Veggie chili for Meatless Monday

Recently, I have been a crock pot queen. Perhaps because it's been so cold in North Dakota in March (hey, it's in the 30's now, what am I complaining about!) and perhaps because it is so easy. One of my favorite recipes is this vegetarian chili, since I tend to make meat-less meals. For all of you carnivores out there - I'm sure this would be as delicious if you added some meat to it. But since the swim suit season is coming, I recommend you skip those calories and save this delicious meal for your Meatless Monday.

Vegetarian crock pot chili

1 onion - diced 

2 cloves garlic - minced

2 red or yellow bell peppers - chopped 

1 zucchini - diced

2 grated carrots

2 cans of beans - I like to mix up kidney and black beans

2 x 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes 

1/2 cup water 

1.5 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Combine all ingredients and cook on low for 8-6 hours. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the results... Perhaps it disappeared too quickly...

The crock pot adventures

I have been in love with my crock pot recently. When a girl is in grad school and has 2 jobs, a girl needs help... Honestly though, I cannot say that I lack free time, surprisingly, and I am making it sound worse than it is, but sometimes I have so much on my mind that coming home to a ready meal is a true treat. Some recipes make you chop all the veggies and then sauté them but not this one. Chop, place in crock pot and come home to a feast.

If you've never made Indian food before, this may be a fine recipe for you - easy and very little attention required!

Slow cooker vegetable curry

4 cups cauliflower (I used frozen, no messy chopping required. I think working with fresh cauliflower is very messy and then I find it all over my floor...) 

1 sweet potato - peeled and diced

1 red and 1 green pepper - diced

1 onion - diced
(You can also add other veggies - zucchini, carrots, whatever your heart desires!)

15 oz chickpeas

15 oz tomato sauce

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth

Spices: 

1 tablespoon of: cumin, curry powder and turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cayenne 

1/2 cup frozen green peas - add before serving

Instructions:

Place all the ingredients except peas in a crock pot and cook for 8 hours on low. Add peas before serving to warm up. Serve as a sauce on rice with plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream), cilantro and green onion.
Here is the original recipe - I tweaked it a bit but I think the author still deserves credit:
 http://thelemonbowl.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-vegetable-curry-with-chickpeas.html

Mystery grain

Bulgur - sounds like something Lord Voldemort would eat, but it's just a simple wheat cereal common in Mediterranean and Middle Eatern cuisine. Forgive my dorkiness here, but since I work in with gastrointestinal system quite a bit I always seem to be interested in nutritional facts, especially fiber, of which one cup of dry bulgur has quite a lot of - 25g, which is your daily need. So eat up!

Super Simple Bulgur Salad

(Can be used as a side, work lunch, appetizer or a snack)

1 cup cooked bulgur 

Half of diced red onion

Half of diced red pepper

Half of diced cucumber (some recipes say to seed it- I didn't)

Half a bunch of chopped parsley

1 can of rinsed chick peas

1 large garlic clove, minced 

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt an pepper to taste

Mix ingredients and enjoy! Yes, that's really it- the recipe is so simple and results quick and tasty!

Swieta po polsku

AKA Christmas the Polish way. Since I spent my holidays in the wonderful snow storms and below zero temperatures ( in Fahrenheit!) of North Dakota, I felt it was necessary to bring a bit of the Motherland to the table. So I started cookin'.

One of my favorite meals has always been a vegetable salad or salatka jarzynowa (try pronouncing that!), which is present on every table during either Christmas or Easter, or any big event for that matter. Not being a big fan of meat, I always appreciated the gentle flavors of veggies in a delicate sauce.

Vegetable Salad

6 carrots

6 potatoes

2 parsley roots (they look like white carrots and amazingly stores in Midwest carry them)

1 celery root (I couldn't find one. You can either skip it or substitute it with celery stalks)

6 pickles

3 hard boiled eggs

2 apples (I use Granny Smith)

1 can of corn

1 can of peas

Boil the peeled root vegetables until jut about right. They cannot be too soft - you don't want the salad too mushy. Cool in the fridge. Cut veggies, apples and eggs into a small dice. Add the canned vegetables. 

Now the sauce is the tricky part. You'll find that a lot of Polish recipes don't use the exact measurements, as if every Polak was born a perfect cook... Since the quantity of the sauce depends on your personal preference, I will just tell you in general: you will need 1 part of coarse mustard, 2 parts of mayo (I use light), salt and pepper, garlic, lemon juice. Gently stir the  sauce into the veggies and voila!

