Crocktober: Vegan Sweet Potato and Pinto Bean Chili

After an unexpectedly long shift at my retail job this evening, I'm feeling a little short on poetic banter, but that doesn't mean that this recipe isn't a good one. The spice factor is totally up to you, but personally I'm a bit heavy-handed with them, so my three teaspoons of chili powder were probably more like "heaping teaspoons." Do whatever makes you happy.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry pinto beans (2 1/2 cups prepared)

1 large sweet potato or yam, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-ish cubed 

1 cup water

1/2 onion, chopped

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with jalapenos

2 tsp orange or tangerine zest

3 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Pinch ground allspice (optional)

Fresh cilantro leaves, torn, for serving 

Salt and pepper, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp seasoned salt)

Cooking spray

Directions:

1. If you're using dry beans, sort, rinse, and soak them in the refrigerator overnight (or for up to 24 hours) in plenty of water. Change the water at least twice in this time. If you are using canned or pre-cooked beans, just skip this step and rinse them well just before you add them to the crock.

2. Combine everything but the cilantro in a sprayed crock, and cook on low for 7-9 hours or high for 4-5. Serve with some fresh cilantro on top.

Easy peasy. I don't have a zester (or a grater, for that matter) so I used a vegetable peeler to peel off just the outer skin of my tangerine (no white stuff!) and minced it, which I think worked just fine.

 The only significant thing I would change about this is to alter the bean-to-potato ratio by adding another sweet potato. In my 2 qt machine another sweet potato wouldn't have fit, but in a larger crock it would. As a technical thing, I might add the sweet potatoes a couple of hours into the cooking time, in the future. Even with dry beans that had been soaking for about 20 hours, the sweet potato was done well before the beans were. I also think this would be yummy with butternut squash instead of the sweet potato.

If you're not bound to the "vegan" thing, this would be yummy with some grated cheese on top.

Quote of the Day: Said Aristotle unto Plato, "Have another sweet potato?,"Said Plato unto Aristotle, "Thank you, I prefer the bottle." ~ Owen Wister (1860-1938), American novelist

Crocktober: Idiot-Proof Crock Pot Beef Stew

A hot bowl of stew is one of the things I look forward to the most about cold weather. And I hope I'm not the only one - I've got a post about sweet potato and pinto bean chili coming up at the end of the week, so stay tuned for that.

 I know that this looks like a long list of ingredients, but most of these things are seasonings or staples that you probably have sitting in a cabinet already. Obviously this logic is flawed, but I always consider these things freebies. And anyway, if you asked 50 different people what they put in their beef stew, they would probably all give you a different combination of ingredients, so it's totally up to you.

Ingredients:

3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced

3/4 lb. stew beef, cut into 1-inch-ish cubes

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 14.5 oz can beef broth or stock, or water

1/2 onion, diced (I would have used a whole one but realized that it probably wouldn't fit)

1 medium-sized potato, chopped

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dry Italian herbs, or dry oregano

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

Pinch ground allspice or ground clove

A couple teaspoons of flour, or 1 tsp of cornstarch

Salt (to your taste)

10 3/4 oz can reduced sodium condensed cream of mushroom soup (optional; you could also use another flavor, like cream of tomato)

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, paprika, allspice, salt, and pepper. Add beef and toss to coat.

2. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown beef on the outside and drain off any excess fat.

3. In your sprayed crock pot combine beef, broth, onions, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, dry herbs and potato. Cook on low for about 8-10 hours, or high for about 4-5, or until your veggies are tender.
Note: If you want to, add a 10 3/4 oz can of condensed cream of mushroom soup about 20 minutes before serving. This is totally optional, but I would recommend it if you like a creamier stew broth. I added half a can that I needed to use up, and I recommend it.

I used "extra lean" stew beef, whatever that means, but you could use any cut of beef that you feel like, cut into pieces. Obviously you wouldn't want to use an expensive cut since it will be cooking all day. And for crock pots, cheap cuts are just fine. It'll still come out juicy and yummy. I used carrot and potato, but you could also use celery.

 Normally I am not a big fan of "fat free" this and that, mainly because I always wonder what they put in there instead of fat, but I'll be real. Fat free broth was on sale this week, so that's what I used, and though I can't really crunch the numbers, between the "extra lean" beef, veggies, and low-sodium-fat-free beef broth, I have to think that there are much less healthy beef stews out there. Most recipes that I've read also call for higher beef-to-veggie ratio.


