Delicious Vegan Chili

It surprises me that I never learned how to make chili. When I was growing up, we would almost always purchase vegetarian chili in cans at the grocery store, but I truly do not remember having homemade chili that often. What I do remember is that I loved it and enjoyed the combination of savory flavors and textures.

A few months ago I made a vegetarian chili, and what resulted was not what I had hoped to enjoy. It was heavy on vegetables, and light on the (fake) meaty consistency that I was really after. I was disappointed, so I vowed that I’d figure out how to make a version that was more reminiscent of what I had grown up with. Several weeks ago I had success, and I am excited to say that it is both super easy to make and delicious. Since then I have made it again, and it was just as easy and good as the first time.

Easy Vegan Chili

• 1-pound bag of dry Kidney beans OR 2 15-ounce cans of Kidney beans
• 1 medium or large onion, chopped
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 package Smart Ground Original veggie protein crumbles or another vegan meat substitute
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 3 heaping tablespoons chili powder
• 1 cup textured vegetable protein (TVP), optional

If you are using dry beans, I have already written a post on how you can cook them. This recipe is based upon cooking your own beans, but I will give you an idea of what I would do if I had used canned beans.

If you are using canned beans, put them in a pot, and add a little bit of additional liquid (I would probably do up to 2 cups). Add in the onion, tomato sauce, veggie protein crumbles, salt, garlic powder and chili powder and allow to simmer for half an hour or 45 minutes over medium heat. It will be ready when the onion is cooked to a desired tenderness. To make this a faster process, you can also sauté the onions first, then add all the ingredients together and let simmer for about 15 or 20 minutes. Taste it and adjust seasonings based upon your preference.

Ingredients for vegan chili

Otherwise, if you are using dry beans, about an hour or hour and a half before the beans have finished cooking, add the onion, tomato sauce, veggie protein crumbles, salt, garlic powder and chili powder to the beans in your slow cooker and stir to incorporate. If it still seems too soupy to you, add in about half a cup to a cup of TVP. It will absorb water and also add more texture to your chili.

Adding the rest of the ingredients to the beans

Allow the chili to cook until the beans are done and the onions are cooked through. And you’ll know what I am going to say next – taste test and add more garlic, chili powder or salt if you feel that the flavors are not strong enough.

Then serve!

Freshly made vegan chili

I like my chili to have an additional kick, but I don’t like to make the chili with too much spiciness – that way each person who eats it can adjust the heat according to their own tolerance. My current favorite hot sauce to use is Cholula Chipotle. It lends both a kick and a smoky pepper flavor, which really enhances the chili for me.

I love my Cholula Chipotle

Do you make chili? What is your favorite way to make it? And finally, do you enhance your bowl of chili with some of your favorite hot sauce?

Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup

One reason why we chose to move away from New York is because of the harsh winters. It’s a geographic region of extremes, and January and February are the absolute coldest, sometimes dipping down into the negative digits. Because it’s on the water, the wind can be bone-chilling especially for those who travel by foot and public transit. Eight years of that and we had definitely had more than enough.

So far the winter in Washington has been amazing. While we have had the constant rain and few sunny days, it has stayed pretty much in the 40s and 50s which has felt always like we’re on the cusp of spring. (This morning I even woke to the sound of birds chirping – it felt very April-ish.) Still, we have days where a nice cup of tea and a warm bowl of soup is much needed.

Lately I have taken to making a huge pot of soup to last us for a few days or a week, and have tried to experiment a little with recipes to mix it up. One soup I’ve made only twice is broccoli cheese soup, but I am pretty impressed with the results so far. I did something different the second time around, and that was to base the soup off of the vegan cheese recipe I shared with you a few months ago. It turned out really well, but I’d still change one or two things which I’ll note in the recipe below.

Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
Note: You can probably make this gluten free by substituting the flour with 2 or 3 tablespoons of corn starch or another similar thickener.

• 3 or 4 small heads broccoli, chopped and with most of the stems removed
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried yellow mustard powder
• 8 cups water
• 5 tablespoons vegan butter

Prepare your broccoli, then steam it for about 15 minutes. It will not have enough time to cook in the soup itself, so it needs to be cooked separately. Just be sure to not over-steam it.

Chopping broccoli

Tip: Also steam the onion with your broccoli, or at least for about 10 minutes. I did not do this and I wish I had.

In a large soup pot (which will need to be at least 3 or 4 quarts), mix all of your dry ingredients together, then whisk in the water until the dry and the wet have been well mixed. Add in the vegan butter and allow it to melt as the soup cooks.

