumpernickelToast

Day 364

Best Beans on PumpernickelToast

Jamie Oliver Recipe for Best Beans

Today, I was flipping through the flyers and I noticed a Jamie Oliver recipe for Best Beans. The beans looked really good, so without really reading the recipe at all, I perused the ingredients, checked the pantry and picked up what we needed for it while I was out.

Jamie Oliver recipe for Best Beans

When I was ready to start making it, I realized that the recipe was actually kind of complicated AND took long time to cook - longer than I was prepared to wait. After a moment of panic (NOW what do I do with the beans I just cooked?) and a discussion with Laura, I decided to make it, but make it our way, not Jamie Oliver's way.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup pinto beans (instead of a can of white kidney beans like his recipe)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion, chopped fine
6 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 small Kellogg's Breakfast tomatoes, chopped
10 small cloves of garlic, minced fine
1/3 orange pepper, chopped fine
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp salt

Onions, pepper & tomatoes

Directions

Cook the beans and set aside. Sauté the onions and peppers in the oil just until they begin to soften but not brown. Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and 1/2 cup water.

Beans & sautéing veggies

Once most of the liquid has cooked out and the vegetables are soft, add the garlic, cumin, chili powder, chipotle powder.

Adding spices to tomato mixture

Stir it up then add 1/2 the beans and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and then begin mashing the beans.

Adding beans to tomato mixture

Mix the other half of the beans in and continue cooking on medium low heat until they are heated through.

Erin's Best Beans

We went with pumpernickel and it was a great choice. Toast and butter the bread and serve the beans on it.

Pumpernickel bread

Sprinkle a bit of grated cheddar over top like Jamie Oliver does. ;)

Best Beans on toast 

Reviews/Comments

Laura gives it a 12. I agree, the beans were probably the best ones we've made. Total 10. Inspired by Jamie Oliver, but not his recipe. Might try his some other time, when I'm feeling like fussing over dinner. It called for rosemary infused oil, and while we still have rosemary in the garden, I just wasn't feeling it...way too friggy for my mood today!

Broccoli Barley Bowl

Day 361

Broccoli Barley Bowl 

Appetizer: Pancakes

On Monday I made pancakes from scratch and discovered a recipe worth keeping so I thought I'd post it here for the record, so we can always find it. I'll probably put it in my Favorite Recipes blog as well.

Pancake

Over the years, we've tried several pancake recipes, but we always come back to, "It's no better than the mix" so we generally save ourselves the hassle and buy the "just add water" mixes. However, Monday I wanted to make pancakes to go with the vegan bacon I bought and found that we were out of pancake mix. Since it was Thanksgiving Day and everything was closed, I just looked a recipe up and happened on the best pancake recipe we've ever tried. Thanks Pete!

Today, Laura waited too long to eat and was too hungry to wait for real supper and made a 1/2 batch of these to tide her (us) over. So we each had a pancake about 2 hours before real supper.

Now for the broccoli barley bowls.

Broccoli Barley Bowl

Original recipe

I like barley; it's one of my favorite grains. I found this recipe online by googling barley recipes. Laur harvested the last of the broccoli tonight - and the third harvest, in fact - so this one grabbed my attention and I decided to try it. We had everything on hand except for feta, and while I was out grabbing some I got a can of chick peas to move things along a bit faster because all we had here were dried ones.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked barley

2 cups broccoli, steamed

1/2 cup chick peas (canned)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup feta

Dressing, feta, sunflower seeds, chickpeas

Dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp sea salt

It takes about 40 minutes to cook barley to the tenderness I like, so that's the part that took that longest. I started cooking it before heading to Sobey's.

Barley simmering

How to Cook Barley

1 part barley : 2 parts water

Simmer 40 minutes.

While the barley was cooking, I steamed the broccoli and measured out the chickpeas and sunflower seeds. I mixed up the dressing. When the barley was cooked, everything was combined together and served in bowls.

