Superbowl Champion Veggie Chili

This is not *my* veggie chili. But it bears a striking resemblance to it.

By this time, you have no doubt heard that the New Orleans Saints won the Superbowl (which, as my friend Nick points out, is like the Grey Cup, but with 4 downs and no “rouges”).  As a Louisiana native, I am extremely pleased with this development.  I vividly recall the days of bag-headed fans venturing into the Superdome to watch the “Aint’s,” and not getting to see home games on television because the failure to sell enough tickets meant a TV blackout within a 100 mile radius.  So, I really never expected this day to come, but I am pretty stoked that it finally did.

To celebrate the Saints’ competition in this, the most glorious of sporting events, I made Veggie Chili, which, as far as I’m concerned anyway, rose to the occasion.  The recipe is an adaptation of Emeril Lagasse’s Texas-style chili (which is definitely not vegetarian), and is both hearty and complex.  Here’s how it goes.

Begin by sauteing the following in a big pot with canola oil:

• 1 large vidalia onion, diced
• 1-2 jalapenos, chopped
• 1 chopped carrot
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
• 4 Tbsp. chili powder
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

After these have cooked for a couple of minutes, add:

• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 2 tsp. salt
• black pepper
• 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

When this is fragrant, add:

• 1 bottle of dark beer (we used a dark Belgian that we had on hand, but I’ve also used Guinness with pretty good results)
• 4 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chopped
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Bring this to a boil, and taste it.  If your beer is on the bitter side, you may want to add about a tsp of sugar or honey.  Then, add 1.5 cups of dry, green lentils (make sure that you have washed and picked these over to get rid of any dirt or stones).  Boil for about 10 minutes, then reduce head to med-low and cook, covered, for 1 hour (or until the lentils are tender, but not mushy).  When the lentils have almost finished cooking, add a can of cooked kidney beans, and allow to simmer for another 15 minutes.

We served the chili with cheddar and chive scones, like these (made by Josh, of course),

plus a dollop of sour cream.  I don’t mind telling you that I think this chili is fantastic.  It’s satisfyingly spicy without being too much, and the flavor is big and bold without being one-note.  I also really, really like what the lentils do for the texture.  I’ve previously made this dish with TVP instead, and I think the ever-so-slight al dente character of the lentils is worlds better than the texture of TVP, which can get pretty mushy in soup.  It’s also a fun contrast with all of the other veggies, as well as the kidney beans.

By the end of the night, there were exactly zero servings of chili left–this recipe makes anywhere from 8-12, depending on how much other game-grub you have on hand–so I have a feeling that my chili-feelings here are deserved.    And, thankfully (finally!), so are my feelings for the Saints.

Penne With Italian ‘Sausage’

This is one of my favorite weeknight minimal-effort-required meals.  It’s reminiscent of both a traditional arrabiata sauce and one of those sausage-and-peppers-on-a-bun deals you might get from a vendor at a sporting event.  I happen to think that both of those things are delicious, so it was only a matter of time before they got together in my cooking, especially once I discovered Tofurky sausages.  As far as I’m concerned, Tofurky makes the best sausages around–they have a great texture, come in a variety of flavors (for this application I used the sun-dried tomato Italian sausage, but I’ve also tried the Kielbasa for Jambalaya), and are really, really good at outdoor cookouts.

Anyway, veggie sausage isn’t the most economical vegetarian food choice (a pack of 4 generally runs you around $5, depending on where you are), it’s still comparable to meat in terms of price and gives the added bonus of convenience and unique flavor and texture that you just wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.  I think that this pasta does a good job of showing off that uniqueness, while making more of it than just a bun could.

The whole thing was pretty simple, but tasty.  While boiling some whole-wheat penne (gotta get your fiber!), I sauteed some peppers, onions and garlic in olive oil.  Once these got a bit of color, I added the chopped sausage, a little Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and dried chipotle chilies.  After the pasta was done, I tossed it in the sausage and pepper mixture with half a jar of store-bought marinara sauce, and added a handful of grape tomatoes at the last minute.  The results weren’t earth-shattering, of course, but they were pretty darn good–spicy, rich and tomato-y–for only 20 minutes in the kitchen.