This stew is incredibly easy, and after 9 hours, it was REALLY yummy. I think that little bit of the cream of mushroom soup went a long way toward giving the broth more body and substance. And now I have beef stew for days. Maybe a lot of days. Fine with me. My only regret is that all of my bread-baking accoutrement are in another state. If you're the baking type, this is a golden opportunity.


Quote of the Day: "Talk of joy: there may be things better than beef stew and baked potatoes and home-made bread --- there may be."  ~ David Grayson, "Adventures in Contentment" (1907)

Marinated, Grilled Tempeh Steak & Green Salad

I won't try to convince you that there is anything that can really take the place of a deliciously juicy piece of beef. Even (or perhaps especially) if you are a staunch vegetarian who would never think of tasting any, I'm sure you would agree that it is singular and unique, and without substitute. But just for funsies, I keep on trying to find one in an ongoing effort to alleviate my meat-eating guilt.

I've had only one previous adventure in cooking with tempeh, but I was pleasantly surprised by its firm, meaty texture and slightly nutty flavor, and I still think it's among the best non-meat burrito fillings out there. Though I realize nothing can replicate the juicy grilled flavor of a rare steak, I nonetheless got the urge to soak it in Worcestershire sauce and grill it to see how far I could take the whole "fake meat" thing.

 I made mine with soy tempeh, but I don't see a reason why you couldn't use the multi-grain type. They say that one 8 oz. package is about two servings, which seemed about right to me.

Marinaded tempeh:

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp Soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tsp cider, apple or white wine viengar

1/4 tsp paprika

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 8 oz. package unseasoned soy tempeh

Directions:

1. 2-24 hours before mealtime, whisk together all marinade ingredients in a shallow dish or container. Cut tempeh in half, into two almost-square rectangles, and place in marinade, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to start cooking, flipping one time near the middle of the marinading period.

4. Grease or spray and heat a grill pan, George Foreman Grill or regular grill. (I used a grill pan over medium heat). Grill for about 4-5 minutes each side, or until it gets nice dark grill marks. (I didn't do a great job of this, but I did get the crispy, salty-sweet bits of caramelized Worcestershire sauce, so all was not lost.)

 I've only just realized that in some places - I assume places with real grocery stores that don't tempt any halfway motivated cook to take up drinking wine in bed rather than continue to be disappointed in her shopping efforts - one can buy pre-seasoned tempeh. In concept I think this is great, since it soaks up flavors so well and lacks much flavor of its own when "untreated." I can't recommend them per se, but if anybody has adventures with seasoned tempeh, I want to hear about it!

I had initially planned to serve my tempeh with a green salad and some honey-glazed sauteed sweet potatoes, but when I cut into my monster of a sweet potato (which I bought only two days ago, by the way) I discovered that something small and gross had already started eating it. Imagine my chagrin. I was heavily chagrinned. I'm still a bit chagrinned about it, to be honest. Bleh. So instead, I had my tempeh on a Balsamic-dressed salad of arugula, green lettuce, cherry tomatoes, onion, Feta cheese and pine nuts, which I certainly cannot complain about. I added Feta on a whim but without it this is a yummy vegan meal.

I'm not sure I'm a great lover of tempeh, but it surely seems to have its place, if only in vegetarian burritos. Try it - it couldn't be easier!

Crock Pot Southwestern Three-Bean Stew with Delicious Toppings

It's been said a million times before, but I'll say it again for good measure: Slow cookers are are a busy person's best friend. With a teeny bit of planning and an idea or two, you can have dinner hot and ready for you when you come in the door at night. Though the charming Stephanie O'Dea (better known as the Crock Pot Lady of Crockpot 365) has found a way to cook nearly anything you can think of in her slow cookers, and I do love her recipes, I still think there are a few things that are especially good when cooked all day long, and both beans and stews are on this list.

This stew has pinto beans, chickpeas and 2 types of lentils, but black beans, navy beans, black eyed peas or almost any other bean would also be delicious.

This seems like a ton of ingredients, but if you keep yourself stocked in spices, the odds are pretty good that you will have just about everything on hand. Also keep in mind that you can buy "bean soup mixes" of assorted beans, so my measurements on the bean front might be totally irrelevant. All the better (and easier) for you! So this is totally open to adaptation. I also ended up adding some red pepper flakes at the very end because I was afraid of throwing in too much cayenne earlier in the day. And there's always Sriracha!

