Manzana Verde Chili

A mild vegan chili with green apples? INSANITY. But bear with me. It definitely strays from the conventional idea of chili so its unique flavor may not be for everybody. Andy chose this as something new for us to try. This was also the first time cooking with tomatillos. Such a strange little fruit.

While I worked on the chili, Andy worked on the cornbread. It was moist and savory. An excellent pairing. The only change we made to the recipe was we subbed regular moo milk in for the soy milk because we do not like soy milk. The recipe is also found in that brilliant vegan cookcook.

Seriously, everybody should buy it.

Manzana Verde Chili
From: The Veganomicon

1 lb baby Yukon golds, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 T vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, diced small
3 jalapenos, seeded and sliced thinly
2 poblano peppers, seeded and chopped into 1" pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
1 t salt
1/3 c dry white wine
1 lb tomatillos, papery skin removed, washed, chopped into 1/2" to 3/4" pieces
2 Granny Smith apples, cored, quartered, and sliced thinly
2 c vegetable broth
1 c loosely packed fresh cilantro
1/4 c shopped scallions
1 (15 oz) can small white beans, drained and rinsed
Juice of 1 lime
Avocado slices for garnish

Place the chopped potatoes in a small saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Let boil, covered, for a little less than 20 minutes, until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Drain and set aside. Of course, you should be preparing everything else while it is boiling.

Preheat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, jalapenos, and poblanos in oil for about 10 minutes, until everything is softened and the onions are slightly browned.

Add the garlic, cumin, oregano, and salt. Saute for 1 more minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the white wine and tomatillos, raise the heat a bit to let the wine reduce and the tomatillos release their juices, about 5 minutes.

Add the apples, vegetable broth, scallions, and 1/2 c of cilantro. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to partially puree everything. If you don't have one, let the mixture cool slightly and pulse in a blender or food processor.

Taste for sweetness/tartness. Tomatillos are sometimes bitter; if that is the case, add a teaspoon or two of sugar and that should level things out. Add the cooked potatoes and the beans, simmer for a few more minutes, until everything is heated through.

Add the remaining cilantro and the lime juice. Ladle into bowls, garnish with the avocado and scallions, and serve.

Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash

Andy specifically requested this dish. I love it too because the squash gives it that taste of autumn. It is cooked with wine so for my friends that do not imbibe, this is probably not for you.

So without further ado, here is the recipe:

Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash by Ina Garten.

I almost forgot! You're probably scratching your heads about saffron and gagging at the price of it. I know we did the first time. However if you happen to be near an ethnic market or happen to have a well stocked latino foods section in your local grocery store, you can find it cheaper there.

Cream of Tomato Soup

Look, it is an update! I took a little vacation from cooking for a few weeks because I didn't want to end up hating it. Honestly no matter how efficient I do the dishes or clean-up, it is awful. But I digress. I saw this recipe doing some lazy browsing one morning.

It came out well. Perhaps I need to add some other spices though because basil and cloves just didn't do it for me. Here's some solid tips straight from my experience:

-The tomato paste is a must if you want a rich tomato flavor.
-The Grilled Cheese recommedation? DO IT! So good.

Cream of Tomato Soup
From: The Kitchn
serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons flour
One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in puree
Pinch of baking soda
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or water
1 cup milk, plus up to 1/2 cup more as needed
Tomato paste, as needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Melt the butter in a soup pot and add the chopped onions and celery. Cook for about five minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and wilted. Add the basil and cloves and cook another minute or two until fragrant, then add the flour. Continue cooking for another two minutes, stirring, and then add the tomatoes, followed by the baking soda and the stock.

Lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes or so. Remove the pot from the heat and carefully puree the soup in batches in a blender, or using a stick blender in the pot, off the heat. Return the soup to the heat and add the milk, stirring to blend. Add more milk or stock if the soup seems too thick. Add a little tomato paste if it needs more tomato flavor. Add some freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste. Serve hot with optional garnishes, listed below.

Absolutely at its best when serves with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Notes:
• Be sure to use good quality canned tomatoes and try for tomatoes packed in puree, which will add to the tomato flavor. (This may be a good recipe to use passata.) I use Muir Glen's Fire Roasted Tomatoes, which add a nice depth of flavor and are not overly smoky.

• I don't always have a rib of celery on hand, so I have been known to skip it. When I do, I will often add a healthy pinch of celery seed to the onions when cooking or celery salt as a garnish.