Broccoli Barley

Reviews/Comments

This was quite yummy. It was exactly like mac & cheese but with a different taste and different texture. Just kidding, haha. It seriously was tasty and all the flavors were good together. It was sort of nutty and cheesy, but also had that lemon pepper dressing. It doesn't sound like a good mix, but it worked. It was also really filling. The pic at the top of the page was my bowl and I was stuffed and couldn't finish it. That could have had something to do with the appetizer, too, I suppose. I rate the broccoli barley bowl an 8.

Laura gives it a "solid 8.5".

Black Bean Salad

Day 355

Thursday, October 8

Black Bean Salad

Black Bean Salad

Original recipe

Ingredients

1 cup black beans, cooked until tender
1 red pepper, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
Few stalks of green onion, sliced
Fresh herbs, chopped
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

Cooked black beans

reen onions & red pepper

Cherry tomatoes

Fresh herbs

Vinaigrette Dressing

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp maple syrup
1 small garlic clove, grated
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Chili flakes, to taste

Vinaigrette dressing

Reviews/Comments

This salad was really tasty and fresh. Even the next day when I took it for my lunch, it was still delicious. And fresh. I think the herbs and lemon make it so.

I give it an 8. Laura gave it a 9.

Burritos Extraordinaire

Day 331

Burritos Extraordinaire

Day three of Mexican fare, and I'll take it. We had yet more salsa fresca, as well as leftover beans, so Laura made a few more tortillas and we made burritos. They're just like huevos racheros but without the eggs, haha.

Burritos Extraordinaire

Ingredients
Fresh, homemade tortillas
Re-refried beans
Salsa fresca (day 3)
Grated cheddar
Sour cream
Sliced avocado

Tortilla cooking

Re-refried beans

Salsa fresca

Good & Healthy

I love that this meal is fairly healthy and definitely full of nutrients, not to mention protein. It also has some naughtiness in the sour cream and cheese, but those ingredients are served in smaller amounts than the huge dollop of beans and the generous helping of fresh, raw vegetables. Not to mention the health benefits the avocado adds.

Burrito, unwrapped

Reviews/Comments

I did buy more cheddar for this and it was year-old cheese. OMG, sooooo good. The salsa fresca was all the better for having had a chance to set for a few days and the flavors have melded. There is still more, and we're going to divide it and have it with tortilla chips for snacks at work tomorrow.

Huevos Rancheros

Day 330

Laura and I love, love, love huevos and we have been making them for nearly 10 years. This will be one of the meals we will have to give up when we go vegan. Well, we can still have a version of them, but they will just be called burritos.

Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros

We had a couple of tortillas and a lot of salsa fresca left over from last night, so this is what we came up with.

Huevos Rancheros Recipe
I posted the recipe for this on my Favorite Recipes page, so if you're inclined to make it Laura-style, here's the recipe. (rather than reinvent the wheel)

Refried beans
2 cups pinto beans
1 Ancho pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
1 Anaheim pepper
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp cuming
2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp chipotle powder

Refried beans

Poached eggs
1.5 quarts water
2 eggs
1/3 cup vinegar
Leftover salsa fresca

Tortillas
Laura makes amazing tortillas; way better than the store-bought kind.

Tortilla warming

Salsa fresca

3 Purple Cherokee tomatoes

2 Kellogg's Breakfast tomatoes

2 jalapenos

1 green Flavorburst pepper

20 grape tomatoes, halved

1 onion, diced small

6 small cloves of garlic

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Sprinkle of cumin

Juice of 1 1/2 limes

Salsa fresca

Serve with:
Sour cream
Grated cheddar

Cheese & sour cream

Huevos rancheros

Reviews/Comments

Excellent, as always. 10's.

Veggie Burgers, Potatoes, Yellow Beans & Grains

Day 282

Tonight, I had dinner with my mom, dad, sister, niece and nephew at the Boom Road homestead. Dad got these awesome veggie burgers at Costco, and BBQ'd them on the grill. We also had roasted potatoes, fresh yellow beans and a kale/grain dish that my sister cooked up.

