Three-Bean Vegetarian Southern Chili

Since most of the country is in a deep freeze, it seems appropriate to give you a stick-to-your ribs, warm-you-up-from-the-cold kind of recipe. 

When I was growing up in Kentucky, we didn’t get snow all that often.  So when we had a snow day, it was a celebration.  We’d pull on layer after layer of sweatpants and sweatshirts, gloves, toboggans and scarves, until we looked like the Michelin man.  We’d grab our plastic sleds and gleefully head outside, only reluctantly coming back to the house after snow and cold had seeped through every soggy layer to reach our icy skin.

We’d walk in the house and strip down to our long underwear in front of the fireplace, and Mom would sit us down to the table with bowls of steaming chili—the old-fashioned kind, thick with ground beef and kidney beans and seasoned with simple chili powder.  Nothing tasted better.

A thick, rich bowl of chili and a slice of cornbread is still one of my favorite meals.  And while I still enjoy the beef and bean variety, I find that more often than not, I’m making a vegetarian all-bean version, fragrant with toasted spices and a variety of chili peppers.

The ultimate weeknight family meal, chili is inexpensive and easy.  It gets better and better the longer it sits on the stove, so make this on a Sunday afternoon, and then reheat it for dinner during the week.  Even better, make an extra-large pot and freeze portions for easy lunches or dinners later.  

I hope this chili warms you up from the inside out, and that you enjoy it with the people you love.

Three-Bean Southern Chili

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 red bell peppers, diced

2 poblano peppers, seeded and diced

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

2, 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes

1, 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1, 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1, 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 cups water

Heat a large pot over medium heat.  Add the olive oil, onion and salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and very tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic, red pepper and poblano peppers and continue to cook another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are softened.

Add the coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper and stir.  Move the onions and peppers to the sides of the pot and add the tomato paste to the center of the pot.  Let the tomato paste cook on the bottom of the pot until it starts to toast and stick to the bottom.  Stir the tomato paste and the onions and peppers together. 

Add cans of whole tomatoes, including their juice, breaking up the tomatoes with your hands as you add them to the pot.  Add the beans, dried oregano and water and stir.

Bring the chili to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for about an hour.  Serve with bowls of condiments, including shredded cheese, Greek yogurt, sliced green onions or any other toppings you like.

Game Day Food You Can Feel Good About: Kick-Off Tomato Vegetable Mac-n-Cheese

Our favorite part of game day is gathering together with our friends and eating good food.  Whether or not you’re hosting your own game day party, or going to a friend’s home, make some game day food you will feel good about eating.  Your best bet: foods rich in fiber and protein (including plant-based protein), good fats, and plenty of vegetables.

Here are some ideas for game day:

·       Olive oil popcorn

·       Dips with baked chips, like our Roasted Carrot Harissa Dip or Creamy Spinach Dip

·       A baked potato & baked sweet potato bar, with all the fixings

·       Game Day Turkey Chili and Sweet Potato and Bean Chili

·       Vegetarian Muffaletta

This year, we’re adding this Kick-Off Tomato Mac-n-Cheese to our menu.  With cauliflower, spicy peppers and canned tomatoes, it’s a great way to add vegetables to your menu without the carrot sticks.  Making it with whole wheat pasta boosts the fiber content.  And the sauce gets richness and creaminess from whole milk and a little bit of cheese, but it’s not a mac-n-cheese that will weigh you down.  You’ll still have enough energy to cheer!

We’d love to hear from you! What are the game day foods you feel good about eating?

Kick-Off Tomato Mac-n-Cheese

1 pound small whole wheat pasta, such as chiocciole

2 tablespoons butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

3 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets

1 spicy pepper (like a cayenne or jalapeno), thinly sliced

1 30-ounce can whole fire-roasted tomatoes

6 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the pasta 2 minutes less than the package directions.  Drain.

In a large pot with a heavy bottom (like enameled cast iron), melt butter over medium heat.  Add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds.  Add the flour and whisk together with the butter to make a smooth paste.  Cook the flour and butter for about 2 minutes.

Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly to make a smooth sauce.  Bring the milk mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the salt and oregano. 

Add the cauliflower and spicy pepper and let the cauliflower and pepper cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, until the cauliflower just starts to become tender. 

Stir in the canned tomatoes, breaking up large pieces of tomatoes as you put them into the pot.  Let that mixture simmer together for a few minutes.  Turn off the heat and stir in the cheddar cheese, stirring until the cheese is melted.  Pour the cooked pasta into the sauce and turn to coat all of the pasta in the sauce.

