Crock Pot Veg Chili

At the end of this week I had a lot of odds and ends of veggies that needed to be used. This, in combination with temperatures dropping into the 30s and a canned bean sale at the grocery store, resulted in crock pot chili!

Crock pots are great! They hold SO. MUCH. FOOD. which makes them perfect for entertaining. You can throw everything in, push a button, and let it sit for a few hours or all day. Why don't I use this thing more often?? Leftover chili is great as taco filling, over mashed potatoes, made into soup...

Let's talk tofu. Tofu is made from coagulated soy milk, and is a great source of protein, calcium, and iron (non-heme). Tofu can (and should, in my opinion) be marinaded or seasoned... it tastes less than awesome plain. Firm and extra-firm varieties hold up best for stir-frying and chili where it acts as a meat substitute. There is some controversy surrounding soy products and estrogen, and a possible link between soy and breast cancer. This link between soy and cancer is complicated by other factors (diet, activity level, exposure to other carcinogens), and there is no strong evidence one way or the other. Women in Asian countries who have been eating soy their entire lives have lower rates of cancer than we see in the United States. I plan on continuing to consume soy products in moderation, like everything else.

For this veggie chili you will need:

• 1c lentils
  
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed
  
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
  
• 1 can pinto beans, rinsed
  
• 1 can corn, rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
  
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, cut into 1" pieces
  
• 1 green pepper, cut into 1" pieces
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 packet taco seasoning (or make your own)
• 1lb extra-firm tofu
• 1/2 c salsa
• 2 tsp chili powder
• Veggie odds and ends... I used some carrots, broccoli, and 1/2 an acorn squash; about 3c chopped vegetables total

1. Drain the tofu and wrap it in a towel or two. Place it in the refrigerator under something flat and heavy (milk carton, roommate's six-pack of beverage, sheet pan weighted with a textbook...)
2. Turn the crock pot to "low." While the water is being pressed from the tofu, put ~2c water in the crock pot. Add lentils, beans, corn, and tomatoes.
3. Add taco seasoning and stir.
4. In a frying pan, saute onions, garlic and bell peppers in olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the mixture to the crock pot.
   
5. Cut up any veggie odds and ends you plan to use into bite-size pieces. Add these to the crock pot, stir, and leave it. Seriously, just walk away (and come back to stir every hour or so).
6. After the tofu is pressed (at least a half hour), remove the tofu from the towels and cut it into 1/2" - 1" cubes. Gently shake the cubes in a tupperware containing the salsa and chili powder until the cubes are coated. Put this back in the fridge until thirty minutes before you are ready to serve the chili.
   
7. I made my chili before I left the house at 9am, and didn't eat until 6 or so at night. However, I found this recipe only needs 2 or so hours of cook time since there is no meat. When everything is soft/cooked (carrots and potatoes take a while... beans will not), place the tofu into a med-high heat frying pan to cook (~4 mins), and then transfer it to the crock pot, or just pop the marinated tofu cubes straight into the chili. Stir gently to avoid breaking up the tofu.

Om nom nom!

Veggie Soup

I really like soups. I can spend 30 minutes cooking one night and have leftovers for 3-4 days, or freeze it for days I don't feel like cooking. Also, soups are extremely college-budget friendly - most of the ingredients are dirt-cheap at the grocery store! Soup is also a great fate for all those random veggies in the back of the produce bin in your refrigerator. You can pack a whole day's worth of veggie servings into one meal!