Must have Moussaka

I love all things eggplant. When we were in college Jeffrey used to make an eggplant parmesan bake that I absolutely loved. For some reason we haven't made it for a while but recently the good old friend visited our tables again.
Moussaka is traditionally made with meat, such as lamb. It's eaten in Mediterranean countries; in some as a cold dish and in some as a hot one. I would definitely recommend eating this dish hot!
Since I haven't been cooking with meat for a while now, I am always on a lookout for vegetarian recipes or I simply skip the meat or add something else instead of it. Easy for me - this recipe was already designed vegetarian with bulgur instead of lamb. If you haven't heard of bulgur, it is a very healthy grain that is pretty rich in fiber.
The recipe is from Cooking Light and you can find it online HERE. I only used 2 eggplants, actually. One mistake I made, which you can probably tell from the photos is that I poured the Bechamel sauce BEFORE I arranged the final layer of eggplant, which made it look pretty but the edges of it became hardened during the baking process. Regardless, it disappeared from our plates pretty quickly!

Salt Lake City and the hidden treasure

Salt Lake City is one of my favorites. I love walking around the Temple Square, enjoying the flowers or Christmas decorations and meeting missionaries from all over the world.

We had an opportunity to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice. Simply put - amazing. I love listening to their music during the holidays; it makes it so much more celebratory.

One of the most memorable moments was... you guessed it - good food. Approved by Moby, who apparently is a frequent customer at this restaurant, Sage's Cafe proved to be a great find. Organic and vegetarian, fresh and colorful. Check out their menu and I think you may be pleasantly surprised by the gourmet look and acceptable prices for these unbelievably creative dishes. The only canned foods used for preparation are coconut milk and tomatoes and all of the ingredients are organic and locally purchased first. If you want to find out more, please visit the "about" section of their website (click on the name for the link).

Lynne Marie enjoyed her French toast with apple carrot butter. Yum!

I, of course, opted for something south of the border inspired. Here are my tofu tacos with home-made salsa and guacamole. 

Now, I am unsure what Jeff ordered; it looks like the Mountain, according to the online menu. It features a tofu scramble with a faux sausage on top. Usually I don't trust the vegetarian sausages featured in the frozen section of the grocery store as I find them too processed (just look at the ingredients!) but this "sausage" was reported as homemade from tofu, nuts and other secret ingredients. 

Sahara on the East Coast

One of the best moments of Philadelphia, in addition to seeing Al Capone's cell, was eating Middle Eastern food at the Sahara Grill restaurant on Walnut Street. We enjoyed a big meal and finished it with my favorite dessert - Turkish coffee!

First we enjoyed a plate full of baba ganoush - a simple yet tasty dish of mashed up eggplant, olive oil, spices and sometimes onion used as a dip. And we all know that eggplant is one of the most delicious vegetables!

Next came the dolmas - grape leaves stuffed with vegetables, although you can get it in a meat version. There are several types of dolmas, as it generally means grape or cabbage leaves with filling. Dolmas are served in several countries varying from Turkey to Greece to... Sweden. I bet you didn't know that Poland had its own version of dolmas - they're called "golabki" (which actually means "little pigeons") and are a meat and tomato filling stuffed cabbage leaves.

Jeffrey ordered a kebab meat with rice and salad.

Stop with the photos and let me eat my dolmas!

Turkish coffee concluded the meal. It is made by boiling the grounds (and sometimes sugar) in the water. Therefore, when you're drinking it you're risking the grounds stuck in your teeth but are rewarded by amazing taste otherwise not achieved by other methods. Just don't smile at your server unless you're sure your teeth are coffee-grind free - not that it happened to me. I'm just saying.

The juice. Enough said.

Juicing is a serious business...
Recently I watched a movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. If you are not taking care of your body you should watch it. If you are taking care of your body you should watch it, too! It is an amazing and inspirational film describing stories of people who took a big and difficult step towards their health, which changed their lives for ever. They juiced - meaning drank juices for several, sometimes 60, days, lost weight and felt better. Now, I am not recommending this practice as I do not know the health implications of it, but I took some things that were said in that movie to heart. First, we have one body and we need to take care of it. Second, it feels better if you're healthy. Third, there is a thin line between a burger for dinner every night and loosing control of your body - one day you wake up and don't know how you got there.
I don't know that I need or would want to go on a juicing diet for so long. But common sense tells me that adding a glass of juice daily to my diet will only do me good! Now, there are some facts that one needs to be aware of prior to adding a big glass of juice to their daily routine.
1. Don't be fooled - there are plenty of calories in fruit or vegetable juices. It is still good for you as it contains vitamins and antioxidants. But you need to remember that you are not drinking water, so if you have a big honking glass of juice, perhaps you should skip that cookie.
2. Most juicers will remove pulp, which means that they remove the fiber. Make sure you get enough fiber in your diet - as it not only helps your intestines move, it also slows the rate at which sugars are absorbed (so you don't get a sugar rush and then drop) and it lowers cholesterol levels.