Mixing the dry and wet ingredients

Turn on the heat to about medium high and stir constantly. It will take several minutes to thicken, but if you do not stir the soup it will burn on the bottom and not thicken evenly.

Make sure to stir constantly

At about this point I added in the raw onion. Unfortunately the soup thickened so fast that the onion wasn’t as well cooked as I would have liked. I will most definitely steam it next time along with the broccoli.

Add in the onion after it has been steamed

As soon as the soup thickens up to a consistency that you like, take the soup off the heat and stir in the steamed broccoli (and onion if you also steamed it). You can serve immediately, or you can store it and serve it later. It will thicken up more in your refrigerator, however as you heat it up again, it will return to a more liquid state.

Adding the broccoli to the soup

We really enjoyed this soup – it was hearty, creamy and had just the right amount of salt. We were both pretty impressed with this version. If you’re like me and you don’t care much for broccoli (I actually really like broccoli made in this way), I imagine that you could also make this with asparagus or cauliflower instead and also have a very nice end result.

Do you enjoy soup? What is your favorite?

Creamy broccoli cheese soup

Vegan Cheese

When we first became vegan, the one thing that we both missed very much was cheese. We tried many of the fake cheese products out there – the soy cheeses and rice cheeses – and were very disappointed and disheartened every time. I was experimenting a lot with new recipes then, because I guess you could say I was still trying to find my vegan groove, and I came across a recipe for a nacho cheese-like cheese that I decided to try. This has been our cheese of choice ever since, and even though it tastes hardly anything like cheese (when I describe it I say the flavor is “cheese-esque” or reminds one of the memory of cheese), it really has made up for the absence of real cheese in our lives.

We dip tortilla chips in this cheese, add this to burritos and wraps and my husband likes adding it to vegan pizza. This is also a great base to “cheesy” soups, like broccoli cheese soup. You can probably think of more ideas of how to use this once you’ve tried it out for yourself.

Tip: Unless you’re making this for the first time, I’d recommend making a double batch of this recipe.

Vegan Cheese
Via VegWeb.com

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unbleached flour
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon dried yellow mustard powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 tablespoon vegan butter

First, mix the dry ingredients together in a medium sized saucepan.

Mixing dry ingredients together for vegan cheese

Add the water and mix well, then add the vegan butter.

Mixing the water with the dry ingredients

Put the pan on the stove, and turn on the heat to medium to medium-high and whisk continuously. As soon as  you start to notice it getting thick (and it gets thick pretty fast), you may want to switch to a spoon to stir. Turn off the heat soon thereafter.

Whisking the vegan cheese

My husband likes to substitute the vegan butter with imitation butter extract, and we both like to add hot sauce to our individual servings after it has finished cooking. Some people enjoy mixing in salsa, as well, to give it an extra kick for Mexican-themed food.

Vegan Cheese

Have you found a good vegan substitute for cheese?