In the stir-fry post, I mentioned that fresh veggies are best. Carrots, tomatoes, and a handful of other veggies are exceptions to this rule. Cooking helps to break down the cell walls of the vegetable so more nutrients can be absorbed. One of these nutrients is lycopene. Lycopene is a red pigment found in tomatoes and other rosy fruits such as watermelon, pink guava, red bell pepper and papaya. Several studies conducted in recent years (at Harvard Medical School, among others) have linked high intake of lycopene with a lower risk of cancer and heart attacks. Cooked carrots, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage, peppers and many other vegetables also supply more antioxidants, such as carotenoids and ferulic acid, to the body than they do when raw. Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=raw-veggies-are-healthier

You'll need:

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2-3 chopped garlic cloves
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, cut into rounds (~2c)
• 3-4 celery stalks, cut into 1/2 pieces (~2c)
• 2 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2 -1 inch cubes
• 3 large kale leaves, de-stemmed and cut into1-2 inch pieces.
• 4c low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2-4 c water
• <1TBS pepper
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 cans (~3c) butter beans... kidney beans... chickpeas... whatever you have on hand

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. Saute until onion is translucent and carrots begin to soften.
2. Add potatoes and kale. Cover with a lid and cook until kale reduces in volume by half (about 2-3 minutes).
3. Add paprika, pepper, and chili powder. Mix spices in thoroughly.
   
4. Add vegetable stock and water. You could add 7-8 cups of stock and omit the water... but water is cheaper and with all the vegetables and spices the extra stock isn't needed.
   
5. Cook until potatoes and carrots are soft, stirring occasionally.
   
6. Add butterbeans and cook until they are heated through. Adding them sooner will cause the beans to fall apart.

Nom, nom nom!

Tofu Veggie Stir-fry, and Fresh or Frozen??

Yesterday was a looonnngggg day. The last thing I felt like doing was cooking when I got home. This quick and easy stir fry could be dressed up if you used different vegetables or special sauces. You could add cashews or egg in place of the tofu if tofu isn't your cup of tea.

I've talked before about buying and eating seasonal produce. But what's a veggie to do when winter rolls around?? Our grocery stores *magically* make fresh produce that normally grows only in spring appear all year-round. What gives?? Usually this produce is imported from other countries thousands of miles away (check the little sticker or rubber-band!). Usually the produce is picked well before it is ripe, and then bounces along on a truck until it reaches your grocery store. Remember the phytochemicals? While your asparagus or tomatoes are en route, they loose a large percentage of these disease-fighting agents along the way!

The solution? Frozen produce. Fresh always best when it's in season and you can find it locally. Out of season, however, frozen produce is the next best option. It is usually not picked until it is ripe, and then flash-frozen immediately. That means (most of) those phytochemicals and other nutrients stay intact! Canned foods are another story. Preservatives, salt and other things are added and things turn funny colors.

Aaaaand... bags of pre-washed and cut vegetables are a wonderful thing to pull out of your freezer when you've had a long day. Which brings me to the recipe for Tofu Veggie Stir-fry. This recipe is enough for 2-4 people.

You will need:

1 block extra-firm tofu
1 (non-fuzzy) dish towel or multiple paper towels
Soy sauce
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1TBS chili powder
3-4 TBS chopped green onion
1c brown rice
2c water (more or less according to your rice's cooking directions)
One 1lb bag frozen stir fry veggies
3 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 TBS olive oil
Salt & pepper

1. Remove tofu from packaging and drain excess water. Wrap tofu in the towel and place it under something flat and heavy in your refrigerator... like your roommate's 6-pack of, ahem, beverages.
2. Take a nap (...at least I did. The tofu should stay wrapped in a towel and under compression for at least a half hour so all the excess water is pressed from the tofu so it's ready for the next step).
3. Begin boiling water for rice.
4. Cut tofu into 1" cubes, place in tupperware container with 3-4 TBS soy sauce, chili powder, and minced garlic. Shake and roll the tupperware gently until the tofu is coated in the mixture. Let the sit during the next step.
5. When water boils, add rice to water and cook according to the directions on the bag of rice (simmer over med-low heat for 30-40 minutes with a lid).
6. When the rice has ~10 minutes left to cook, heat olive oil over medium heat in a large, non-stick pan (or a wok, if you have one).
7. Add tofu to the hot oil (I know, I know... I said earlier to never overheat oil... but this is an exception I make since I don't cook tofu often. Otherwise it will stay soft and soggy). Use a fork to rotate the cubes until all sides are light brown. Remove the tofu from the pan and place it on a plate lined with a paper-towel to soak up any extra oil.
8. Into the still-hot pan, add your veggies. Mine were still quite frozen, and took a while to heat up. Once your veggies are warm, add pepper and rice wine vinegar.
9. Add the tofu back into the veggies and gently stir for another minute or two to reheat the tofu.
10. Serve the tofu and veggies over the rice. Add some of the green onion on top.

