Award-winning black bean chili

On February 6th, our awesome local vegan store, Never Felt Better hosted their first cooking competiton, a chili cookoff, and guess what?  WE WON FIRST PRIZE!  Here's the recipe we've developed. It's a bit of work, but worth the effort. I hope you enjoy it too! Makes a GIANT freaking pot o'chili.

•  3 cups dry black beans, cooked in a 2qt crockpot full of water for 8 hours (this will be added, liquid and all, so don't drain them)
•  2 cups cooked short grain brown rice
•  2 tsps olive oil
•  1 diced onion
•  2 diced poblano chili peppers
•  3 tbsp chili powder        
•  3 tbsp cumin powder
•  1 12 oz bottle hard cider (apple or pear)
•  1 6 oz can tomato paste
•  1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
•  1 lb frozen corn
•  1 tbsp cocoa powder
•  1/2 tsp chipotle powder
•  1/4 tsp cinnamon
•  1/4 tsp vanilla extract
•  1/4 cup toasted unsalted pumpkin seeds (if you can't find unsalted ones, start with raw ones and toast them yourself, which is what we do, or add less extra salt) coarsely ground
•  6 (or more) cloves of garlic, crushed
•  1 very large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced and roasted at 425 for about 45 minutes, until edges start to caramelize
•  1/2 tsp molasses
•  1 tsp sea salt

  

Saute onion and peppers in olive oil until onion is translucent. Add cumin and chili powder, saute until liquid is absorbed by the spices. Add the cider, chipotle powder, cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, ground pumpkin seeds, and molasses. Bring to a simmer. Add canned tomatoes (do not drain) and liquid, and tomato paste. Stir in the beans, squash, rice, corn, garlic, and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for 12-48 hours and reheat, which lets the flavors meld and improves them. Really great with lime juice, chipotle Tabasco, Daiya cheese, diced onion, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, faux sour cream, or just as is.

Lentil-nut Stroganoff

Ok, so it's February and I'm just now posting Christmas dinner. Sorry, folks. This is one of the most complicated recipes I make, something we use for a fancy holiday meal.

One of my extended family's favorite special occasion meals is beef stroganoff.  It's a dish of cubed beef, sometimes mushrooms, stewed in a paprika laden sour cream sauce, usually served over egg noodles. Tricky to veganize, right? In order to do so, I started with a base recipe that I was introduced to several years ago when my friend Juli made a bunch of freeze-and-eat dinners for our family to eat while we were dealing with some major medical crap. The original mixture was intended for a shepherd's pie filling, but I've found the combination to be quite adaptable to serve in things like taco filling, sloppy joes, and this dish. To make the basic mock-ground beef  you need:

• 1/2 cup brown lentils
• 1/4 cup short grain brown rice or hulled barley
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (walnuts will certainly work, I'd expect that sunflower seeds would probably substitute well if you needed to adapt the recipe to be nut-free)
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon yeast extract spread, such as Vegemite or Marmite
• 1 cube vegetable bouillon or 1 tsp vegetable broth concentrate (I use Better than Bouillon)

Combine this in a covered saucepan, a smallish one will do, and simmer on medium until the lentils are fully cooked, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables:

• 1 pound cremini (white button will work too) mushrooms, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tbs olive oil

You are going to want a larger pot for this step,  because this is where the whole deal is going to end up. Saute the onions and mushrooms in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and starting to reduce. Once you reach that point, add

• 4 teaspoons paprika (I prefer smoked paprika in this dish, but either way works)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (fresh ground is going to have better flavor than preground, if you use pre-ground, then you might decide to increase it some) 
• 1/2 cup white wine

Simmer this until the wine evaporates. At this point, add either

• 2 tablespoons of flour OR 1 tablespoon tapioca or cornstarch

Stir this in to the mixture, and continue to stir for about one minute after the flour vanishes into it. Then add 2 cups of water. About this time, your lentil stuff should be ready, the lentils should be whole, but tender. Dump that pot into this one and stir it together. Add

• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 2-3 cloves minced or pressed garlic
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

You're almost done. The final ingredient you add right before serving,

• 3/4 cup sour cream substitute 

I usually use Tofutti's non-hydrogenated Better than Sour Cream.

I usually serve this with a pile of steamed broccoli and a pound of Trader Joe's whole wheat rotelle. For the wheat free version, serve it over rice, quinoa, or gluten free pasta. Makes a whole lot - feeds 5-6 with leftovers as part of a holiday meal.

Eggless Nog

• 1/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews (you could probably use blanched almonds if you are allergic to cashews.
• 4 cups vanilla soymilk (or other milk-like beverage, coconut would probably be awesome)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp rum flavoring
• 1/4-1/2 cup dark brown sugar

 
Put cashews into a blender. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla extract, rum flavoring, dark brown sugar, and salt. Then pour enough vanilla soymilk to allow it to blend (at least a cup) and blend it until the cashews are completely dissolved into the drink. Decant it, pour in the rest of the quart and stir. Chill and serve topped with grated nutmeg. Or use as a coffee creamer. This was a hit with everyone at our family winter holiday gathering last year, from the vegan 5 year old to the omnivorous eggnog connoisseurs. It does mix well with alcohol, I like brandy or amaretto, but rum would work too.