Yum. Vegan Cheese.

~~~

Nutritional Yeast Here are some other ways you can incorporate nutritional yeast into your diet: Sprinkle it on vegan buttered toast – I do this quite frequently Sprinkle it on a sandwich Add it to soup or salad

Ah, we’re finally beginning to get settled in our new apartment. It’s not been fun, and if you’re considering moving I’d suggest thinking about it for a bit more before you do it. Your life gets turned upside down, and you start navigating 60+ boxes (we have been anyway), and before you know it you’ve completely forgotten what box contains that vital thing you were using every day pre-move.

One of my sole consolations with this move is the kitchen. That has made these last few weeks and months mostly worth the stress and frustration. If you have ever been to New York or seen a New York City kitchen at least in pictures or on TV, you’ll know that they are tiny. Some are reminiscent of a kitchen with barely a stove, refrigerator and at least one square foot of counter top space, and unless you pay an arm and a leg you’ll not find kitchens that are much larger than this. Ours was a railroad style and for four years my husband heard me complain constantly about how much I loathed the space. Until now.

Our kitchen is still not huge, but it is definitely bigger. We’ve got more counter top space, a full-sized stove (woo hoo!), a full-sized dishwasher (yay!), and several drawers and cabinets (before we had TWO drawers).

Anyway, we are still in unpacking mode, but I’ve managed to still churn out a few meals in the last week. Today, I decided to finally foray back into the “try something new that I can post on my blog” mode. So hooray – here I am!

Soba noodles, like whole wheat pasta, have a stronger flavor than your basic white pasta. Also known as buckwheat noodles, soba noodles can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store or in Asian food markets. They come in packages that look similar to this:

Each bunch is wrapped in paper or ribbon (not sure why – maybe to allow you to control portions more easily?), so if you plan to cook the whole package (as I did today) I’d suggest unwrapping each bunch before you put them in otherwise you’ll have noodles in varying degrees of doneness.

Soba Noodles and Asparagus in Peanut Sauce
Inspired by Ginger Peanut Soba Noodles on theppk.com

• One package soba noodles
• 1/3 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped onion

Boil or steam the asparagus until tender, then drain and cool.

Prepare the soba noodles according to package directions. If the soba noodles do not have English-language directions, you can boil them in salted water until done which is about 8-10 minutes. Note that the water will get cloudy – this is okay. Once the soba noodles are done, drain them under cold water and add a little oil to make sure they don’t stick together.

In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, peanut butter, water, oil and garlic powder. Stir in the onion.

Add the sauce to the noodles in a large bowl and toss thoroughly to coat.

Add the cooked asparagus and toss again.

We both enjoyed this, and would love to have it again. I wouldn’t mind trying this with Chinese cabbage or broccoli instead of asparagus, and using fresh garlic next time (didn’t have fresh on hand today). I also would be interested in trying this with cashew butter and toasted cashews as a topper. The possibilities are truly endless!

BTW – If you want it a little spicy you can add hot chili paste, which we both love (although if you’re like me and you don’t want it too hot add a TINY amount first to see how much you can handle).

The dinner is delicious, but I pick at my food because at court there is always someone watching you, and I don’t want to seem greedy. Our table faces the front of the hall, so it is natural that I look up to see the king at his dinner. In his rich clothes and great collar of gold you might mistake him for one of the old pictures over an altar; I mean, a picture of God. He is so grand and so broad and so weighted with gold and jewels, he sparkles like an old treasure mountain. There is a cloth of gold spread over his great chair, with embroidered curtains hanging down on either side, and every dish is served to him by a servant on his knees. Even the server who offers him a golden bowl to dip his fingers and wipe his hands does so on bended knee. There is another server altogether to hand him the linen cloth. They bow their heads as well when they kneel to him, as if he were of such unearthly importance that they cannot meet his eyes.

-The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Reading a novel by Philippa Gregory is like eating chocolate. It’s so smooth, rich, and delicious that I find myself disappointed every time I finish one of her books. My only consolation is that I still have yet to read all of them – and hopefully she’ll never stop writing.

Historical novels need to be written well for me, and hers meet my expectations. This one centers around Henry VIII and three ladies in his court – you know, the one who had multiple wives and killed nearly every one of them. You can almost taste the fear of the women who surrounded him, and wonder how any of them wound up surviving.

I love potatoes. If I had to choose my favorite vegetable potatoes would probably have to be it. I have a lot of close seconds and thirds, but this root vegetable is so versatile and can take on so many flavors that I can’t imagine what else could top it. I mean, you can fry, boil, bake, roast, etc., etc. – what’s not to love?

One dish that I rarely make, just because it requires a little more effort than I am willing to give, is twice baked potatoes. They are worth the trouble if I do decide to make them. It’s like eating both mashed potatoes and baked potatoes at the same time…well, that’s probably because that’s pretty much what they are.

Twice Baked Potatoes

• 6 medium to large potatoes
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. mustard powder
• 2 cups water
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried dill

Bake your potatoes whole in the oven for about an hour at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. At about 10 or 15 minutes until you take the potatoes out of the oven start preparing your other ingredients.

