Red Lentil and Quinoa Slow-Cooker Chili

Heya! It's a been long time, sorry about that. I've been homeschooling my eight-year-old and it takes up a LOT of time. But I'm going to [try real hard to] get better about scheduling blogging time for myself so I can get back into the game. I also haven't been blogging much because I haven't really had the time to get into the kitchen and create new recipes. I've mostly just been cooking out of cookbooks and/or buying ready-made food, which is never as good as fresh, but sometimes your allergies are really awful and you're too tired to pan-fry some friggin' tofu or whatever. But the other day I had a little burst of energy and some ingredients on hand to make this chili from lentils and quinoa and, man it turned out great! So, I definitely wanted to share it with you. Give it a try - it's so easy, it makes a ton, and it's super healthy. Read on for details!

1 yellow onion, diced (save half to use as garnish, if you like)

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced with seeds removed
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained but uncooked
1 cup split red lentils, uncooked
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 28-ounce can crushed plum tomatoes
1 package of vegetarian "meat" crumbles (optional, but adds nice texture)
2-4 cups vegetable stock, depending on the consistency you prefer
3 tablespoons tomato paste
.5 to 1 tsp salt, to taste
.5 teaspoon cumin
.5 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 bay leaf (optional but calms the farts, or so they say)
handful cilantro, chopped (optional, for garnish)
hot sauce (optional, for garnish)

• It really could not be simpler. Just toss all of the prepped ingredients into your slow cooker, cook on high for about 4 to 6 hours (or more, if needed). Give it a stir maybe once an hour or so, if you're home to do that. If not, don't sweat it.
• Ladle into serving bowls and top with onion, cilantro and hot sauce. I think some fresh avocado would be nice on this too, but I didn't have any. Boo.
• Enjoy!

Before I go, I want to share some photos with you of my most recent trip to our town's most popular (okay, only) vegan restaurant, Spiral Diner. It's been a while since I've visited, because it's kind of 'spensive, but it was every bit as good as it was when I started going there the first year they opened, which feels like about a million years ago. Check out this grub, y'all.

Nachos Supremo

Hot Potato Grilled Cheese Sandwich
It was basically a smushed baked potato with all the trimmings grilled into a sandwich, and it was amazing!!

S'ketti and Meatballs with Garlic Toast

I bought one of these super cute mugs too!
Is it just my imagination or is that tiny triangle a derivative of the TriForce?
(Only fellow nerds will know what I'm talking about.)

"Plant-Powered 15" Black Bean Soup

The most popular post, of all time, on this blog is the one where I lauded Dreena Burton's fantastic chocolate chip cookies from her cookbook Vive le Vegan! It's the most pinned of all the recipes on this site, and it's the most searched for. And all I can say is... "Thank you, Dreena Burton, for bringing these fantastic cookies into our lives!"

Not only is Dreena a lovely health-conscious mom, and the perfect example of a glowing-from-within vegan, but she's also friendly and sweet. And she has graciously offered to allow me to reprint one of the recipes from her latest cookbook titled Plant-Powered 15.

Plant-Powered 15 is an ebook that features 15 gluten-free, oil-free, and totally-vegan recipes.

"These recipes were selected with a few criteria in mind. To give you recipes that will delight your taste buds, that are not too time consuming or difficult to make, and that are chocked with whole-foods goodness! Yes, these recipes feature whole-foods ingredients: whole grains, whole-grain flours, beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables, natural sweeteners, and no oil. They range from breakfast and baked goods to sauces, soups, burgers, and even a few sweet treats!" 
-- Dreena Burton, Plant-Powered 15

Dreena generously allowed me a peek at the cookbook, and let me tell you, it looks amazing!

Here is a list of the 15 mouth-watering recipes featured in the ebook:
Almond Zen Granola
Pumpkin Seed and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Creamy House Dressing
Green Goddess Dressing
Orange-Miso Dressing
Wonder Spread 
Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes 
Presto Pistachio Pasta
“SweetBalls” 
Umami Sun-Dried Tomato and Almond Burgers 
Sneaky Chickpea Burgers 
Mac-nificent! 
Coconut Pillows 
Sticky Almond Blondies 
Peanut Butter Munchy Squares 

Ever since I watched the The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue, I've been toying around with all of my staple recipes, experimenting with removing as much added oil as possible while keeping a delectable flavor and texture. Thank you, Dreena, for giving me a leg up on going oil-free with this fabulous cookbook!

BLACK BEAN SOUP WITH SWEET POTATOES

"'This soup has an irresistible quality, the flavors are deep and earthy with some sweetness from the potatoes. Don't let the number of ingredients intimidate you - they build layers of flavor, but this soup is not at all difficult to make!'