This is the apple juice I had the other day - made purely with crab apples - the sweetest apple juice I ever tasted! Are there preservatives in it? No. Is it pasteurized? No. Just pure apple juice. 

Now, enough of that technical talk. For those who need it right to the point - juice is flipping tasty. And delicious. The apple juice you buy at the store? Forget it. My favorite is apple/carrot/lime. My father in law adds ginger to his for the extra kick. I have tried adding tomatoes before and it worked out wonderfully. Juicers will usually come in with a guide book, so make sure you glance at it!

Mother of all grains

Don't you sometimes get bored with the good old recipes you've been making all this time and are looking for something new, yet simple? Look no further than your can of coconut milk or package of quinoa. As much as I always used to think those recipes were just to fill the empty space on the packaging, after trying several, I now am convinced that most of them are actually pretty tasty! Here is the newest addition to my cookbook, a recipe from an Archer Farms' quinoa packaging, simply called:
Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn. The main ingredient is a grain that is becoming increasingly popular in the US, but has been known for ages in South America, especially by the Incas, who called it the "Mother of all grains".
Cook 1 cup of grains according to the packaging instructions. Add 1 can of black beans, 1 can of sweet corn, 1 diced red pepper, 1/4 c chopped cilantro (although I used wayyyy more, as I love this wonderful herb), 3 tablespoons of lime juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of cumin. Mix all together. You can of course make variations of this recipe, adding different vegetables, depending on what you like; as you may notice I added fresh mushrooms. This dish can be used as a side salad, taco filling, or you can follow my idea and make lettuce wraps, which make a light, yet filling summer meal. Meat lovers - add some andouille sausage and let me know how it turns out!

Cool it

Last days of summer. There, I said it. I am dreading fall and winter and hanging on to the nice weather as long as I can. If you see a girl in a coat and scarf drinking her morning coffee on the porch in October just because it is sunny - yes, that would be me.
But I am getting ahead of myself. After all, we still have over a month of a calendar summer left. So here's a recipe for either a great appetizer or a dessert soup. Inspired by my lunch at the Dakota Harvest, I just had to know how to make this wonderful cold concoction and here is the result of gathering and tweaking a few recipes. Now, this is one of those recipes where you're the boss and you decide how you want it done!

In a food processor chop up about half a watermelon. Use the other half to munch on during your hard work of cooking or mixing ingredients, rather. Pour into a container, in which you will store it. Warm up about half a cup of water and add couple of tablespoons of honey, just so it dissolves. Don't heat the water too hot as it will kill the important nutrients in the honey (a gross fun fact about honey to follow below, those with a weak stomach - please don't read). Chop up several leafs of fresh mint and add into the pot/container. Add juice of half a lime. You may add some fresh ginger if you'd like, really, sky's the limit! Enjoy on the porch or, as a friend rightfully suggested, you may use it as an alcoholic beverage mix!
PS. Gross fun fact - if you love honey you basically enjoy eating bees' puke, as nectar is turned into honey by the process of regurgitation. Good news is that some cultures consider it an elixir of immortality, so eat up!

Hide your knives

If you haven't seen the movie "Forks over Knives", you must watch it. It may change your life, your health and the way you think about food; what it should be and what it could be. I didn't used to eat much meat at all, but coming to the US definitely took care of that - I was even eating steaks. So I was very excited when after watching this documentary Jeff suggested that we change our ways. And so we did. The changes you implement don't need to be drastic. For example, at this point we are eating about 70%-80% vegetarian (vegan at times) diet, but when we go out to eat we certainly order meat if we feel like it.
Here we have two very different recipes; one for those who want to challenge themselves in their culinary lives and one for those who would like to stay carnivores for a little longer.

Spring Rolls

 I was very excited to try making spring rolls one beautiful early summer night. For those who live in Grand Forks, ND, I found the rice paper at Toucan International Market, as the guy at Target did not even know what it was.