Allergy Friendly Chocolate Cupcakes - gluten, corn, soy free

I thought I got a photo of these, but I don't seem to have. So have a shot of another set of cupcakes instead.

 

Trust me, these turned out tasty enough that the difference is academic. They have chocolate frosting though.

A note on ingredients: most commercial vanilla extracts use a corn alcohol as the solvent. Making your own extract is pretty painless, though, just slit open a couple of vanilla beans and soak them in alcohol (I've got a batch in brandy right now) and let them sit until the desired strength. Many corn-allergic folks aren't so sensitive that distilled alcohol can affect them. When in doubt, ask. Also, most powdered sugars contain corn starch. Wholesome Sweeteners brand does not. Check your labels. All vegan margarines contain either corn or soy derivatives,  so this recipe uses straight palm oil. 

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup 'sticky' white rice flour
• 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch (not pearls)
• 1 Tbs ground flaxseed
• 1 cup water or cold coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (see note above) or the seeds of one vanilla bean - save the exterior for making extract
• 5 Tbsp neutral flavored liquid vegetable oil (canola, almond, safflower)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk together dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and stir to combine. portion into lined cupcake pan. I got 15 cupcakes out of this. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

• 1/4 cup palm oil shortening
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or equivalent
• 2-3 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1 Tbs lemon juice (adds a cream cheese-y tang, I always add this to icing)
• 1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses (optional - adds a buttery note)
• 2 cups cornstarch-free powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Beat ingredients together to form a spreadable icing. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.
 

Six Ingredient Crock Pot White Bean Soup

Ok, 7 if you count the water.

2 cups dry white beans
7 cups water
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage OR 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 bunch dino (also called lacinato) kale, chopped.

Place beans and water in a crockpot, cook for 6 hours on low. Add remaining ingredients and stir well, let stand about 10 minutes. Serve topped with a little olive oil, and a good bread if you are so inclined.

This is our favorite dinner for a busy day.

Thanksgiving feast

So here is our lovely vegan Thanksgiving meal.

The beverage there is 50/50 sparkling water and cinnamon pear cider from Trader Joe's. It was a delightful treat to use my grandmother's silver for the first time. 

On to the desserts ... apple crisp with no sugar or gluten, pumpkin whoopie pies, apple pie, and coconut whipped cream.

Did you see that pie? Because it was pretty. And the coconut whipped cream was out of this world.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole

I added corn to the batch in the photo, which is tasty, but totally unnecessary.

2 cups dry black beans, cooked with 1 teaspoon of salt added to the broth when fully cooked, (drain broth away before adding to the recipe) OR 2 15 ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
4-5 cups diced garnet sweet potatoes, steamed for 15 minutes until tender
12 corn tortillas

Mole Sauce (adapted from the pantry mole rojo in Vegan Brunch)

1 TBS olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
5 tsps chili powder (you want real chili powder, not some chili powder blend with cumin and garlic and oregano diluting the goodness. We'll add those seperately).
2 tsps Mexican Oregano (this is not the same thing as plain oregano. It's a different spice, and is better in this recipe. If you don't have any, substitute regular oregano or marjoram or a combination of the two, and go get some for next time. It's in a plastic baggie in the ethnic foods section).
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika (You don't have any!?! Why not? They have it for cheap at Costco, now. Fine. Use regular paprika this time).
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups of water (Isa Chandra Moskowitz tells you to use broth. She also thought you needed 2 tablespoons of olive oil back there, and sliced almonds in addition to the peanut butter, all of which are fine and good, but this is my recipe, and I say water works fine and that it is rich enough with just the peanut butter).
3 TBS creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup crushed corn tortilla chips (this is a great place to use up stale ones, but fresh work fine, too)
1/4 cup of raisins (I never measure this, I just throw in a handful)
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips (My favorite is Safeway/Vons O brand. Watch for them on sale in December and stock up)
3 cloves crushed garlic

Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add spices, stirring to keep them from scorching, adding a little water if needed. Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the garlic and the chocolate and simmer for about 15 minutes. Use a food processor, a blender or (best) an immersion blender to puree this into a smooth sauce. Stir the chocolate chips and the garlic in. Try not to eat the sauce like soup.

Layer about a quarter of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. I usually use a 9x9, but a 9x13 will work too. Cover the sauce with 4 tortillas, then half the beans and half the sweet potatoes. Add another quarter of the sauce, another layer of tortillas, then the other half of the beans and sweet potatoes. Top with sauce, another layer of sweet potatoes, and the last 4 tortillas. Top it off with the last of the sauce. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (You can refrigerate this for a while at this step instead. Increase baking time to 45 minutes if you do). I like this with a little bit of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream on top, but it doesn't need it.