Pour the pasta mixture into a large baking pan and cover the top with the parmesan cheese.  Place the pasta in the oven and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes, or until it is bubbling and top is golden brown.  Let the pasta sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serve this while you’re cheering for your favorite team with the people you love!     

{Recipe Redux} Oven-Dried Tomatoes

I’m having a hard time letting go of summer this year.  The tomatoes, eggplants and peppers at the Saturday Farmer’s Market beckon me away from the pumpkin, whispering I’ll have plenty of time this winter to savor the sweetness of squash but only a few fleeting weeks until tomato plants are bare.     

To preserve summer in my mind, I'm making oven-dried tomatoes to store in my freezer, before moving on to the winter squashes and root vegetables.  Make these with me on this last official weekend of summer before welcoming soups and stews and slow braises back to your kitchen. 

I make big batches with end-of-season tomatoes, buying up the (cheaper) not so pretty seconds to turn sweet and caramelized over long slow hours in the oven.  I simply place the dried tomatoes in small mason jars and cover them with olive oil, storing them in the freezer until I’m craving a summer tomato. 

Here is the method for making the oven-dried tomatoes.  The quantities are up to you.  I sometimes buy 20 pounds or more of tomatoes, rationing the little jars of oven-dried tomatoes in my freezer throughout the winter, trying to make them last until the asparagus start peeking out of the ground. 

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

Small tomatoes (Roma tomatoes work well)

Sea salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. 

Line a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.  Cut the tomatoes in half and place cut side up on the lined baking sheets.  Sprinkle with sea salt.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 6 – 8 hours, or until the tomatoes are shriveled and caramelized, but not completely dried out.  Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Once the tomatoes are completely cooled, layer them into small 4-ounce mason jars and cover them completely with olive oil.  You can store these in the refrigerator for three days, or place in them in the freezer for longer storage.  Just defrost the jars overnight in the refrigerator.

Use the oven-dried tomatoes for a frittata, pizza, pasta sauce, or salad.  Be sure not to waste the tomato oil left in the bottom of the jar.  It’s perfect for drizzling on grilled bread, brushing on pizza dough, cooking eggs or making a vinaigrette.  

Enjoy, preferably with someone you love and delicious memories of summer!  

See the links below for other creative and delicious ideas for drying fruits and vegetables, from our friends and colleagues at Recipe Redux!

An InLinkz Link-up

Celebrating Wonder Women Freedom with an End-of-Summer Whole Wheat Caprese Pasta Salad

Several months ago, I received an email from a woman named Sherri about a women’s group she was forming to support women in having a better relationship with food and our bodies.  We met for lunch, and I was immediately struck with her humility and grace and her earnest passion for helping women.

Sherri told me about her own struggle with food and body image, and how her relationships with other women had helped her heal.  She wanted to pay this forward by forming Wonder Women Freedom, a faith-based movement of women inspiring women to have a loving, mindful and peaceful relationship with food and our bodies.

I could relate to Sherri’s story, having wrestled since my early teens with my own obsession over food, weight and exercise.  During college, I existed on plain bagels, coffee with skim milk and artificial sweetener, ‘light’ yogurt and bananas, brown rice, and fat-free ice cream.  I exercised compulsively, hitting the gym both morning and night, often doing multiple step-aerobics or kickboxing classes back-to-back.  And I wondered why I never felt satisfied, why I still hated by body? Why my knuckles cracked and bled? 

It took years for me to develop a healthy relationship with food and my body, one that feels like a partnership.  It would take a long time to tell the whole story, but my healing began when I gave up ‘giving up.’  I stopped dieting, stopped avoiding certain categories of food (fat, carbohydrates, and so on) and instead embraced a real foods, moderate way of eating.  When I stopped obsessing, I finally felt at peace. 

I’m not perfect.  I still find those critical thoughts tapping me on the shoulder.  But, I know how to deal with them—a walk, yoga, talking with a friend, a supportive husband.

I immediately offered to help Sherri, wanting to join with her in helping other women find that same peace.  About a dozen women started meeting at my home once a month, first a cooking class and then a wonderful potluck where we practiced mindful eating.  (One of the women described the mindful eating experience as “like I just had a scalp massage!”)  Last week, we gathered for another potluck and to talk about debunking food myths.  We listed questions on the blackboard and then spent the next two hours talking.