Burgers

Dad grilled burgers for them and veggie burgers for me.The veggie burgers he found at Costco were super good. Will probably get some next time I go!

Dad at the grill

Grilling burgers

Yellow Beans

I think they got these at the Newcastle Farm Market earlier in the day. I slathered mine with butter and seasoned liberally with salt and pepper. Soooo good. Can't wait for ours to grow.

Yellow beans

Kale with 10 Grains

Tara made this side dish so I'm not sure about all the ingredients, but I know it had a 10-grain mix, chopped kale and minced garlic. I did not see what she used for seasoning, but it tasted good.

Kale with 10 Grains

Burgers, Potatoes, Beans & Grains

Jacob with his dinner

Veggie burger with potatoes, beans & grains

Strawberry Dessert

Dessert was strawberry-themed with the option of strawberries 'n' cream or strawberry shortcake. I had strawberry shortcake.

Mom preparing strawberries

Lily making strawberries 'n' cream

Strawberry shortcake

Reviews/Comments

The meal was delicious and the evening overall, was fun and relaxing.

Red Quinoa with Vegetable Korma

Day 241

We spent the day doing outdoors stuff and came inside at 9 pm feeling like we were hit by a truck so fussing over dinner didn't sound like what we should do.

Red Quinoa with Vegetable Korma

Red Quinoa

So, I made a pot of quinoa. You do have to wash quinoa to take the bitterness out, but other than that it's as easy to make as rice or oatmeal. I bring it to a boil, then cover and turn the heat off for 20 minutes.

Red quinoa cooking

Vegetable Korma

The directions for this are literally, "boil in salted water in the package for 5 minutes". Seriously easy. These packaged sauces are delicious and nutritious. Not a lot of fat and calories, but lots of flavor. We like them a lot.

Vegetable Korma

Reviews/Comments

Laura loved this and rated it a 9. It was definitely fortifying. I give it a 7.

Jaipur Vegetables on Quinoa

Days 230-234

I clicked on the blog and saw that my last entry was on Monday June 8th, the last day of normalcy, work-wise. Tuesday it was announced that we needed to work some OT so I have put in 10 and 12 hour days since then and the blog took a bit of a hit. I did remember to at least take a picture of dinner every night.

Jaipur Vegetables on Quinoa

When you work 12 hours, and sleep 7 hours, spend at least 1 hour getting ready and 30-40 minutes traveling, there isn't a lot of time left for life!

I took today off, but tomorrow (Sunday) I'm right back at it from 11-6. There's a rumor going around that it's Samosa Night, so dinner will be waiting when I get home. WOOT!

Tuesday June 9

Mini Pizzas

Old standby. Laura made these and they were fantastic. I was almost too tired to care if they were even good, but I appreciated their fantastic-ness immensely.

Mini pizzas

Wednesday June 10

Sweet Balsamic Marinara Rigatoni

After my first 12 hour day, Laura made this meal and it was sooo good. She makes good sauce. I ate, walked the dog and went to bed. Sooo tired. TG Laura fed me.

Sweet balsamic marinara rigatoni

Thursday, June 11

Egg Salad Sandwiches

We decided on egg salad for supper in order to get two birds stoned at once (Ricky-ism). That way we also had something to take for lunches. And, egg salad is yummy.

Egg salad sandwiches

Friday, June 12

Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole

This dinner was courtesy of Joanne Hawkyard, who made it for potluck and an extra small one just for us. How thoughtful is that? Let me tell you, after my week of OT, it couldn't have been more appreciated, and it was very delicious. Thank you, Joanne!

Cheesy broccoli rice casserole

Saturday June 13

Jaipur Vegetables on Quinoa

Today, I cooked a pot of quinoa and opened a packet of sauce to have on it. Nothing fancy at all, but it was good, nutritious and filling.

Quinoa

Jaipur Vegetables

Jaipur Vegetables on quinoa

Reviews/Comments

The Jaipur Vegetables were good. Spicy. I rate it a 7 and so does Laura.