Buttermilk (or yogurt) Blueberry Pancakes

 I've been making pancakes for years, but this is the first recipe my family has raved over. I am a bit surprised because it's not radically different than other pancakes I have made. BUT I will blog it so I don't lose it. We never have buttermilk but we always have yogurt so I always substitute 1/2 yogurt and 1/2 milk for the buttermilk. 

 

Buttermilk (or yogurt) Blueberry Pancakes

 From Fox and Briar

 

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs large
• 1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used 3/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt and 3/4 cup milk for this)
  
• 1teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen (the frozen tiny wild blueberries from Costco are the best) 

Instructions

• 1. Heat a large frying pan over medium-low to medium heat . Grease the pan with oil or butter. When it's hot enough, a drop of water will skitter across the surface, evaporating immediately.
  2. whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar, set aside.
  3. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until light and foamy.  Whisk in the melted butter.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine.  Don't over mix, a few lumps are fine.
  5. Pour the batter in 1/4 cupfuls onto prepared pan. sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of berries on top. 
  6. Cook the pancakes until bubbles start to form on top and the sides start to set, 2-3 minutes.  Flip and cook for another 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
  7. Serve right away, or keep on a baking sheet fitted with a cooling rack in a 200 degree oven. Serve with more blueberries, butter, maple syrup, and whip cream, if you have it.
     

  Notes

  Batter will be thick, that's ok!  If it is too thick to pour, thin with 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
   

Homemade chocolate pudding

I love chocolate pudding but I didn't realize it was so easy to make and made out of stuff I always have. Like homemade brownies, this recipe is dangerous!!

Chocolate Pudding

From Spend with Pennies

Ingredients

• 1 ⅓ cup sugar
• ⅔ cup cocoa
• ⅓ cup cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• 4 ½ cups milk
• 3-4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

• In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch. Mix well. Add in cold milk, whisk until combined. 
• Increase heat to medium, stirring constantly until mixture reaches a boil.
• Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
• Allow mixture to cool completely, stirring occasionally to avoid a skin forming on the pudding. 
• Serve chilled or warm.

Notes

Note: Place a plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding while it cools to avoid a skin from forming.

The Most Wonderful Gingerbread Cookies

This gingerbread cookie recipe is great, not too spicy and nice and soft if you bake for 7 minutes. We are not big fans of gingerbread cookies but we liked these. 

THE MOST WONDERFUL GINGERBREAD COOKIES

From Food.com

        INGREDIENTS

•  3 cups all-purpose flour
•  1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons baking powder
• ³⁄₄ teaspoon baking soda
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 ³⁄₄ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter - I just used salted butter and omitted the salt
  
• ³⁄₄ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• ¹⁄₂ cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional) - I didn't use this
  

    

  DIRECTIONS

  • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
  • In a large bowl (KitchenAid's great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
  • Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.
  • Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
  • Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 375 deg. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
  • (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Preheat oven to 375°.
  • Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
  • Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
  • Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
  • Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
  • Cut out cookies with desired cutter-- the ginger bread man is our favorite of course.
  • Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
  • Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
  • Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
  • After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.
  • I usually brush them with a powdered sugar glaze when I am in a hurry, but they look wonderful decorated with Royal icing.

   

Waffles

 I got a new waffle maker! We have tried a total of 2 waffle batters, predictably, we prefer the one called "All-American Waffles."

All-American Waffles

From a photo from a book my mom sent me

Ingredients:

2 eggs, separated, room temperature

1 3/4 cups milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups flour

2 T. sugar

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt (I did not add this)

Beat egg yolks, stir in milk and oil. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt (if using). Stir only until large lumps disappear. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into batter.

Ina Garten has been on fire lately with lots of pantry recipes. This one was quite good! Too much salt in the original recipe but I have reduced it here.

From barefoot contessa

Stewed Lentils & Tomatoes

• Good olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 2 cups (½-inch) diced carrots (3 to 4 carrots)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes
• 1 cup French green lentils (7 ounces)
• 2 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 teaspoons mild curry powder
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon good red wine vinegar

Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onions and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to brown.  Add the garlic and cook for one minute.

Meanwhile, place the tomatoes, including the juice, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse several times until the tomatoes are roughly chopped. (Don't need to do this -- can just break them up with your hands)

Add the tomatoes, lentils, chicken stock, curry, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to the pot.   Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender.  Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon and check to be sure the liquid is simmering.  (I pull the pot halfway off the burner to keep it simmering.) Remove from the heat and allow the lentils to sit covered for another 10 minutes.  Stir in the vinegar, check the seasonings, serve hot or warm.