Now what you are going to do is create a cheese-like sauce. It doesn’t taste exactly like cheese, but it has a nice smoky, rich flavor which is a wonderful substitute. For someone who admittedly misses real cheese occasionally this is a good stand in for when I want something cheese-esque.

In a small pot put your nutritional yeast (this is what imparts the “cheesy” flavor), flour, salt, garlic powder, mustard powder, and water. Mix the ingredients together thoroughly, then add your butter. Now turn on the stove to medium heat. Stir the mixture at a pretty continuous amount. When you start to notice it thickening you can either stop now (it should still be fairly runny), but for the purposes of this recipe let it go for another 10-15 seconds while still stirring. Immediately turn off the stove, and if you’re really good take the pot away from the heat.

Sauté your onions and garlic in vegetable oil (or olive oil) for about five minutes. Don’t do too much longer if you still want a little crunch and stronger flavor when the twice baked potatoes are done.

Take the potatoes out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.

Cut each potato lengthwise, then scoop the meat out into a medium sized mixing bowl. Place all the potato shells back on the baking tray.

Mash the potato meat with a potato masher, then add 1-2 cups of the cheese sauce (use the rest in burritos or as a dip), the powdered dill, and the sautéed onions and garlic. Mix it all together well, taste a small amount, and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Now take a scoop of potato mixture and put it into one of the potato shells. Continue to do this until you have all of the shells filled and when you no longer have mixture left.

Put the potatoes back into the oven and cook for another 20 minutes or until the top is turning a little brown.

I know – it’s an event, and they’re gone so fast it almost (almost!) seems like it wasn’t worth it. But really, when you’re biting into them you (or rather I) keep hoping that there’s more than there really are.

Twice baked potatoes are so flexible. I found recipes that used mushrooms – that would have been great. I think you could do peppers (hot or sweet), chives, or broccoli. The spices could also be really flexible – paprika maybe, black pepper, rosemary, savory, etc. A good way to figure out what would work well is to think of what you like to eat with your potatoes. Those same spices and ingredients can jump into this recipe as well. So go experiment!

Stopping off for gas, I realized that I had not yet fulfilled part of rule #11: beef jerky, so I spent five bucks on a large bag of Oberto brand jerky. It looked like tree bark but smelled like a dead animal that had been left outside for a few weeks. I hadn’t tried the stuff in years, actually, since it’s expensive, and to be honest, I always associated beef jerky with the suburban/redneck element of my hometown, which was an element that I had spent most of my postsurburban New Yorker-subscribing life distancing myself from. Still, on this morning I was hungry, the sack of jerky was on the passenger side, and with Rush blaring on the car radio, I decided to try it. And Oh My Ever-Loving God. It went straight to my bloodstream. I was flying. This was the best thing I had ever tasted! If this was what conservatives ate, I was ready to sign up for the John Birch Society right then and there.

-Conservatize Me by John Moe

When a book has me visibly laughing or weeping while on the subway, you know that it has grabbed me. I try to maintain a normal composure since I am in public so as to not seem like I’ve lost my mind (at least for my own benefit), so laughing usually winds up being more like smirking. I smirked often throughout Conservatize Me. I tend to be more left-leaning myself, although I wouldn’t consider myself a complete liberal, so I respected John Moe’s self-inflicted month of immersion in the politically conservative culture.

The full title of the book is Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Sean Hannity, Toby Keith, and Beef Jerky, so from the outset I knew that I would be making jerky. Since I am vegan, it would wind up being tofu jerky. I had planned on making a couple of different kinds of jerky – one out of tofu and one out of seitan, but I had already been cooking a couple of other things and fell back on what would be easier.

I usually buy jerky, whether it is Primal Strips or Tofurky Jurky, but on occasion I will make my own, inspired by Susan Voisin’s Baked Tofu. This time I decided I wanted a little more flavor, so I added some spices to the marinade.

Conservative Jerky

• 1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained, then cut into thin strips
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (I used a little bit of both; also be sure to find a gluten-free soy sauce if you want to make this allergy-free)
• Black pepper, garlic powder, and Garlic Gourmay’s Killer Cajun to taste
• 1 tsp. light cooking oil

After cutting the tofu into strips, place them into a plastic or glass container. Mix the soy sauce and spices together and then pour over the tofu strips (don’t worry if the liquid does not cover the strips). Cover the container with a lid and place in the refrigerator for a few hours (I let mine sit for about four or five hours).

Preheat the oven to 200 – 250 degrees F. To reduce clean up time, cover the top of a cookie sheet with tin foil then brush the foil with the light cooking oil. Place the tofu strips on the sheet in a single layer, and then place in the oven.

Check the strips in about 30 minutes. Take them out of the oven and turn over all of the strips, and then put them back in the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes. The time in the oven is really dependent upon how tough you like your jerky. It also varies depending on how thick the slices are. The thicker the slices, the less tough they will be.

If you don’t eat the jerky right away, you can use the same foil that you used to cover the cookie sheet to store the jerky in the refrigerator.

My initial reaction to this batch was that it was too salty. I should have just used Bragg’s or used a lesser amount of regular soy sauce. The Killer Cajun spice also had salt in it, so it might have been better if I had used cayenne or chili pepper. It was still pretty good, though, and my husband declared it good. Next time maybe I’ll try making seitan jerky.