• 1 - 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups chopped onion (one large onion)
• 1 1/2 cups combination of chopped red and green peppers
• 1 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (generous is good)
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice (rounded)
• 1/4 teaspoon (or less/more, to taste) red pepper flakes
• 4 medium - large cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 4 1/2 - 5 cups black beans (reserve 1 cup; this is three 14 or 15 ounce cans)
• 3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups cubed (in small chunks, about 1/2") yellow sweet potato (or can substitute white potato)
• Chopped cilantro for serving
• Extra lime wedges for serving
• Chopped avocado tossed with lemon juice and dash of salt, for serving

In a large pot over medium-high heat, add water, onions, red and green peppers, salt and pepper, cumin seeds, oregano, allspice, and red pepper flakes. Let cook for 5-7 minutes until onions and peppers start to soften. Add garlic. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and let cook another few minutes to soften garlic - if sticking/burning, add another splash of water. After a few minutes of cooking, add 3 1/2 cups beans (reserving one cup of beans), water, tomato paste, vinegar, lime juice, and maple syrup (start with 1/2 tsp). Using an immersion blender, puree soup until fairly smooth. Increase heat to bring to boil, add bay leaf and diced sweet potatoes, then once at boil reduce and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add remaining cup of black beans and extra maple syrup if desired (taste test). Stir through, let simmer for another few minutes, then serve, topping with cilantro if desired and with lime wedges. Also delicious to top soup with some chopped seasoned avocado or a simple guacamole.  Serves 4-5 as main course.

Sweet Potato Tip: Sometimes I have leftover sweet potato home fries that have been seasoned with just sea salt. If so, I take a recipe and chopping shortcut and simply add these to my soup during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking, just to heat through.

Recipe from 'Plant-Powered 15' by Dreena Burton. For more recipes and information, visit www.plantpoweredkitchen.com. Photo credit: Nicole Axworthy."

WIN A COPY OF PLANT-POWERED 15!

Dreena has offered up a free copy of her new ebook to one lucky winner. Just visit the Rafflecopter widget below and enter to win. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Never Pay For Vegetable Broth Again!

A gallon jug of vegetable broth made from scraps previously destined for the compost bin.

I tell ya, if I'd ever had even a teeny clue how easy it is to make vegetable broth at home, I would never - NEVER - have paid a dime for the stuff at the grocery store. Plus, now that I see how simple it is, and how little it costs (just the price of water from my tap, and the gas I use on the stovetop), I know I've been getting royally ripped off all these years!

Seriously, never buy vegetable broth at the grocery store again. If you do, you might as well bend over and put a "welcome" sign on your butt, because the store is going to be "puttin' it to ya good," if you know what I mean... and I think you do...

First, you just start collecting your veggie scraps in a bowl in the freezer. I don't even keep a lid on mine. I just leave an open bowl in there and, every time I peel a carrot, or cut the tip off a green onion, or clip off cilantro and kale stems, I just chuck my scraps into the bowl in the freezer. When it starts looking kind of full,  I take it to the next level.

Dump the scraps into a large stock pot and cover with water. There are no exact measurements in this process, just make sure they are covered. Don't put in too much water, though, or your broth will be thin and flavorless.

Next, you bring it to a boil, give it a good stir just to make sure everything's mingling well, then cover and simmer on medium-low heat for at least an hour.

Allow the broth to cool completely before straining. Once it's cool enough to handle, use a fine mesh strainer like this one...



... to pour the broth through, catching the vegetables and dumping them to another bowl (destined for your compost bin) as they overfill the strainer.

You can store your broth in the fridge for several weeks. Or, better yet, freeze the broth in ice cube trays! You will never run out of the stuff, unless you stop eating or cooking with vegetables. And that would be a tragedy all on it's own...
Enjoy!

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Have You Had Your Kale Today?

Hey All!

So, here's the new deal with me... I'm re-designing my plant-based diet to exclude as much processed food as humanly possible, most importantly processed sugar, and I am striving to make each meal as nutrient-dense as I can. So, from here on out, the goal is to cram as many vitamins, minerals, grams of fiber, and phytochemicals as I can manage into as yummy a meal as I can possibly dream up. So, the days of white flour and sugar on the Bankrupt Vegan site are done. Jen needs to get healthy, lose weight, and get back on her feet! Yes, I'm referring to myself in the 3rd person - and, yeah, I know that's creepy. But, hey, Jen is glad you're here anyway.

According to the fantastic book, Super Immunity, written by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, "Green vegetables such as kale, cabbage, collards, and broccoli, plus some non-green vegetables such as cauliflower and turnips, are called 'cruciferous' vegetable. They are named for their flowers, which have four equally spaced petals in the shape of a cross - hence the Latin word crucifer, meaning 'cross-bearer.' All vegetables contain protective micronutrients and phytochemicals, but cruciferous vegetables have a unique chemical composition: they have sulfur-containing compounds that are responsible for their pungent or bitter flavors. When their cell walls are broken by blending or chopping, a chemical reaction occurs that converts these sulfur-containing compounds into isothiocyanates (ITCs) - an array of compounds with proven and powerful immune-boosting effects and anticancer activity."  "Because different ITCs work in different locations in the cell, and on different molecules, they can have combined additive effects, working synergistically to remove carcinogens and kill cancer cells. Furthermore, some ITCs have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, or even immunologic effects."