Protips: Garlic burns easily so you want to cook it for only a minute.

To remove thyme leaves from the stem, run your fingertips down the stem from top to bottom and the leaves will fall off.

 

Vegan Pad Kee Mao

We all really liked this recipe including the kids!! So I don't want to lose it.

Pad Kee Mao 'Drunken noodles'⁣⁣ adapted from an Instagram recipe by @woon.heng 🧡 
Ingredients (yields 2-3 servings)⁣⁣ ⁣(NOTE: DOUBLE this recipe for 5 of us including Zoey)
  
~ 1lb fresh flat rice noodles (separate noodles to loosen them up)⁣⁣⁣
~ 1/2 package sliced fried tofu or pan-fried firm tofu⁣⁣⁣~ 4 cups mixed vegetables, thinly sliced, such as: bell peppers, onions, carrots, Chinese broccoli, regular broccoli, etc. 
~ 3 shallots⁣⁣, minced
~ 3 cloves garlic⁣⁣
~ 2 cups packed Thai basil⁣⁣ (1/2 bunch)
~ 3 chopped chili⁣⁣⁣ (I left this out for kids)
~ 1 teaspoon chili flakes plus more for garnish⁣⁣ (I left this out for kids)
~ oil & salt to taste⁣⁣⁣
~ lime juice⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
🍃Sauce (whisk all in a bowl):⁣⁣⁣
~ 2 tablespoons soy sauce/tamari⁣⁣
~ 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce⁣⁣
~ 4 tablespoons sweet & sour sauce⁣ (I found this in a Chinese grocery store, it said it was a japanese dipping sauce)
~ dash of white pepper⁣⁣⁣

1. In a heated pan on high heat with 3 teaspoons of oil, saute vegetables until cooked through. Remove vegetables and set aside with the sliced tofu.

2. Add 3 more teaspoons oil to pan, sauté shallots & garlic until fragrant. Then, add in tofu and vegetables, rice noodles & sauce. Stir-fry continuously so noodles are all coated with sauce.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
3. Stir in Thai basil, chili, chili flakes (if using) and toss until well combined. Season to your preference & add splashes of water, if needed. Serve warm with some lime juice. ⁣⁣⁣

*If your rice noodles appear hard to separate: place noodles in a microwaveable bowl covered with damp paper towel & heat for 2 mins. This will help soften noodles.

Loaded sweet potatoes

BudgetBites is on a roll lately! I was very pleasantly surprised how easy, healthy, and kid-friendly the chili mac was, so I checked out their other recipes and found this one for loaded sweet potatoes. I gave it a shot tonight and it was surprise hit! Both kids really liked the sweet potatoes.

Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Lime Crema

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes (about 1 lb. each) 
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 15oz. can black beans, drained 
• 1/4 tsp cumin 
• 3/4 tsp salt, divided
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 avocado, chopped 
• 1 jalapeño (optional), sliced thin
• 1 green onion, sliced 

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF. To make the Lime crema, zest and juice the lime. Combine the sour cream with 1 Tbsp lime juice, about 1/2 tsp lime zest, and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir the ingredients together, then refrigerate until ready to use. (I didn't have sour cream so I substituted my other crema substitue, yogurt mixed with a little mayonnaise. I liked it but Kiran said he preferred plain yogurt)
• Wash then dry the sweet potatoes. Use a fork to prick the skins several times all over. Slice the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, then use 1 Tbsp olive oil to coat the surface of all four pieces.
• Season the cut sides of the sweet potatoes with salt or seasoning salt. Coat the surface of a baking sheet with a thin layer of oil, then place the sweet potatoes cut side down. Bake the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes, or until they are soft, you can see the juices oozing out from underneath, and the skins look a little wrinkly.
• While the sweet potatoes are baking, Mince a clove of garlic, dice the red bell pepper, slice the jalapeño (if desired) and green onion.
• Add the minced garlic to a skillet with the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté over medium heat for one minute, then add the diced bell pepper. Sauté the pepper for 2-3 minutes, or just until it begins to soften, then add the black beans, cumin, salt, and green onion. Stir and cook until the beans are heated through. 
• When the sweet potatoes come out of the oven, use a spatula to flip them over. Mash the flesh of the sweet potatoes with a fork, then pile the bean and pepper mixture over top. Add the sliced jalapeño and a dollop (or drizzle) of the lime crema to each, top with avocado, then serve.

