Cincinnati Style Vegetable Chili

Like most people this time of year, I've been eating simple low calorie meals, in reaction to the carb loaded diet I found myself eating in November and December.  I made a big one pot meal of chili beans the other night adding a sweet potato and some kale.  This is the first meal I felt inspired to blog about all month, I've mostly been making soup.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Pilaf

I also refer to this delicious sweet potato black bean quinoa pilaf as Halloween pilaf.  The bright orange of the sweet potatoes mixed with the black beans and seasoned with sage "butter" make it the perfect Halloween dinner. 

Roasted Corn and Mango Salad

Last month Mr RK and I went south for a little anniversary holiday to Baja Mexico.  I had a salad for lunch one day that would have knocked my socks off, had I been wearing any. Filled with fragrant roasted corn and large chunks of fresh avocado and mango, it was topped with a delicate lime cilantro dressing.  It was so delicious that I went back and had it again.  

Broccoli Mushroom Tofu Frittata

A frittata is, essentially, an Italian baked omelette.  I made this broccoli mushroom tofu frittata as a quicker, lower calorie version of my broccoli mushroom tofu quiche.  A quiche is just an omelette baked in a crust.  Either way, my version is dairy, egg and cholesterol free, and delicious!  

Brown Rice Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

I've had this package of spring roll wrappers in my kitchen cabinet for months now,  being slightly intimidated by the process of making spring rolls,  I've been avoiding them.  But, really, how hard can it be?  It's spring now and the weather is warm, so I've run out of excuses like "the weather is too cold for spring rolls".  I was especially excited about these wrappers because they're made from whole grain brown rice rather than white rice, as are most wrappers.  

Black-Eyed Pea Tacos

The southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day dates back to pre-Civil War times but the actual origins of this tradition date back to somewhere around the year 500.   It's mentioned in Babylonian Talmud writings at the time that it was "good luck" to eat black-eyed peas on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.  

Wild Rice and Corn Chowder

Seriously, I could eat soup for dinner every night and never get bored with it, especially during the winter months when the weather is cold.  Soup is the perfect one pot meal, full of vegetables, warm and hearty.  I like to make a really big pot so I have leftovers for lunch.  Today, to combat a week of rain and flooding,  I made a wild rice and corn chowder.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

I bought a beautiful organic pumpkin to carve for Halloween and then it rained most of the day, so I didn't carved it.  I figured we wouldn't get any trick or treaters anyway.  (we only had four).  Mr. RK was happy to eat all the extra chocolate, but what to do with that beautiful pumpkin?

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Empanada Gallega

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers' hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family's favorite recipes for Empanadas!  We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

Quinoa Spinach Bake

Quinoa is actually not a grain but a seed, like amaranth and buckwheat.  It’s called a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal because it’s not a member of the grass family.  It’s closely related to beets, spinach and tumbleweeds.  It’s extremely popular right now because it’s such a powerhouse of nutrition.  Quinoa is a complete protein, which means it contains all eight essential amino acids, usually found only in animal products.  It’s also high in protein, 18%, compared to brown rice which has only 5% protein.  It’s high in fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron and it’s gluten free and cooks in less than 15 minutes. What’s not to like?  Quinoa should be a part of your diet, especially if you’re trying to cut down on animal products.  Most mornings, I cook quinoa flakes as a hot cereal for breakfast and top it with raisins, banana and cinnamon.

Cauliflower Tagine

We’re harvesting the biggest cauliflowers we’ve ever grown.  Big white, perfectly formed cauliflowers.  My usual fallback recipe is my creamy cauliflower and carrot soup, but with the warm weather and the beauty of this vegetable, I didn’t want to puree the thing beyond recognition.  So, I turned to the internet to find a new cauliflower recipe and actually found two that sounded tasty.  The first one was a roasted cauliflower dish that required ingredients I didn’t have on hand so I turned to the second one, Cauliflower Tagine.  This North African spiced dish is a wonderful combination of cumin, ginger, bay and cinnamon with a little lemon and cilantro mixed in.  It will probably become a new “go to” recipe for cauliflower.

Black Bean and (vegan) Chorizo Soup

We could eat Mexican food every night of the week.  We love it that much.  When a friend of mine, who lives in Mexico, linked this recipe on her Facebook page, I knew I needed to give it a try.  I wasn’t disappointed!  The original recipe can be found on the website, What’s Cooking, Mexico?

This soup is balanced perfectly, much better than my other black bean soup recipe.  It’s just spicy enough to warm you up on a rainy night but not so hot that it masks the flavor of everything else.  I topped it with some non dairy sour cream, avocado and cilantro, and we both had seconds.

Polenta Onion Pizza

I bookmarked this recipe from Heidi Swanson’s blog 101 Cookbooks some time ago but I never got around to making it.  She called it Cornmeal Crunch but I think it’s more like an polenta onion pizza.  I really like this recipe because it’s gluten free and delicious, even without all the cheese.

Toasted Tempeh Tacos

I’m eating lighter this month, trying to keep my meals simple, low in fat, gluten free and heart healthy.  We love Mexican food and eat it often so rather than frying tempeh in oil to make a taco filling, I grated it and toasted it in the broiler to give it a crunchy texture without the extra added fat.

Pear Almond Barley Salad

I realize that I haven’t posted any new recipes since the new year.  Like many Americans, I’ve simplified my diet by focusing on fruits, vegetables, bean and grains to try and shed the “holiday pounds”.  I’m avoiding sugar, flour and high fat foods and it’s working.   Eating green salads as a main meal in winter is difficult for me, I like to eat a warm dinners, so I came up with this combination warm and cold salad.

Lentils with Fruit

Here is the second in a series of recipes I copied from a cook book owned by a friend who lives in Mexico.  The book is called “ Mexico The Beautiful Cookbook” and this recipe, Lentejas con Fruta is from the region of Oaxaca.  It caught my eye because of the unusual combination of lentils and tropical fruits.  The combination of flavors was so intriguing that I knew I had to try it.  It would never have occurred to me to cook lentils with bananas and mangoes and yet it was delicious.  

Enfriholadas

Inspired by our recent trip to Mexico to visit with a long time friend and my love of Mexican food, I made some enfrijoladas.  The recipe came from a book my friend owns called “Mexico The Beautiful Cookbook”.  It’s filled with amazing pictures of authentic recipes from the different regions of Mexico.  I copied many of these wonderful sounding recipes for future potential dinners.  

Tempeh "Crab" Cakes

I’ve wanted to try this recipe for tempeh “crab” cakes from the moment I read it in Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch cook book.  I have the book, so there was just no excuse.  It’s the perfect summer dinner, a protein we can eat on a salad.  As far a soy proteins go, tempeh is one of the best.  Now, you can have crab cakes out of season and no crabs need to be harmed in the making of your dinner.  Tempeh crab cakes are a lot less expensive too.

Tofu Scramble

Tofu scramble is one of my favorite comfort foods.  When I get home late from work or I’ve had a bad day or it’s still RAINING and it’s June already, I turn to the tofu scramble for dinner.  It’s inexpensive and quick to make and it’s very good for you.  

Vegan Ricotta & Sausage Stuffed Shells

I was watching the Food Network the other day and Giada making stuffed shells for her sister and I was fondly remembering a time when I could eat cheesy ricotta stuffed things when it I realized that I didn’t have to deny myself such yummy food.  I came up with my own version, a non dairy, soy sausage stuffed shells that tasted just as good.