Nom!

Butternut Squash Soup

More squash!
Butternut squash has more vitamin A than pumpkin, is high in many of the B-vitamins, and is a good source of the minerals iron, zinc, copper, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. It's high in dietary fiber as well.

You will need:

One 2-3# butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (use a large spoon to scrape out the seeds -- it's like carving a pumpkin!)
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small potato, cubed
Whatever other veggies you have... I had a handful of baby carrots that needed to be used.
2 Tbs olive oil
4c vegetable stock (I used low-sodium)
1-2 Tsp each of black pepper and nutmeg
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
1/2 TBS salt

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery, potato and celery until onion is translucent. Add cubed squash, vegetable stock, and spices. Cover with a lid and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until squash is soft all the way through. Transfer contents of the pot to a blender or food processor (I had to do it in two batches), and blend until smooth.

Sweet Rice and Acorn Squash Bowls

It's that time of year... my two comforters are no longer sufficient and I need to break out the heater blanket. Which also means it's acorn squash season!! My mom made squash when my brother and I were little and I HATED it (sorry, mom). Even drowned in melted butter and brown sugar, squash was not something I would eat willingly.

Needless to say, that eventually changed. I recently watched documentary titled "Forks Over Knives." In the last part of the film, the pro-plant food (Whoop!) researchers meet for dinner and eat something that looks like wild rice baked in cute little acorn squash bowls. I had to try it. I felt guilty adding butter and brown sugar to something that's so naturally sweet, so the rice gets its sweetness from dried cranberries and walnuts.

This recipe isn't as pumped full of vegetables as my usual dinners are... on good days, anyway... but it's better than the ice cream I was craving on my way home from the rec center! Acorn squash has about 115 calories per 1cup serving, less than an equivalent serving of potato. That same 1c serving also packs 9g of dietary fiber and 2g of protein. To boost the protein in this meal, I added kidney beans and rice (legume + grain = complete protein!). Squash also contains vitamins E and B6, minerals potassium and magnesium, and over 30% of the daily recommended amount for vitamin C. Walnuts are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, too! I'll Nom to that!

The Ingredients:

1 acorn squash, cut in half and seeds scooped out (like a cantaloupe)
1 1/2 c wild rice, rinsed
1/2 c sweetened, dried cranberries
1/2 c walnut halves & pieces
1/2 c rinsed kidney beans
3c water
2 tsp pumpkin spice seasoning (cinnamon, allspice, cloves...)
2tsp salt + sprinkle for squash
2 tsp pepper + sprinkle for squash

Preheat oven to 400F

1. Bring water to a boil and add wild rice. Cook until most of the water is absorbed (~30 mins) and add pumpkin spice seasoning, salt, and pepper.
2. Microwave acorn squash half cut-side down on plastic wrap for 5 minutes
3. Cook rice until all water is absorbed, and add cranberries, walnuts, and kidney beans.
4. Remove squash from microwave and place cut-side up in a glass baking dish. Poke holes in the sides and bottom with a fork.
5. Sprinkle squash with salt and pepper, then scoop rice into the hole in the center (you will have enough rice for both halves and then some).
6. Bake squash for 10-15 more minutes.

And because I couldn't resist... I sprinkled ~1TBS brown sugar over the squash when it came out of the oven. Om Nom Nom!