Butternut Squash Soup

Today is a chilly, dreary day: perfect soup weather.  Plus, since it’s a Saturday, there was time enough to make a good one while doing some chores and watching the LSU game on the internet (no SEC football on my limited cable, unfortunately!).  I’d gotten a butternut squash on my last trip to the store for just such an occasion, and I have to admit that I was more than a little excited to use it.

Last summer, Josh and I actually grew (several!) butternut squash in our garden in Nashville, and we love using them in the fall.  They keep a really long time in the pantry, and since they’re also super-delicious and good for you, they’re a great garden item.  In case you’ve never had them, the flavor is somewhere between a sweet potato and a pumpkin.  So, between their tastiness, health benefits and general economy, I’d have to rank butternut squash as one of my absolute favorite fall vegetables (even though, technically, it’s not a vegetable at all).

Though I was looking forward to making a butternut squash soup, I actually wasn’t quite sure what I would do, recipe-wise.  I’ve recently fallen into watching a Canadian cooking show called “It’s Just Food,” which is great for getting basic ideas; their butternut squash soup used carrots, garlic, onion, green apples, and a dash of maple syrup, but I had no apples or syrup, and wasn’t quite sure that I wanted my soup to be sweet at all.  All too often I believe people make the mistake of thinking that if they’re using fall vegetables with fall-esque spices, everything needs to come out tasting like pumpkin pie, which becomes overwhelmingly cloying really quickly.  But enough of my soap-box.

I decided to do my own thing–inspired by, but not directly derivative of, the “It’s Just Food” recipe.  I did follow their tip of doing a preliminary browning of the chunks of squash and carrots and yellow onion (the carmelization brings out just enough sweetness for me), butI used potatoes instead of apples.  After these got a bit of color, I added several cups of vegetable stock and a few cloves of garlic.  Before letting this boil away, I went to town with the spices–which, by the way, is my favorite part of the cooking process.  This time, since I was really just winging it, I added quite a bit.  What ended up being most prominent, though were the following: ginger, coriander, cayenne and dried chipotles (as I mentioned earlier, these give the smokiness of bacon flavor to vegetarian foods), plus a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg and sage.  After everything simmered together for about half an hour and the vegetables were all tender, I hit the whole thing with my immersion blender till it was pureed.  Things were pretty thick at that point, so I decided to finish the entire thing with a bit of milk, which toned down some of the heat and made the finished soup really rich and creamy.  In the end, I was super happy with how it turned out–warm, spicy and savory, with just a hint of sweetness–and maybe just a little too proud of myself for coming up with something so great on my own.  I’m hoping the LSU game turns out so well!

Minestrone

Things are starting to get a little on the cool side in the evenings, which means that I’ve started to get a hankering for soup.  I love making minestrone in particular because it’s quick, cheap, flavorful, and has everything I want in a vegetarian meal (beans, veggies, and starch).  For this one, I started by sauteing yellow onion, carrots, new potatoes and garlic.  Once those started to get a little color, I added canned diced tomatoes and vegetable broth, and seasoned everything with an Italian seasoning blend, plus a little extra oregano and basil, salt and pepper.  And, in what I thought was a real bit of smart thinking, I added a handful of dried chipotle chiles to give the soup a smokiness reminiscent of bacon drippings.  After letting it all simmer covered until the potatoes were almost done, I added a can of kidney beans and some corkscrew pasta.  When the pasta was cooked, I tossed in a handful of frozen green peas for some extra color and sweetness, and in just a minute, the whole thing was done.

I love the heartiness of this soup–especially because it’s almost entirely vegetables–and the chipotle chiles really added a nice depth of flavor (plus a kick of heat) that I think had been missing from my previous minestrone attempts.  And it’s a good thing, too, since it seems that fall is not to be avoided…