As you see on the price sticker - they were very affordable! I also used the vegetables visible in the photo, but you can use whatever you would like. I think next time I may add cooked rice noodles in some kind of a creamy sauce, as they would hold in the wrap nicer than just the veggies I used. I ended up sauteing the mushrooms with onions and broiled the asparagus just to give it a little softness. I submerged each rice paper in a bowl of water for about 6 seconds, then let it sit on a place for 10 seconds to let the water absorb. Next I organized my vegetables and wrapped it in a way that a burrito is wrapped. My very first roll did not quite work out, so it is one of those things that you just need to practice.
I got my inspiration for the dipping sauce from an article from the Sunset Magazine, which I unfortunately cannot find on line any longer. I mixed low-sodium soy sauce with sambal oelek, which is an Asian chili sauce (you can find it at Target) and minced garlic.Voila. Dip and eat. Surprisingly, it was very filling.

Steak au poivre

We celebrated Jeff's birthday in a truly carnivorous manner with filet mignon cooked in cream, pretty much. I know that the last sentence sparked your interest, so read on! PS Did you know that in some European countries filet mignon refers to pork?
Jeff cracked a bunch of peppercorns and covered the steaks in them. He took 1/3 cup of cognac and flambeed it until the alcohol cooked off before adding a cup of heavy whipping cream. He reduced the sauce for a while, until just before the consistency that he liked and added the steaks to cook to about medium rare.

Using a dutch oven may be advantageous in this situation as it spreads the heat evenly. Easy, huh!? And oh, how tasty!

Full of surprises...

... this stew is. I promise.
I love recipes that come from the Sunset Magazine; they're always surprising but simple. And tasty. Since it is a magazine for those who "live in the West", I find that the recipes are often for a palate requiring a bit more than just "meat and potatoes" and perhaps this is what attracts me to them - a nice change of scenery!
This stew contains ingredients that may not necessarily go together, or you may just think that initially. The combined flavors work together really well. I chose to make a vegan version, excluding the chicken and substituting it with tofu and using vegetable broth instead of the chicken one. However, if you would like to stay true to the recipe, you can find it here. Otherwise, you can follow my directions below!

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 container extra hard tofu
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoonchile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 can fire-roasted diced canned tomatoes 
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (garbanzos), rinsed if canned
• 1 cup pimiento-stuffed small green olives

I don't enjoy soft tofu that falls apart as you try to stab it with your fork, so I broiled it to harden the edges, you may also saute it. I marinated it with olive oil and just a bit of the spices listed in the recipe, so the flavor of the whole dish stays true. While the tofu was broiling in the oven for several minutes (don't forget to supervise it, it may burn easily!), I sauteed the onion in some olive oil till soft and added all the spices, including garlic. I added the rest of ingredients, besides olives and beans, let it boil and then simmered for about 10 minutes, so the quinoa can cook. At the end I added the chickpeas and olives and of course the tofu. I chose to chop the olives coarsely, as I thought that adding them whole would make the meal look as if I went to the fridge and asked myself "what else can I add to this dish? Perhaps some olives could do"! ;)
Overall, the dish is very satisfying and light at the same time. I couldn't stop eating it!

Vegan Thai Curry Sauce with Bok Choy

Bok Choy, I was scared to work with you. You seemed so foreign; I did not know what I was getting into. But as it turns out, you’re a pretty easy fella, you cook in minutes, can be sautéed, steamed or even boiled in this delicious Thai curry sauce.

Here’s a recipe I tried last night, which proved a great success and it will be a staple at our home. Sweet and spicy, just what you need to spice up a  Wednesday night… I borrowed it from All Recipes but modified it a little bit by adding carrots and jalapenos, because, well, I just like a little bit of spice! Here’s the ingredients that I have used:

1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk  
1/4 cup soy sauce, divided  
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar  
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder  
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger  
2 teaspoons chile paste  
2 carrots, sliced  
2 bunches green onions  
4 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped  
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced  
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped  
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil  
4 cups chopped bok choy  
salt to taste

I used a cast iron pot, since it keeps the heat in so nicely. I mixed the coconut milk, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, ginger, and chile paste, brought it to boil and then simmered for about 7 minutes so that the carrots can soften. I added tomatoes, green pepper, mushrooms, and finely chopped green onions. Covered, and cooked 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixed in basil and bok choy. The basil I used was freeze dried and not fresh, as I couldn’t find any at the store, but it worked just fine! Then I added the remaining soy sauce and cooked for about 7 more minutes. And voila! 

To vegan or not to vegan

Driving an hour to Fargo for some delicious Indian food at the Passage to India can turn out a little time consuming... Maybe we won't have to do this as frequently as we just NAILED an awesome Indian recipe! The only time consuming part of it is chopping the vegetables, otherwise it is pretty straight forward and if you've never tried to cook Indian food before, this is a simple recipe you can tackle. It is a vegan meal, which you can easily make carnivorous by adding some chicken to it!