Cheesy Vegetarian Mac

This one is easy, relatively healthy, and makes a whole lot! The kids didn't eat too much but I think I under-salted it, will try again with more salt and report back. I quite liked it.

from budgetbytes

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil 
• 1 yellow onion 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp chili powder -- this is supposed to be very mild chili powder, I used 1/2 T of ancho chili powder instead
• 15 oz. can diced tomatoes 
• 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 15 oz. can kidney beans
• 15 oz. can black beans 
• 15 oz. can pinto beans
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 cups vegetable broth 
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles 
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar 
• salt -- at least 1/2 t. maybe more

Instructions

• Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic with olive oil in the bottom of a large pot (5 qt) over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the onions are soft and transparent.
• Add the flour and chili powder to the sautéed onions and garlic. Continue to stir and sauté for about two minutes, or just until the flour and chili powder begin to coat the bottom of the pot.
• Drain and rinse the kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, all three beans, corn, and vegetable broth to the pot. Stir to combine and to dissolve any flour and chili powder off the bottom of the pot.
• Add the uncooked macaroni noodles and stir to combine. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium high, and let the pot come up to a boil. Stir every other minute or so to loosen the noodles from the bottom of the pot as it heats up.
• When the pot reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low, or just above low, so it continues to gently simmer. Let the pot gently simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the liquid is thick and saucy. Stir frequently as it simmers to make sure the pasta does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
• Once the pasta is tender, add the shredded cheddar and stir it in until melted. Serve hot.

Chickpea flour crepes with mushroom pea cream sauce filling

OK this is a bit of a crazy conglomeration that adds up to a fast-ish healthy-ish dinner that I am hoping the kids will eat. They already like the chickpea flour crepes, I tried the recipe for Socca, a Nice specialty from David Lebowitz. But it needed some vegetable component that went with them. So I went with another french classic, vegetables with bechamel sauce. Peas are not a classic crepe filling but my kids both eat them so I am using that. This recipe I think will make enough for one meal for our family.

Socca with vegetable cream filling

-- 2 cups chickpea flour
-- 2 cups plus 4 tablespoons water
-- 1 teaspoon salt

-- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

-- 3 tablespoons olive oil 

-- 1 package crimini mushrooms, cubed into 1/2-inch cubes

-- 1 cup peas

-- 2 T. butter

-- 2 T. flour

-- 2 cups milk

-- salt and pepper to taste

-- fresh herb of choice, maybe thyme would be good here? or parsley? or mint?

To make the crepes:

1. Mix together the flour, water, salt, cumin, and olive oil. Let batter rest at least 2 hours, covered, at room temperature. (or in my case, 10 minutes max)

2. Oil a frying pan pan with some olive oil and heat the pan on high heat on your stove.

3. Once the pan is hot, pour enough batter into the pan to cover the bottom, swirl it around. It should bubble up if the pan is hot enough.

4. Cook until the socca is brown on the bottom, then flip and cook more until more brown spots appear on the other side. These are easy to undercook, and if they burn a little are fine, so err on the side of cooking them more. 

5. Put the finished socca on a plate, cover with tin foil to keep warm. You can eat them plain or with filling.

6. Cook the remaining socca batter the same way, adding a touch more oil to the pan between each one.

 To make the filling:

1. In a pan on high, fry the mushrooms in the butter until they are browned on all sides and smelling and tasting good. 

2. Add the peas to the pan, as well as the flour. You want the flour to incorporate with the butter left in the pan if at all possible. If this is hard you can always add in more butter. Let the flour cook at least 60 seconds to eliminate any raw flour taste. 

3. Whisk in the milk. Let it all bubble up and cook until thick, approx. 3-5 minutes or so. If the sauce gets too thick you can always add in more milk. 

4. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

To serve, just fill the center of each crepe with maybe 1/4 cup of the vegetable cream sauce mixture, fold in the sides, and yum!!

Cornbread with Black Beans and Cheddar Cheese

I have been struggling with things to send Kiran for lunch that are nutritious and that he will eat. This isn't perfect, but he really likes it, it's easy to make, and it will be easy to pack.

from Whole Foods

Cornbread with Black Beans and Cheddar Cheese

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (I use approx. 1/2 cup plain yogurt and 1/2 cup milk for this)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1/2 cup cooked and drained black beans 
•  
• Ingredient Options:
• Cayenne pepper, sliced jalapeño pepper or chili powder. Feel free to substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose flour.
   

  Method: 
  Preheat the oven to 450°F. Oil a 9x9-inch baking dish with canola or olive oil spray and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with buttermilk, melted butter, cheese, green onions, corn and black beans. Stir in any optional ingredients desired. Add to dry ingredients, blending until just combined.
  
  Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly before slicing.

   

   

   
  Nutritional Info: 

  Per Serving: Serving size: 82g-wt., 180 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 55mg cholesterol, 310mg sodium, 20g carbohydrates, (2 g dietary fiber, 3g sugar), 7g protein.

Beefless Stew

You know me, always trying to make a vegetarian version of my favorite meat foods. While this one really doesn't come close to real beef stew, it is a very good vegetarian stew in it's own right. Great for this time of year. Add crusty bread and life is pretty good. My son who is going through a picky phase with vegetables at least ate the carrots and potatoes and peas out of this soup, which I count as a success in my book.

a bit adapted from McDougall's beefless stew
 

Beefless stew

Ingredients

• 1 lb crimini or 2 medium portabella mushrooms, cut into ¾-inch pieces (about 4 cups) 
• 1½ large yellow or white onions, chopped into ¾-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
• 3 medium carrots, sliced lengthwise and cut into ¾-inch pieces (about 2¼ cups)
• 3 ribs celery, cut into ¾-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
• 1½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic (about 6 medium cloves)
• 5 cups water
• 2 pounds white potatoes (2 large), peeled and cut into ¾-inch chunks (about 6 cups)
• ⅓ cup tomato paste (half of a 6-ounce can)
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning (I used Herbs de Provence which is french but was still good)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (I didn't have this so left it out, it was fine)
• 1½ cups cooked peas (if frozen, rinse under warm water)
• butter or oil for cooking

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter or oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms and fry until browned on the sides, maybe 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes to try and get as many mushroom sides brown as possible. Transfer cooked mushrooms to another bowl.
2. In the same pan add a little more butter or oil, then fry the onions, carrots, and celery for about 8 minutes, or until mostly translucent.
3. Stir in the mushrooms and garlic, and continue to cook while stirring for 5 minutes more, adding butter or oil if needed.
4. Add the 5 cups of water, potatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and paprika, and bring to a boil, uncovered. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the rosemary (if using). Cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the carrots and potatoes are very tender.
5. Add the peas and cook for 5 minutes more.
6. Place 2 cups of the stew (broth and vegetables) into a blender, and blend just briefly. Stir the mixture back into the pot to thicken the stew.

Vegetarian hand pies

I had the idea to make a savory hand pie for Kiran's lunches, I wanted to make one as close to classic chicken pot pie as I could, but without the chicken. This came out so good, both Kiran and Mahesh loved it. You can also use the same filling and crusts to make a full-size veggie pot pie. This would be great for a really nice vegetarian main dish at a celebration like Thanksgiving as well. I love chicken pot pie and I'd bet most meat eaters wouldn't even notice no meat chunks, especially if you make a really good crust.

Vegetarian Hand Pies

makes 22 hand pies

For crust:

-- 1 cup butter (2 sticks) plus more for pie plate
-- 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough (I usually use 1 1/2 cups white and 1 cup whole wheat flour)
-- 1/2 t. salt

For filling:

-- 1/2 potato, peeled and cubed (maybe 1/2 cup)
-- 1/2 cup peas, frozen
-- 2 T. butter
-- 1 cup carrots, chopped (1 medium)
-- 1 onion, chopped
-- 1/2 cup celery, chopped (1 rib)
-- 2 T. flour
-- 1/2 tsp. salt
-- 1/4 tsp. pepper
-- 1/4 tsp. celery seed
-- 2 cups milk
-- 1 heaping T veggie bullion

-- 3 T. milk or 1 egg, beaten with 1 t. water (to seal and wash pies)

Instructions

First, make your pie crust.

1.   The trick with pie crusts is 1) keep everything cold and 2) try not to work the dough any more than you absolutely need to. Cut each stick of butter into 8 pieces, refrigerate until needed

2.   Place the flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix to combine

3.   Add the chilled butter. Using a pastry blender, chop the butter into the flour mix - the mixture should resemble coarse meal with small pieces of butter, the size of peas, visible.

4.   Drizzle 1/4 cup ice water over flour-butter mix, blend, repeat with another 1/4 cup of ice water. Keep adding 1/4 cup of ice water until the dough mostly sticks together. Squeeze a little bit if you must but don't touch it too much with your hands at this point. The dough will get a bit stickier as it rests.

5.   Divide dough into 2 pieces, flatten into disks, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Make the filling

6.   Prep all your ingredients for the filling.

7.   Preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C).

8.   Boil a pot of water and add chopped potato and boil gently for about 15 minutes. When there are 2 minutes left on the timer, add frozen peas to the mix. Drain and set aside.