Holy mackerel! Cruciferous vegetables are real nutrition champions! We should be bathing in them! Shooting them up! Snorting them!
Okay - I kid, I kid... but only about the weird stuff I said we should do with vegetables (unless you're into that sort of thing). The 'nutrition champions' part is 100% true.

So, what's your favorite cruci-veg? Mine's definitely kale. It's cheap to buy organic and it's easy to prepare.
I'm always looking for ways to get it down my family's gullets without any fussin'. The very best way I've found to do that is via the wondrous and magnificent kale chip.

I love you, kale chip.

It's so easy, my daughter can help me with the preparation 

(she's always more likely to eat anything she helps to make).

De-stalkin' those li'l buggers.

Tearing them into chip-sized pieces.

A lot of folks recommend using a dehydrator but, alas, I am too poor for one of those fancy contraptions. However, after a few years of kale chip experimentation, I think I have found a savvy and resourceful way to dry out the chips without too large a risk of burning them.
Try these bad boys on for size and tell me what you think:

1 bunch kale, stems removed and torn into bite-sized bits
A drizzle of olive oil, to taste (Don't over-do it! Just a couple of teaspoons or so will do)
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of paprika, if you dare
1/4 to 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast, to taste (we like a LOT)

• Preheat oven to the "warm" setting, or to the lowest setting you can put it at. Around 200 degrees is fine. 
• Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and use either clean hands or a pair of salad tongs to stir everything together. Make sure all leaves are well-coated.
• Place on a large baking sheet with a light coating of oil or baking spray. You can also use a Sil-Pat, if you have one. That's what I use and it works great. If you don't have one, get one! It helps you to avoid adding extra oil to your baking sheet.
• Place in the oven and set your timer on one hour. After an hour, check your chips about every 15 minutes, giving the sheet a little shake or a stir with a spatula occasionally to make sure they are cooking evenly.When they start to crisp up, have a taste to make sure they are to your liking. It's hard to tell when their done just with visual cues. And once they're dried out, they will overcook and burn very easily. Keep a close eye on them!
• When the chips are done, all them to cool for just a few minutes, then enjoy! We love them plain, but they're also fantastic on salads.
• They will keep for weeks at room temperature in an airtight container.

Ginger Tempeh and Greens Over Brown Rice

A friend of mine gave me a huge sack full of delicious organic kale, so I've been sticking it in absolutely everything! Anyone ever make a kale brownie?? I might have to try...
Anyway, try this simple dish. It's easy, doesn't take long to whip up if you already have your rice made, and it's healthy and high in protein. Enjoy!

4 cups cooked long-grain brown rice (about 2 cups uncooked)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 8-ounce package of tempeh, cubed (I used the spicy kind)
1 stalk's worth of broccoli florets
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large kale leaf, stalk removed and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, crushed (I used this stuff)
Small handful of fresh parsley, stems removed, minced
4 cloves garlic, crushed with flat of knife and minced
1/8 cup orange juice
1/8 cup soy sauce (use tamari for gluten-free)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon agave nectar (optional)

• In a large skillet, gently saute onions and garlic in oil over medium-low heat for about two minutes. 
• Add ginger and red bell pepper. Saute another minute or so.
• Add remaining ingredients, stir and gently saute until everything is coated and well-mixed. Then reduce heat to low and cover. Allow steam to gently "green" the broccoli and kale. 
• Everything should be hot and crispy, but be very careful not to overcook. Nobody likes limp, mushy veggies.
• Serve over brown rice.
• Makes 4 large servings. 
• Enjoy!

My Favorite Summer Salsa

In several recent recipes I've referenced homemade salsa, and the only link I have takes you to a hummus quesadilla recipe wherein the salsa is defined. So, I figured it was high-time to give my favorite salsa a place of its own. And when I say "favorite" I mean it! I make a veritable troff of this stuff once a week and we ladle it on everything we eat. When we want a snack, we grab a bag of Santitas (hey, they're 2 bucks) and go to town. It's delicious! Give it a try. Here's the recipe...

8-10 large tomatoes, diced
1 white onion, diced
3 - 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 15-ounce can of sweet corn, drained
1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup lime juice (or less, to taste - I like it "lime-y")
1 tablespoon paprika (optional)
1 teaspoon salt (optional)

• Throw it all in a big bowl, stir it up real good, cover it and stick it in the fridge.
• Tastes best after it's had a few hours in the fridge.
• This makes a HUGE bowl. Perfect for parties. If you don't want so much, try cutting the recipe in half.
• It will keep well in the fridge, covered, up to a week.
• Enjoy!

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