Indian Coconut Curried Vegetable

1 chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp fresh ginger, 1 seeded green chili, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp curry, 1/2 chopped cauliflower, 1 sliced red bell pepper, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, 1 sliced carrot, 1 sliced zucchini, 1 cup coconut milk, 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste.

Use a food processor to smooth the onion, garlic, ginger and chili. Heat the mixture in a pot, then add the oils and spices. Cook for couple minutes, then add the coconut milk and the veggies. Cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes. Although I like my veggies pretty much dead and mushy on my plate, Jeff likes them a little crispier and I found there was a very fine time line before killing them, so make sure you taste throughout to your liking! Serve over rice. Simple, right?

This recipe was taken from this site and modified just a bit! As I said before, you can sure change this one, if you'd like, by using different vegetables or meats. I would certainly stick to using the cauliflower though, as it provides this meal with volume, texture and doesn't take away from the flavor of the spices.

Not your mama's potato salad

Are you ready for Superbowl? There's nothing like eating some good old potato salad doused in mayo...
Or, if you're anything like me, and if you want something fresher, though not necessarily healthier... you might just like this Giada De Laurentiis' recipe for Red Potato and Tomato Salad available on the Food Network site. A friend of mine made this last summer and it was such a nice, refreshing change from the good old mayo salad, err I mean potato salad.

As you can tell instead of the black olives I used green ones that were stuffed with garlic because that's what I had on hand. It gives the salad a nice, earthy taste to it. And if you're planning to skip the lemon zest - don't. I tried it with and without it and there is a world of difference! So change it up this once and I promise you won't regret it!

THE best fish n chips

When in Victoria, BC visiting Haultain Fish and Chips is an absolute must. Hands down the best I have ever had! Now, when in Rome do as the Romans do, sooo... make sure you splash the meal with vinegar very well!

Tomato tomahto

Next to an Italian wedding soup, tomato soup is my super favorite. Sweet, savory, appropriate for all seasons. And when you grow your own tomato plants you may know how much fruit you end up with! It's either a delicious insalata caprese (which I, incorrectly, make on a bed of lettuce), or...
Tyler Florence's Roasted Tomato Soup available here. Now, I have made some changes to the recipe that I thought would fit my taste buds better. When roasting the tomatoes, I certainly did not use the 1/2 c olive oil, not even close to it. Just a couple of tablespoons were enough! Roasting of the tomatoes and garlic certainly added a deep flavor. I also added some pasta for texture and basil for taste AND looks!

Instead of ice cream

Judging from my blog posts you probably think that I am a very unhealthy eater - but that is hardly true! Although I allow myself indulgence quite often, I also do love healthy foods, which are the majority of my diet. There is nothing better than a bowl full of fresh fruit on a sunny summer morning after running.
While visiting my family in Jackson, WY, I was raiding their fridge in hopes of finding something fresh and delicious and I saw something I new I would love.
This yogurt was so good that Melissa and I would eat it instead of a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Now, the honey flavor gave it just enough sweetness to be perfect, but if you mix it with a homemade raspberry preserves it is even that much better!

Not quite Tuscany

Winter is refusing to leave us and after long walks with my dog Jackson I am always looking for a good warm-me-up meal. Perhaps the desire to be somewhere warmer inspired me to make a Tuscan white bean soup, and it certainly hit the spot! Since I couldn't find a recipe online that I really liked I decided to use my talents and make up my own. This is what I ended up with!

Winter Warm-up Tuscan White Bean Soup

You will need: 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 onion, 2 celery stalks, 2 leeks (thinly slice only the white parts), 3 sliced carrots, chopped or sliced 4 garlic cloves, bunch of fresh spinach, 2 15oz cans of white beans, 4 c chicken stock, thyme, salt, pepper.
Sautee onion, carrots, celery and leeks in butter until soft. Add garlic and spices to your liking, sautee couple more minutes, add spinach and after it wilts pour in the chicken stock and drained beans, boil and cook on low heat for few minutes.

Very easy to make and super tasty! If you think you may not be able to handle the garlic, make sure to decrease the amount - this soup would definitely not be enjoyed by vampires, that's for sure!

My very own Panera

Lunches at Panera Bread Co are one of my favorite things to do when visiting friends in the Twin Cities, although I do realize that Panera Bread is a chain... But I love their soups so much! Who knew they have recipes posted on their website, so close within my laptop's reach!
Here is Jeffrey enjoying his share of the tasty Tomato, Cheese and Bread soup. Yums!