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.

Quiche and Risotto (A Pantry Love Story)

Since coming back from the holidays, Josh and I have made it our personal mission to limit going out for dinner (to save on cash) and going out in general (to save on booty-freezing).  When there’s a perpetual layer of slush outside your door and sub-zero temperatures between you and the grocery store, you (I, anyway) limit the trips you do take outside the house to the absolutely essential.

Thus, we have engaged in quite a bit of the “what can we make from this” game of late, and this was one of the more successful results.  We had a leftover frozen pie crust from a holiday pumpkin pie endeavor, as well as arborio rice and a few extra odds and ends.  The risotto was a no-brainer, as we also had sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, white wine and stock–everything you need.

The quiche was somewhat less obvious, since we didn’t have cream (which is typically required for quiche) or spinach or cheese, which are favorite fillings of mine.  We did, however, have milk and broccoli, so we set to work constructing something that perhaps only posed as quiche, but which was delicious nevertheless.  We started by baking the frozen crust in the oven for about 10 minutes on its own, and sauteing chopped broccoli with finely diced yellow onions, thyme and Tony’s.  We also mixed together about 5 eggs and a quarter cup of milk with salt and pepper in a separate bowl.

When the crust finished its preliminary baking, we put in the broccoli and onion mixture, then poured over the egg mixture and put it back in the oven to bake about half an hour. While that was cooking, we finished the risotto (stir, stir, add some broth, stir some more, etc.) and got started on the bottle of wine we’d opened for cooking.   (Yes, you must follow this step.)

It’s true that the egg-and-milk-over-veggies method here makes this a little more like a frittata than a true quiche, but the richness of the crust is enough to fool you into thinking otherwise, and more than makes up for the lack of cheese.  Of course, if you HAVE cheese without going out into the frozen tundra, by all means, use it.  I’m just sayin.  You can make something tasty even without it–and that goes for the risotto too, which was still rich and creamy from the butter and pine nuts, even without the Parmesan cheese I typically add at the end.  And, bonus: if you make the risotto without wine (but seriously, why would you want to?), the whole thing is ridiculously cheap to make.

“Sausage” ‘n Biscuits

Do you ever have one of those mornings when you wake up hungry, only to realize that there’s nothing to eat in the house?  I hate when this happens, primarily because I am not particularly fond of waiting to eat (grouchiness ensues!) and the prospect of going to the store pre-coffee is enough to send me over the edge.  Well, today was one of those mornings–but surprisingly, it ended up much, much better than I could have hoped, because we managed to turn “nothing to eat” into something fantastic.

We had no milk, yogurt, fruit (except a banana that is, to put it mildly, past its prime) or bread, so all the usual breakfast items were out.  However, Josh managed some quick thinking–a feat, as far as I’m concerned, given our pre-coffee status–and he whipped up some quick buttermilk biscuits, while I constructed some veggie sausage out of TVP, an egg, and flour.

Now, I know the meat-eaters amongst you may think this sounds a bit odd, but believe me when I tell you that it was really, really good.  TVP behaves a lot like ground beef after it’s been browned, so making sausage patties out of it makes perfect sense.  After re-hydrating the TVP with boiling water (it comes in a dry form), I seasoned it pretty aggressively with garlic salt, fennel, sage, cayenne and black pepper, and then combined it with the egg and flour to form a mixture that held together.  I then formed it into patties, which I browned on each side in a little bit of olive oil–et voila!  “Sausage”!  It was savory, spicy and satisfying, just like a good Southern breakfast should be.

(Those of you who are still skeptical are hereby warned that I may just substitute your pork sausage with TVP without your knowledge.)

Adventures in Asian-Style Pantry Cooking

This may come as something of a shock to you, but working in academic philosophy isn’t the most lucrative professional choice one might make.  While the job has its perks (getting paid to read and talk to others about what I’ve read is certainly a luxury), serious cash-flow isn’t really one of them.  This means that we do quite a bit of cooking at home, and I often take this as a challenge to figure out what can possibly be made with the assortment of things we happen to have on hand.  Last night I was particularly proud of my creation, which turned out to be quite tasty–and cheap.

We made an Asian-style slaw using some leftover bagged coleslaw mix, plus shredded carrots and broccoli stalks, frozen edamame, peanuts and cilantro.  The dressing was actually an adaptation of something we once saw Paula Deen make, only without the butter (!).   It’s pretty simple, using oil, cider vinegar, sugar and the seasoning packet from a package of Ramen noodles (I said cheap, right?)–but super tasty.  I think the sweet and sour flavors are really fantastic with the peanuts and cilantro.

Using the Ramen noodles and broccoli crowns, we also made a Pad Thai-esque dish, with crispy tofu, egg  and a delicious sauce I made out of store-bought plum sauce, Teriyaki, lime juice and a little vinegar.  Not totally traditional, of course, but awesome to eat and constructed entirely out of stuff we just had lying around.  Actually, I think this experience has given me a new-found love for Ramen, which I’d only ever had before in its awful salty-noodle-soup state.  The noodles hold up well to stir frying (which has resulted in a sticky mess in some of my other ill-fated attempts with rice noodles), and with a little decent sauce, they’re well worth the 29 cents you have to drop in the grocery store.

Next time: we attempt to create delicious Mexican food using only items accessible in Canada.  A challenge indeed!