I’m so honored to be supporting Sherri in her journey to help other women.  It’s why McKenzie and I started Nourish in the first place—to spread this message of eating real foods with the people you love.  And most of all, to be nice to yourself.

In the spirit of debunking food myths, I made this End-of-Summer Caprese Pasta Salad for our potluck.  Yes, you can eat pasta and cheese!  And do so with abundant thankfulness.

Whole Wheat Caprese Pasta Salad

This is a super-easy pasta salad that makes good use of the last of the summer produce.  It can be served cold or at room temperature.  It will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for 4 – 5 days, so it’s a great make-ahead meal.  

Serves 8

1 pound whole wheat pasta (like fusilli or penne)

Zest and juice of two lemons (about ¼ cup)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt, to taste

Pinch of red pepper flakes

2 pints cherry tomatoes, tomatoes halved

1 red bell pepper, sliced or diced

8 ounce container fresh mozzarella (small mozzarella balls*)

5 ounces of spinach or arugula

¼ cup fresh basil, sliced

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a good amount of sea salt or kosher salt.  Add the pasta and cook according to package directions, until just done. 

While the pasta is cooking, add the lemon zest, juice, olive oil, sea salt and red pepper flakes to a large bowl and whisk together.  To the lemon dressing, add the halved cherry tomatoes. (Cutting the tomatoes in half allows them to release some of their juice, which adds to the sauce of the pasta salad).  Add the sliced red bell pepper.

When the pasta is done, add the hot pasta to the lemon dressing, tomatoes and red bell pepper with about ¼ cup of the hot pasta water.  The hot pasta water will slightly soften the tomatoes and red peppers, and will release their flavors in the pasta.  Stir together and then let cool to room temperature.

Once the pasta has cooled, add the fresh mozzarella, spinach or arugula, and fresh basil and stir together until well-combined.  Taste and adjust any seasonings, if necessary. 

Enjoy, preferably with someone you love!

*If you can’t find small mozzarella balls, just buy large balls and cut them into cubes.

French Lentil Salad with Cherry Tomatoes & A Plant-Powered Giveaway!

A few nights ago, my friend and colleague Sharon Palmer celebrated the release of her second book, Plant-Powered for Life at Real Food Daily in Pasadena. 

Sharon and I, selling her two books, The Plant-Powered Diet & Plant-Powered for Life, as well as her (super cute!) organic "I AM Plant-Powered" tees

I worked with Sharon to organize the event and we were so happy to see such a positive turnout.

I absolutely love that plant-based eating is really starting to make waves.

Lisa and I are both “plant-powered omnivores,” as Sharon calls it. While we both eat animal products, plants usually have the starring role on our plates at each meal. And I think that’s really what it boils down to. Americans tend to revolve our menu planning around animal protein first – fish, pork, chicken, or beef. But, all it takes to become a plant-powered eater is a subtle change in mindset. Think of plant foods first.

For example, this time of year, there’s nothing better than sweet summertime corn. Maybe you’ll cook up some cobs of corn, mix the kernels with in-season avocado, heirloom tomatoes, and red wine vinegar. You can serve the mixture over black beans and quinoa, and serve with a ounce or two of salmon. You see? The plants take the starring role, and the salmon is the meal’s accessory.

Below is a plant-powered recipe Sharon offered to share with us. And don’t forget to scroll down to the very bottom of today’s blog for your chance to win a copy of Plant-Powered for Life!

French Lentil Salad with Cherry Tomatoes

• Active preparation time: 15 minutes
• Total preparation time: 30 minutes (not including chilling time)

Beans aren’t the only member of the legume family worth celebrating. Lentils, packed with fiber and protein, are just as nutritious. Plus they cook up—no soaking required—in only 15 to 20 minutes. A French ami shared her mother’s traditional recipe for lentil salad with me years ago. This simple salad, seasoned with a French vinaigrette, is a classic dish in France. It makes a wonderful, protein-rich highlight of any meal. Because the flavors continue to meld, it’s also great the next day.