Taco Soup

I made tacos with friends and had a bunch of leftovers, as well as a bunch of veggies I needed to use. The original plan was to use a low-sodium vegetable broth as the base, but spicy black bean soup was on sale today (and you can't tell me spicy black bean doesn't sound more delicious!)

I used:
2 TBS olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 ear corn, boiled and cut off of cobb
1/2 packet (1 1/2 TBS) taco seasoning
2 c chopped red cabbage
1 zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
1 box (~4 c) spicy black bean soup
2 c water
3/4 c quinoa

1. Heat olive oil in a large (!) pot. Saute' garlic and onion.
2. Add taco seasoning, green bell pepper and zucchini and cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add cabbage, corn, black bean soup, water, and quinoa. Stir, bring to boil, and let simmer until quinoa is cooked (about 30 minutes).

Easy enough, right? This makes enough soup (or stew... the quinoa sucked up all the water and thickened it) for 5-6 people... which means a week of leftovers for me!! This would also be good over a baked potato or as taco filling.

Ginger Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

1 red bell pepper (Recipe makes enough filling for 2-4)
2 carrots
2 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion
1C quinoa
1Tbs ginger
salt/pepper
non-stick spray
soy sauce
~2c water
2 TBS olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Boil water and add quinoa. Quinoa cooks a lot like rice - it will absorb the water as it cooks., which takes about 30 minutes. When it's done, fluff it with a fork.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat (NOT HIGH HEAT!) in a nonstick pan.
3. Dice garlic and onion, and cut carrots into small pieces (1/4 inch coins worked well) and add to oil.
4. My green pepper was huge, so I cut the top off, and then cut a 2-inch section off the top of the "bowl" part. I cut that into bite-size pieces and added it to the oil as well.
5. Add salt and pepper to the pan. Cover the carrots, onion, garlic and pepper and cook for 10 or so minutes on medium heat.
6. When the quinoa is almost cooked, add the ginger and stir gently.
7. Cut the seeds and white ridges out of the middle of the pepper.
8. When the quinoa is cooked and veggies are almost soft, combine the two and fill the pepper(s) with the mixture.
9. Top the mixtures with cheese or the pepper lids.
10. Bake in a sprayed baking dish for 25 minutes or until the pepper starts to wrinkle and gets soft.
11. Add soy sauce

Nom!

Tomato Basil Hummus

So much basil, so little time!!

You will need:
1 big tomato (I used a hothouse tomato, you could probably use 2 or 3 romas)
5-6 basil leaves
3 TBS olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans/chick peas
salt/pepper
1TBS lemon juice
2 cloves garlic

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat (olive oil has a low smoke point, and heating it too high can damage the molecules, which in turn causes problems when your body tries to use those fats... more on this later).
2. Cut tomato into chunks so the blender can tackle it. Add to oil.
3. Roughly cut the garlic cloves. No precision needed here, it's going into the blender anyway.
4. Wash and cut basil leaves by stacking the leaves, rolling them, and cutting across the roll. Voila! basil confetti!
5. Let the tomatoes, garlic, and basil hang out in the hot oil, stirring occasionally, while you open, drain, and rinse a can of garbanzo beans.
6. Put the beans, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and tomato/oil mixture into the blender (or a food processor, if you're so fortunate as to have one). Blend until smooth.

Store the hummus in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Next time I make these, I think I'll seed the tomatoes or add another can of garbanzos. The hummus was less thick than I would like.

Back to super-heated fats...

When you heat an oil too high, the molecular composition of the oil changes. It becomes damaged, and lots of nasty by-products are also produced. Cooking by grilling or frying, or hydrogenating oils (like the fats in processed foods like margarine) causes these changes. When we ingest these damaged fats, the body still tries to use them. They become part of the phosopolipid bilayer in our cell membranes which causes the cells to become more rigid, and contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes. Damaged fats also create inflammation, which can aggravate arthritis and cause a number of other problems.