For this recipe you will need a 2 or 3 qt crock pot, and some understanding of how it cooks. Some machines will need slightly more or less liquid for a similar effect based on temperature and the fit of the lid, but I would say as long as you've used yours a few times, you should have a good sense of this. This recipe seems to make about 3 servings.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry chickpeas

1/4 cup dry pinto beans

1/4 cup brown lentils

1/4 cup red lentils

1 medium red potato, cubed-ish

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp taco seasoning, or 1/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt, seasoned or regular

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1 envelope Saizon seasoning, cilantro and anchiote, made by Goya

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 jalapeno, diced and seeded

1 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth (subject to the behavior of your machine)

Cheese for topping (optional, but I used Monterrey jack)

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Fresh cilantro, to taste, torn

Tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:

1. The Day Before: Rinse, and soak beans in refrigerator, allowing plenty of room for them to expand (about 30% more space) and covering with at least two inches of water. Soak for 12-24 hours, changing the water at least twice in this period.

2. Place beans, spices, jalapeno, potato, garlic, and water or broth in the crock pot, and cook on "low" for about 9 hours. 

3. When beans are tender, serve and top with green onion, cheese and cilantro. Bonus points if you also serve tortilla chips for scooping.

The whole point of the crock pot is that you don't have to be home to check on it, but if you are, checking once in the afternoon will give you a better sense of how long it will really take. You can bump it up to "high" for a brief period if you need to, since most machines estimate that 1 hour on high is about equivalent to 2 1/2 hours on low. Handy! Though I don't recommend cooking it on "high" the whole time, since everything will get a bit mushy.

My verdict on this is "Good," but to me not great, since I think it could have used a bit more spice, but this is easily remedied. Use your favorite spices or try new ones, but if you ask me, the cheese and cilantro are crucial. Try this soup with some sliced avocado on top. Yum!

Quote of the Day: Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top. ~ Edward Abbey

Couscous with Veggies, Chickpeas, Toasted Almonds, Herbs & A Little Spice

We are in the midst of a very ugly heat wave here in Philadelphia, which I will not bore you with the details of. Except that it is ugly, I am too hot, and I don't want to talk about it. Except to say that I would pay double the value of my student loans for a freak July blizzard. Which is a lot. Moving on.

They (the internet) tell me that whole-wheat couscous is popular amongst the vegetarian set, which I guess shouldn't really surprise me. It's easy to prepare, versatile in its seasoning potential, and can be loaded up with a ton of veggies and beans for a delicious complete-protein meal. So here is the version that I came up with tonight. I got a bit cavalier with combining flavors, so measurements are approximate:

Ingredients:

"2 servings" of whole wheat couscous; 3/4 cup before cooking

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, cut small

1 1/2 cups chickpeas, canned and thoroughly rinsed or fully cooked

2 plum tomatoes, diced and seeded

2-3 good pinches paprika, to taste

2 teaspoons dried dill

1 tablespoon lemon juice, white wine vinegar or jarring juice from queen olives or something similar. (I used the juice from a jar of pepperoncini, which worked great.)
1-2 tablespoons dried parsley, or about 1 tablespoon fresh, coarsely chopped

A few fresh basil leaves per serving, torn

3/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup toasted almond slivers

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

Makes 3 main-dish servings.

Directions:

1. Cook couscous according to package directions.

2. Toss with everything except the basil and almonds.

3. Transfer couscous mixture to plates or a serving platter, and sprinkle with basil leaves and toasted almond slivers - as much or as little as you want.

Cook's Notes: 1) Toasting almond slivers is easy: Toss one-layer's-worth in a dry frying or saute pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until toasty in color and deliciously aromatic. This doesn't take long. 2) Since I didn't precisely measure the liquids that went into this dish, I would say to start with a little and see how you like it. Of course, if you find that your couscous is a bit too dry, you can add a bit more olive oil and/or juice.

I know - paprika, basil, dill and broccoli - not the most common combination. At the last moment I wondered - what was I thinking? Well, I don't have an answer to that, but somehow this became a delightful combination. Brady hit the nail on the head - it's definitely different, but definitely delicious. The paprika brings a bit of the spice factor while the chickpeas add body and protein, the almonds add crunch and the whole thing is rather herby and delicious.

Couscous in progress. Yumyumyum.

There is probably no way to significantly mess this up. Diced bell peppers would also be delicious in this herb-spice-veggie combination, in addition to or instead of the tomato. It's super easy and also vegan! Everybody wins.

Quote of the Day: Couscous - the food so nice they named it twice. ~ Dale Denton, Pineapple Express (2008)