9.   In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and cook onions, celery, and carrots for about 15 minutes or until onion is translucent.

10. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper and celery seed and cook for at least 60 seconds to cook out the raw taste of the flour. 

11. Slowly whisk in milk and veggie bulllion. Whisk for about 5 minutes until thickened.

12. Stir in the potatoes and peas. Boil until it reaches the right consistency, you want it saucy but not to run all over the place. Some runniness is OK because it gets thicker as it cools. 

13. Remove from heat and set aside.

Make the pies

14. Take one pie crust out of fridge and roll out a bit thinner than regular pie crust. 

15. Cut 4.5 inch circles (I used a blue plastic bowl) and move the circles to a greased baking sheet (or one covered with a silpat).

16. Refrigerate circles until fully chilled. (the crust is easier to work with when cold)

17. To make a pie, wet the entire edge of the circle with milk or egg wash. Add about 2 heaping Tablespoons of filling, then fold dough in half, press around the edge, and crimp with a fork. Wash top with egg wash or milk, then poke with fork on top to let vent.

18. Bake the pies 17 minutes, or until brownish on top and the crust is baked through. 

19.  Remove your pie from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving. 

Butternut Squash Chili with Avocado

We bought a big bag of frozen chunks of butternut squash a long time ago at Costco, and after cooking them up once I realized fresh squash is much better and I stopped using the frozen. Well I came across that bag in the bottom of the freezer the other day and decided to use it up. I made this recipe today, and to my surprise, Kiran liked it when served with rice and plain yogurt on the side. (I've been going through a rough patch with Kiran not liking the food I make so that was a relief). I think the butternut squash adds a sweetness he likes. As a bonus this recipe is quite easy to make. I didn't have the avocados or tortilla chips on hand, next time I will try it with that. I bet it would be even better.

Update: Here is the old recipe I would use: http://www.mouthofwonder.com/2007/02/moosewood-vegetarian-chili.htm -- Lately I have been combining the two recipes and it is better 

Butternut squash Chili with Avocado

adapted from Cookie + Kate

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 small butternut squash (1 ½ pounds or less), peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes (or 1 1/2 cups frozen butternut squash chunks)
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mild chili powder like ancho chile powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained, or 3 cups cooked black beans
• 1 small can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, including the liquid (I used 2 1/2 cut up tomatoes for this because we did not have canned)
• 2 cups vegetable broth (or one 14-ounce can) (I just used water for this)
• Salt, to taste (needs A LOT of salt)
• 2 Avocados, diced
• Crumbled tortilla chips
• Optional additional garnishes: Chopped fresh cilantro and/or red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion, bell pepper and butternut squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are turning translucent.
2. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and cinnamon. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the bay leaf, black beans, tomatoes and their juices and broth. Stir to combine and cover for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. You’ll know your chili is done when the butternut squash is nice and tender and the liquid has reduced a bit, producing the hearty chili consistency we all know and love. Add salt to taste.
4. Serve the chili in individual bowls, topped with tortilla chips and plenty of diced avocado. I added a little sprinkle of red pepper flakes (optional). Cilantro would be nice as well. You might want to serve this along with some chipotle hot sauce (Tobasco makes one) for the spice addicts like myself.

Chilaquiles Casserole

Eatingwell magazine often features inventive, healthy vegetarian main dishes that are easy enough to make on a weeknight, so when one is good, it ends up being a real keeper. This is a dish we tried recently, Kiran helped me make it and we all agreed it was good. I changed the recipe a bit, this is what I made:

from Eatingwell

Ingredients

• • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 medium zucchini, grated 
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 19-ounce can black beans, rinsed
  • 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1½ cups corn, frozen (thawed) or fresh  
• • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 12 corn tortillas, quartered
  • 1 10-ounce can mild red or green enchilada sauce-- it is excellent with this homemade enchilada sauce
  • 1¼ cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. 

 

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and red pepper and cook, stirring often, until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in zucchini, beans, tomatoes, corn, cumin and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are heated through, about 3 minutes.  

 

3. Scatter half the tortilla pieces in the pan. Top with half the vegetable mixture, half the enchilada sauce and half the cheese. Repeat with one more layer of tortillas, vegetables, sauce and cheese. Cover with foil.

 

4. Bake the casserole for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the casserole is bubbling around the edges and the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes more.

• Make Ahead Tip: Prepare through Step 3 and refrigerate for up to 1 day.