Moral of the story: cook low and slow. Baking, crock-potting, and boiling are some of the best ways to prepare foods without damaging the fats or other nutrients present.

Fried Eggplant and Tomato Basil Veggie Pasta

I have a basil plant that has too many leaves and gets too little water (oops). I really wanted to make pesto, but our food processor doesn't work, so I made tomato basil pasta and added the pine nuts and parmesean cheese to the pasta. I also fried some eggplant, because it sounded amaaaaazing.

You will need:

2 cloves garlic
4 TBS olive oil
4 roma tomatoes
1 large head broccoli
1/2 c parmesean cheese
1/2 Tbs paprika
salt, pepper
6-7 leaves basil
1/4c pine nuts

1 eggplant
1 egg
1/2 c milk
1TBS paprika
salt, pepper,
1 cup flour
1/2c canola oil

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and pine nuts and cook 1-2 minutes.
2. Add diced roma tomatoes and bite-size broccoli pieces cover, and turn down heat to low. Stir in basil cut into 1/4 inch strips (like confetti).
3. In a separate frying pan, heat 1/4 c canola oil. Add more oil as needed while frying.
4. In one bowl, mix the egg and milk. In a second bowl, mix paprika, salt pepper, and flour.
5. Cut the eggplant into 3/4 inch disks.
6. Dip the disks in the egg, then the flour mixture, then into the frying pan. Cook for ~2 minutes on each side, then cool on a plate lined with paper towels.
7. Once all the eggplant disks are fried, coat a baking dish with oil. Line the bottom with the fried eggplant disks, and pour the tomato-broccoli-basil mixture over the top. Cover with Parmesean cheese and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Cook 4 servings' worth of pasta according to the directions. I like whole wheat pasta.
9. Drain the pasta, and serve pasta with the eggplant-basil-tomato sauce on top.

Om nom nom!

Blackberry Protein Pancakes

Let's face it, regular pancakes may be fluffy and delicious... but there is very little nutritional value to be found. I give you my solution to the fluffy and filling but nutritionally floundering pancake: protein pancakes!

These are made with oatmeal and cottage cheese and I PROMISE you can't tell the cottage cheese is there!

1. Combine 1 cup regular (whole wheat if you can find it!) pancake mix, 1 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 cup fat free cow or soy milk, and 1 Tsp each of cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Carefully fold in 1 cup of blackberries.
2. The batter will be a little thicker and chunkier than regular pancake batter, but should still be pourable. Add more milk if it's too thick.
3. Use a non-stick skillet heated on medium heat. Any hotter, and the pancakes will burn on the outside, but still be goopy on the inside. Pour 1/2 cup of batter per pancake. Keep these guys small, or they'll fall apart.
4. Cook until one side is brown, and the edges are dry, then flip and cook until the pancake is cooked all the way through.

This recipe makes about 8 smallish pancakes, or 4 mondo pancakes - about enough for 3 people. Oatmeal, fat-free cottage cheese, eggs, and milk/soy are great sources of protein. Unlike regular pancakes that contain minimal protein, these pancakes will fill you up sooner, and won't cause quite so large spikes in blood sugar. The protein is harder to break down than the simple carbohydrate in traditional pancakes, and causes these to digest more slowly. The more slowly something digests, the more time your body has to pump out insulin to process the incoming glucose.

Nom on!

Blackberry Pie

My roommate, our cat and I picked blackberries last night (yes... our cat comes out with us, on a leash). We came home with several pounds of blackberries and did the only possible rational thing:PIE!!

I use my grandmother's pie recipe, with a few substitutions. It makes two 9" pies' worth of dough, but freezes really well for months.

