Confetti Chili

Even when made with meat, I like my chili very veggie heavy. Here's my latest chili incarnation. Lots of veggies plus two kinds of beans makes this one look pretty colorful and festive.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced
• 1 can chili ready beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/ chilis
• about 16 oz. tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• about 1.5 cups of water + 1 bouillon cube
• salt/pepper/chili powder/red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

• Brown ground beef in a large stock pot or dutch oven. Add onion, celery and carrot and saute until onion is slightly softened.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Spices should be added per your desired heat level.
• Cover and continue to simmer for about 20-30 minutes until all veggies are softened. The celery will take the longest so if those are soft, everything else should be finished.
• Serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or a bit of shredded cheese.

Spicy Veggie Cold-Fighting Soup

I was home sick with a terrible cold this past weekend so I whipped up some soup using some of the leftover filling from last weeks Butternut Squash Pasties. It's a pretty rough recipe but it was delicious so I'll share anyway :)

Ingredients:

• about 2 cups diced fresh veggies (I used butternut squash, carrots and onion)
• 4 small diced potatoes
• 1/2 cup or so chopped cabbage
• 4 cups water
• 2 veggie bouillon cubes
• salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, rosemary, bay leaf, dried parsley (yea, I eyeballed all of this. I was apparently heavy-handed with the peppers)

Throw all of this into a crockpot and cook on high for 5 hours. I added half a can of white beans during the last 30 minutes to add some protein. Leave this out if you wish or maybe add rice or pasta instead. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Red Lentil and Butternut Squash Curry Soup

I found this recipe at Martha Stewart's website (of all places) yesterday and I just happened to have everything I needed to make it at home already. So of course I had to try it out. I followed the recipe pretty closely except I did not make my own curry spice mix (I just used a store bought curry powder) and I added a bit of orzo pasta to bulk it up a bit. Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 half a sweet onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 butternut squash, seeded, peeled, cubed
• 4-5 cups water + 1 bouillon cube
• 8 oz red lentils
• 1/4 cup of orzo pasta
• a dash of red pepper flakes for extra heat
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Melt butter at medium heat in a big pot or dutch oven and add salt and curry powder and stir for a minute.
• Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent. Stir in ginger powder.
• Add squash to pot, stir and let cook for about 5 min. until squash starts to soften.
• Add water and bouillon and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 min. (at this point I used my potato masher to mash some of the squash a bit.)
• Stir in lentils and orzo and simmer for 10 to 15 more min. until soft.
• Taste and add spices as desired.

Summer Veggie Chili

I came up with this on the fly the other day. I did a super quick trip to the grocery store and wanted to get something I could combine with fresh veggies for a quick dinner. I picked up a can of kidney beans in chili gravy and a can of chili-ready diced tomatoes. I ended up kinda/sorta following the recipe on the back of the Red Gold tomatoes can (Potato Chili).

Ingredients:

• 1 can chili ready kidney beans
• 1 can chili ready diced tomatoes
• 1 diced bell pepper (any color)
• 1 diced onion
• 1 small zucchini sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 can diced potatoes - drained
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• about 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• about 1/2 cup water or broth

Directions:

• heat oil in a soup pot and saute onion until softened. Add peppers, zucchini and potatoes and saute until slightly browned. Add chili powder and garlic and stir to cover veggies.
• Stir in beans, tomatoes and salsa. Add a little water or broth if it seems too thick.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until all veggies are as soft as you like them.

note: top with shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, sour cream or all of the above! It's also good served over rice or with cornbread.

Veggie Chili

This is another super easy chili recipe that requires very little prep. It's also customizable, just add or subtract veggies to include your favorites.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup TVP (soaked and drained, optional)
• 1/2 cup of frozen diced onion
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup dried red kidney beans (soaked overnight) or 1 can, drained
• 1 cup dried navy beans (soaked overnight) or 1 can, drained
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chilis with juice
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• about 6 baby carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup or so cauliflower florets
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• a squeeze of honey
• salt and pepper to taste
• a little olive oil
• 1 cup water or broth (or more if needed)

Saute onion, garlic and tvp in olive oil until browned. Stir in all seasonings then stir in everything else except tomatoes. Simmer stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes until beans are soft (if using dried). Add tomatoes and simmer another 20 minutes or so. Add extra seasonings if needed. Serve with shredded cheese, fresh cilantro and/or sour cream.
Note: adding the tomatoes later allows the beans to soften faster. If you're using canned beans it's safe to just add them with everything else and you can reduce the cooking time.

Originally posted on Meiby the Pug

White Veggie Chili

This is one of my favorite winter crockpot recipes. There is no chopping, you just throw everything into the pot in the morning and it's done by dinner time. It's easy to adjust to your liking and is great for using up leftovers


Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried navy beans (soaked overnight) or 1 can white beans, drained
• 1 1/2 cups or so frozen sweet corn 
• 2 fresh or frozen hot peppers or canned chilis
• 1 cup leftover brown and wild rice
• 1/2 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup frozen diced onion
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 cups or so broth (or water + bouillon cube)
• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• juice from one lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• a little plain yogurt or sour cream

Load everything but the sour cream into the crockpot and turn it on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8. Add the yogurt or sour cream at the end. A sprinkling of cheese and/or fresh herbs makes a nice garnish for this one.

Originally posted on Meiby the Pug