• Although it is not traditional, I like to garnish this soup with a little plain yogurt or sour cream or creme fraiche. As mentioned, celery salt is a good garnish, as well as chooped celery leaves.

• It's easy to play with the texture of this soup. You can puree it in a blender, which makes a nice, slightly rough texture. If you would like it even smoother, you can also strain it through a sieve. The sieve (or a food mill) can also be used if you don't have a blender, or feel like having an unplugged kind of day.

Congo Bars

These are great. The recipe itself is pretty versatile so if you don't want to do chocolate chips you could use something else. The taste and texture is somewhere between a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie. The only caveat is they may take a hair longer in the oven. It seems to vary on the oven so watch them carefully. You know what else is nice about this recipe? There are instructions for those who may not have the luxury of a mixer.

Congo Bars
From: Bakerella

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 lb. light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

By mixer:
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended.
Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition.
Add vanilla and mix.
Add flour and mix until combined.
Stir in chips and then pecans.

By hand:
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.
Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

Lemon Burst Cookies

These are super duper easy. You don't have to be good at baking to make these awesome cookies. I can't stop eating them whenever I pass by the kitchen. Sorry, I didn't count how many of these soft delicious cookies the recipe made.

Here's a few notes on the recipe based on my experience though. First, it may take longer than 10-12 mins. in the oven because it was about 15 mins. for me. And secondly, allow them to cool on your baking sheet for about 5 mins. so they get more solid. If they are still way too soft, they may need to head back into the oven for a couple of minutes more.

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Lemon Burst Cookies
From: TidyMom

Lemon Burst Cookies

1 box Lemon Cake Mix
1 8 oz. container Cool Whip
1 egg
1/3 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)

Preheat oven to 350°.

In medium bowl, beat cool whip, egg and cake mix until well blended. Dough will be thick and sticky. Drop by teaspoonfuls into a bowl of powdered sugar and roll to coat. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 10- 12 minutes.

Black Beans in Adobo Sauce

This really is the perfect lazy yet tasty dinner. I made this the other night because I had some spare chipotle chile in adobo and black beans thanks to Mama J and Papa B before they moved to Utah. It really only makes about 4 small servings on its own however you can easily round out the meal with some rice and some kind of veggie side. I did a simple salad and brown rice, for example.

I could have made something else but this really doesn't take much time and I wanted to just be with Andy more when he got home. He's been working a lot in the last couple weeks because it's serious crunch time for a project.

Lastly and most importantly, we had some red sangria with this dish. Oh yeah.

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Black Beans in Adobo Sauce
Serves: 4 small servings
From: The Veganomicon

Beans

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 bay leaf
3 cups cold water
1 large onion, peeled and halved
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Chipotle adobo sauce

1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
2 tablespoons adobo sauce

Directions:

Combine the beans, onion, bay leaf and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then let boil for 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes, until the beans are very tender and about half the water has evaporated. Remove the bay leaf and onion before serving.

While the beans are cooking, prepare the chipotle adobo sauce: In a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is very soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the chipotles and adobo sauce, cook for 30 seconds, and remove from heat.

Allow to cool a few minutes, empty the sauce into a food processor bowl, and briefly pulse until a chunky sauce forms. You may also use an immersion blender to do this. Serve the sauce drizzled over individual servings of beans.

Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans

Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans
Serves: 6
From: The Veganomicon (by the ladies of Post Punk Kitchen)

2 bulbs of garlic
1 Tbsp. of olive oil
1 medium sized yellow onion, diced as small as possible
1 c. long grain brown rice
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried marjoram
2 tsp. salt
Several pinches of ground black pepper
2 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
1 (15 oz.) can navy beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 ½ c.)


Preheat oven 425º. Remove as much of the papery skin from the garlic bulbs as possible and slice off about a ½ an inch from the top of the bulbs so the top of your cloves are visible. Drizzle the top with olive oil. Wrap in a sheet of foil and roast in oven about 40-45 minutes. I recommend placing your foil bundle on a pan just in case any olive oil leaks.

Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Sauté onions in oil about 5-7 minutes, until translucent.

Add the rice, and seasonings through pepper and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, then fill up one of the cans with water twice (56 ounces) and add the water.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer at least 45 minutes, or until rice is nearly tender.

While the soup is simmering, remove roasted garlic from foil. When it is cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin into a small bowl and smash with a fork to a relatively smooth consistency. Add to the soup when the rice is nearly tender.

When the rice is completely cooked, add the beans and heat through.