Pie Dough:
1. Combine 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour, and 2 cups sofened (not melted!) butter in a large bowl. Use two forks to break up the butter and combine it with the flour. Usually I get frustrated with the forks and just dive in with my hands.
2. Add 1 TBS apple cider vinegar, 1 TBS salt, 1 egg, 1TBS sugar, 2 Tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water. Combine until it just comes together, otherwise your dough will be chewy.
3. Refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes, and up to 3 days.

Filling:
1. Combine 2c blackberries, 1/4c sugar, 1/4c flour, 2 Tsp cinnamon, 1TBS lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, and 1 Tsp salt in a large bowl GENTLY. Don't squash your berries!

Assembling the pie:
1. On a well-floured surface, roll out 1/2 the dough into a circle about 4" in diameter greater than the diameter of your pie dish, and about 1/4 inch thick. Don't forget to flour your rolling pin, too!
2. Spray your pie dish with vegetable oil and lightly (!) coat the dish with flour. This will help the pie not stick, especially if berry goodness leaks out.
3. Carefully transfer the pie circle to the pie dish, using your rolling pin to start at one side and unroll it across the dish.
4. Slide the dough carefully down the sides of the dish. Leave any extra dough hanging off the sides.
5. Pour the pie filling into the crust.
6. Cut off any extra dough by running a knife around the outside edge of the pie dish. save this extra dough to make the lattice top.
7. Roll out your dough again into a square-ish shape. I would have a hard time telling you how to create the lattice-top, but this link does a pretty good job. Thanks, YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jv8BGw31Cg

8. Bake your pie at 350F for 40 -45 minutes. Because of the whole wheat flour, it may be hard to tell when your pie is "golden brown." If you poke a section of crust and it pops back up, it's probably done.

That's it! Easy as..well.. Pie!

Any leftover pie crust can be rolled thin and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, then baked for 15-20 minutes. Hellooooo elephant ear!

Om Nom Nom!

Very Verde Purple Power Pasta

I LOVE SUMMER!! There are SO many vegetables that are locally grown in my Fred Meyer right now. I went on a bit of a veggie shopping spree tonight. Yum :) I was, however, too excited about all the local produce to actually PLAN what I was going to make with all of it. So yet again, I present to you a completely experimental pasta dish featuring the green and purple veggies I picked out.

I picked up some kale at a local farm this weekend. Kale is like spinach on roids - full of beta carotene (one of those phytochemicals), vitamins A, C, and K, lutein and calcium. It's a cousin to broccoli and collard greens, and contains the compound indole-3-carbinol which helps DNA to repair itself and may thereby inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

I don't know that I'd ever eat it raw in a salad. It's a pretty thick leaf. However, I've put it in soups and pasta sauces before, and it's delicious. I've also heard of people making it into chips. Hmmm... sounds like something I'll have to try.

Here's the recipe:

1. In a large pot, saute' 2 cloves minced garlic with 3 TBS olive oil on medium heat.
2. Cut one eggplant into bite-ish sized pieces and add to pot. Cook the eggplant in oil until it turns a darker color and appears soggy.
3. Add one can of no salt-added tomato sauce and 1c water. I like the no salt added sauce because then I can add other seasonings and my pasta tastes more like the ingredients and less like a salt block you'd give a hamster.
4. Add 2tsp salt, 3tsp pepper, 2tsp rosemary, and a few dashes of some mysterious paprika that appeared in our cabinet that belongs to neither my roomie or I. Awesome.
5. Wash and drain 4-5 large leaves of kale. I use kitchen scissors to cut the leave in half lengthwise and then into bite-size pieces. These along with 4c spinach leaves are added to the pot. It seems like A LOT of green leafies, but they cook down really quickly. I also threw in about a cup of chopped red cabbage I had left over from the Husky quinoa.
6. Add a lid to the pot, and in 3-4 minutes the kale and spinach will cook down into the tomato sauce.
7. Add 2c kidney beans (I had a can and a half I needed to use). Here's the protein part of the dish. Remember how combining legumes with a grain makes a complete protein? Here I'm combining kidney beans (the legume) with the grain (whole wheat pasta).
8. Let the green & purple tomato mixture simmer, and bring another pot of water to a boil. Cook and drain 4 servings (2 cups cooked...) of whole wheat pasta per the directions on the box.
9. Put the tomato sauce on the pasta and NOM NOM NOM!