Makes 6 servings (about 1 cup each)

1 pound (454 g) dried lentils (or 3 cups cooked; see Note)

4 cups (948 ml) water

2 teaspoons reduced sodium vegetable broth base

4 celery stalks, diced (160 g or about 1½ cups)

1½ cups (224 g) cherry tomatoes, halved

2 medium shallots, finely diced

¼ cup (15 g) packed chopped fresh parsley

1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence (see page 000)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 medium garlic clove, minced

Pinch of sea salt, optional

1. Place the lentils, water, and broth base in a pot. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender but firm.
2. Remove from the heat, drain any remaining liquid, and transfer the lentils to a large bowl. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
3. Stir in the celery, tomatoes, shallots, and parsley.
4. In a small dish, make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, mustard, vinegar, herbes de Provence, black pepper, and garlic.
5. Add the dressing to the lentil mixture and toss. Taste and season with sea salt, if desired. Chill until serving time.

Note: If you’re in a rush, use precooked, refrigerated lentils, available at many stores. Although a classic French lentil salad uses lentils du puys (small, dark green lentils), try other varieties for a colorful twist, such as yellow, beluga (black), or multicolored lentils.

Variation: Substitute cooked beans, such as white, fava, or cranberry beans, for the lentils.

Per Serving: 136 calories, 8 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 4 g fat, .5 g saturated fat, 4 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 55 mg sodium

Star Nutrients: vitamin A (13% DV), thiamine (10% DV), vitamin B6 (11% DV), folate: (40% DV), vitamin C (19% DV), vitamin K (67% DV), copper (13% DV), iron (16% DV) magnesium (10% DV), manganese (24% DV), phosphorus (16% DV), potassium (14% DV)

From Plant-Powered for Life: Eat Your Way to Lasting Health with 52 Simple Steps and 125 Delicious Recipes Copyright © 2014 Sharon Palmer

Enter to win your own copy of Plant-Powered for Life, Eat Your Way to Lasting Health with 52 Simple Steps and 125 Delicious Recipes (The Experiment, 2014)

Plant-Powered for Life is a cookbook-slash-handbook to help anybody make plant-powered eating a habit and enjoy lasting, vibrant health—the fun way! In Plant-Powered for Life, Sharon presents a straightforward, delicious way to meet the challenge. She urges readers to set a personal goal and take one step closer to it every week. Each chapter—from “Aim for at least 6 servings of veggies” to “Give sprouted grains a try”—includes a call to action, a clear, concise explanation, and two to three globally inspired recipes, which cover every meal, course, and season. With this guide, anyone can forge new habits, cook great food, and enjoy a healthy plant-powered life—one tasty step at a time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sharon Palmer, The Plant-Powered Dietitian™ is a writer and author of The Plant-Powered Diet. Over 850 of her articles have been published in national publications, including Prevention, Better Homes and Gardens and Today’s Dietitian. She is also the editor of the award-winning publication Environmental Nutrition and writes for her blog, The Plant-Powered Blog. Her specific expertise is in plant-based nutrition, including Mediterranean, vegetarian and vegan diets. Her second book, Plant-Powered For Life: Eat Your Way to Lasting Health with 52 Simple Steps and 125 Delicious Recipes is now in stores!

Disclaimer: While I am Sharon’s Media Relations Manager, I was not compensated for this post. I truly love this book and have already made several of the recipes. And I love being a plant-powered omnivore, too!

Host a Healthy Oscar Party

Oscar night is kind of our equivalent to Superbowl Sunday. It’s the one night we completely indulge in the glamorous celebrity lifestyle. What better way to celebrate this enchanted night than with family and friends? Send out the invites, dress to the nines (or your yoga pants! Either works!). But, don’t forget the champagne.

A designer dress might be enough to get the paparazzi's attention, but a homemade Oscar appetizers are the key to anyone’s heart. Wow your guests with these red carpet-ready recipes for your special night at the Oscars (aka your living room).

Tomato & Avocado Bruschetta

No contest here, this recipe will win The Oscar for “Best Dish.” Serve as a bruschetta or a star-studded simple salad.

Ingredients:

1 large tomato, chopped

1 medium cucumber, chopped

1 medium avocado, ripe, chopped

½ medium yellow onion, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 box whole grain crackers

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine your chopped vegetables including: tomato, cucumber, avocado, and onion.

2. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Stir well.

3. Top each cracker with a tablespoon of bruschetta mix. Serve!

Serves 4

Pomegranate Wine Spritzer

This light and refreshing white wine spritzer is the perfect pair to your Oscar winning appetizers.

Ingredients:

½ cup white wine

½ cup sparking water

4 tablespoons pomegranate juice

Directions:

Pour all ingredients into a wine glass. Stir and serve.

Serves 1

Recipes from our wonderful contributing blogger, Jaime Ruisi.