I've been interning at a nutrition and diabetes clinic this summer. The RDs there teach clients to only choose 3-4 servings (1 servings = 15g carbohydrate) per meal, and 1 serving per snack. One serving of pasta is 1/3 c cooked... that fits in the palm of my hand. I challenged myself to make this dish both veggie and diabetic-friendly, and I think I succeeded. 1/2 cup cooked pasta is about a serving and a half, and the kidney beans also count as a serving of carbohydrate (CHO). I didn't really miss the pasta (let's be honest, most of us eat more than 1/2 c pasta at a time) because of all the veggies. I think I'll add some scrambled egg to the leftovers to add more protein.

"Husky" Quinoa & Phytochemicals

Quinoa! The only perfect plant protein! ...but more on this super grain another post.

To make dinner tonight, I pulled the most colorful things I could find out of my refrigerator: red cabbage, a corn cob, and a green pepper. Color is one of the best indicators of healthy foods. Think of some of the healthiest foods you know of: fruits, vegetables, grains, salmon. Now think of more unhealthy foods - anything you'd pull out of a bag from McDonalds. Pretty brown and dull, yeah?

When plants are growing in the dirt, they need to protect themselves from insects, fungi, bacteria, and animals. To do so, they produce chemicals called "phytochemicals" (plant chemicals). There are estimated to be more than 5,000-10,000 phytochemicals, most of which we haven't discovered yet. Phytochemicals are the reason for plants' colors and odors. When we eat phytochemicals, our cells benefit from the same antioxidant protection they offer the plants! Moral of the story: follow your nose and eyes to bright, smelly foods!

Sooooo here it is... Husky quinoa. So named for it's purple-and-gold color. This recipe isn't anything especially pretty, but it is quite tasty. Especially for an experiment!

1. Boil 1c of rinsed and drained quinoa in 2c water until all the water is absorbed, much like rice. At the same time, boil one stalk of corn in a large pot of water. Once the water has been boiling for 1-2 minutes, turn off the stove and let the corn sit in the hot water.
2. Mince 1-2 cloves garlic and 1/2 an onion, and saute' in olive oil.
3. Add bite-sized pieces of 1 green pepper.
4. Cut the cooked corn off the cob into the green pepper mixture.
5. Add 3/4 of a head of red cabbage (that's all that fit in my pan), 1/4 cup water, and cover the pan until the cabbage softens.
6. Add salt and pepper to both the quinoa and the veggie mixture. Add an additional ~1 tsp ginger to the quinoa.
7. Once the cabbage/pepper/corn mixture is soft, mix 1/2 cup with 1/2 cup of the quinoa.

Om Nom Nom!

Let's Talk Lentils

Poor lentils... I don't think they'll ever get the respect they deserve. These green or red, humble little members of the legume family may look, well, as appetizing as lentils, but they are a veggie-on-a-budget's best friend. I've used them as a replacement for meat in spaghetti sauce, tacos, and chili. They're a lot like tofu - they taste like whatever you season them with. Taco seasoning or Montreal Steak Seasoning are two of my favorites.

A 1/4 cup serving (dry, makes ~1/2 cup cooked) packs a whopping 13g of protein, 15g of fiber, and 20% of the RDA for iron, all for 180 calories. Of course, because it is a plant-based protein (and therefore an incomplete protein... we'll talk quinoa in a later blog post), it's best paired with a whole-grain.

Cultures have been pairing legumes and grains for centuries to create complete, inexpensive proteins. Meat has not always been so widely available, so people needed another way to get complete proteins from plant foods. A 'complete protein' is one that contains all 8 essential amino acids - building blocks for growth and repair - that our bodies cannot make themselves. In Mexico, rice and beans are paired. Greece - hummus and pita. And one of my personal favorites - peanut butter and whole wheat bread.

But... back to the much-neglected lentil. For those of you reluctant to give up meat in your recipes, you could try substituting half the meat with lentils, and cut the saturated fat content of your recipe in half! They're super inexpensive (less than$2/lb... roughly $0.22 per serving), and are a fabulous source of iron, fiber and protein. Give 'em a try!

Keep Nomming! Om Nom Nom!

Veggie Chili... Monday's Variation

I make a lot of chili and taco filling. It's pretty easy to throw together with whatever veggies and taco seasoning I happen to have on hand.

I rinsed/drained/cooked 3 palm-fulls (~1 cup for you measuring folk) of lentils according to the directions on the bag... More or less 6 cups of boiling water for 30 mins. While the lentils were cooking, I pulled a couple cloves of garlic, half a yellow onion, one green and one yellow zucchini, half a red pepper, and a green pepper out of the fridge. I washed and cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces, and diced the onion and garlic. Once the lentils had cooked for 30 minutes, I drained the remaining water off of them, and left them in the strainer. Into the still-hot, empty pan I put 2-seconds' worth (2 Tbs?) of olive oil, and the onion and garlic. I added salt, pepper, and chili powder, stirred it around for a minute or so, then added the rest of the vegetables. Once the vegetables were soft-ish, I added the lentils back in with a can of black beans and allowed the mixture to hang out (after I added more chili powder) for as long as it took me to complete my ab workout (15 minutes or so). Upon tasting the "chili," I decided it needed something more... and dug around in my cabinet for a can of condensed tomato soup. I added half the can, stirred it around until it was hot, and ate it. Om nom nom!

I had lots of leftover chili. I added a scrambled egg to a portion of the leftovers. Also delicious. Best enjoyed in a large blue leather chair while playing with Stella, my cat.

Om Nom Nom!

Hi Mom! & Red Pepper Hummus

My mom has been telling me for a while now that I need to write a recipe book. Whenever I go home, I cook something that she and my dad enjoy, and my brother tolerates at best. For my seventeen year old brother, if there are too many vegetables or an obvious lack of meat, it's not a meal.

Long story short - I love food, I'm vegetarian, and I need to entertain my love for baking and veggie cooking on a college-student's budget. This blog will detail the best (and worst) of my cooking and baking adventures and experiments. I'm not one to follow recipes or use measuring utensils... but here goes.

This Red Pepper Hummus Recipe is quite the example of college ingenuity. I don't have a food processor, but I've found that a blender works just as well. Also, tahini (sesame seed paste) is really expensive and doesn't keep well... so I've simply omitted it.

This recipe makes 4 or so cups of hummus.

1. Cut up 1/2 a red pepper into smallish chunks. Put the pieces in a hot pan with 2-3 seconds' worth (2-3 Tbs) of canola or olive oil and 1-2 cloves of garlic. Olive oil has a low smoke-point, and heating it above this point can create cancerous agents... so I tend to use canola oil for cooking the pepper in.
2. Open, drain, and rinse 2 cans of garbanzo beans and throw 'em in a blender with some salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I'm not sure exactly how much of each I usually use, but when you taste it at the end, you will figure out what more it needs.
3. Once the peppers begin to blacken a bit, add them and the garlic into the blender with the beans. I usually add 1/2 cup water and a few tablespoons of olive oil to the mixture, and then blend it until smooth.
4. Here's where you taste it and see if it needs more salt, pepper, or lemon juice.

I serve the hummus with whole wheat pita, carrots, celery, or broccoli. It keeps well in the fridge in an air-tight container for a few days... it never lasts longer than that. The hummus without the red pepper is also tasty!

Om Nom Nom!