Category: Vegetarian

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili and Chili-Lime Corn on the Cob (with Bernard)

I have a confession to make.  I’ve been keeping something from you.  I haven’t told you about Bernard.  Bernard has been living with me for a few months now.  He is exceedingly attractive, but is also highly adaptable and a very hard worker.  He must be tenderly cared for, but is able to withstand very heavy duty.  We’ve enjoyed each others’ company immensely.  We’ve been doing lots of cooking together.  Hubby has learned to tolerate Bernard, but he’s not as enamored with him as I am.  I, for instance, am the only person allowed to “bathe” Bernard.  Bernard and I met at a charming little shop called Sur la Table.  A customer-service glitch caused me to be offered a one-time 25% off discount, which enabled Bernard to be able to come home with me.  We have joyfully welcomed him into our home and are eager to tackle many future projects with him.

So, after I brought Bernard home, the first thing that we tackled together was this Black Bean Chili.  This was one of my mother’s recipes and I have NO IDEA where it came from, so please forgive my potential plagiarism.

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

2 cups black beans, soaked in water overnight and then drained

1 bay leaf

4 teaspoons cumin seeds

4 teaspoons paprika

4 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 or 2 teaspoons chili powder (I add more!)

3 Tbsp canola oil

3 medium-sized white onions, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 garlic cloves, chopped or pressed

1 Tbsp vinegar (balsamic is great, but plain white will do)

1 1/2 pounds ripe or canned tomatoes, drained and chopped (save the juice)

4 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 or 2 teaspoons chopped chipotle chili

Cover beans with fresh water in a very large pot and bring to a boil with the bay leaf.  Lower heat and simmer.  Heat a medium-sized heavy skillet.  Add cumin seeds and saute until toasted.  Add oregano, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat, then add paprika and cayenne.  Stir, remove from pan and grind to a coarse powder in a (spice-dedicated) spice or coffee mill (or with a mortar and pestle.)  Heat oil in a large skillet and saute the onions until softened and translucent  Add the garlic, salt, ground herbs and spices and chili powder and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, juice and 1 teaspoon of the chipotle.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the mixture to the beans and add water, if necessary, to cover beans with liquid by one inch.  Cook until beans have softened to your desired consistency (about one hour?)  Stir in more chipotle (if desired,) vinegar and cilantro.  Serve topped with cheese or sour cream and more chopped cilantro.

Chili-Lime Corn on the Cob recipe here.

Bonus chipotle tip:

Every recipe I’ve ever had that has called for chipotles has called for one or maybe two, yet there are probably a dozen of them in the average can (plus all of that wonderful adobo sauce!)  How to solve this issue?  After you open a can, pull the remaining chipotles out of the can gently with a fork and place them an inch or two apart on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze them.  I dollop the remaining sauce from the can onto the top of each chipotle before freezing, too, so each one will have plenty of that saucy goodness on it.  When the chipotles have frozen solid (overnight?,) gently peel them off the waxed paper and place them in a ziploc bag and freeze them until needed.  You can more easily pull them out, on at a time, in the future that way.

Grilled Salmon with Black Beans and Piment d’Espelette Mayonnaise and Spring Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf

Salmon with beans recipe here.  Pilaf recipe here.

This was VERY tasty.  The hardest and most time-consuming part was all of the chopping (and beet-cooking) that was required for the pilaf, but it was well worth the effort.

Vegetarian Girl just skipped the salmon and made a healthy meal out of the quinoa (prepared with veggie stock instead of chicken broth) and beans.

If you’re not planning to make sandwiches from the leftover salmon, then I would prepare half the amount of salmon and the mayo mixture.

Jerk-Rubbed Catfish with Spicy Cilantro Slaw

Recipe (from March 2010 Cooking Light) here.

This was quick, fast, easy and tasty.  I use my own Jerk Seasoning blend (well, Jeff Blank’s, really.)  I served this with some black beans on the side.  For Vegetarian Girl, we rubbed a thin slice of firm tofu with the same seasoning and grilled it, which she said was quite tasty.

Pear-Gorgonzola-Caramelized Onion-Toasted Pecan-Balsamic Arugula Pizza

This was fantastic and came together much more quickly than I expected after a CRAZY night.  It was inspired by this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, but I adapted it quite a bit to suit Vegetarian Girl and a preference for blue cheese over provolone.

1 large pre-baked pizza shell (I used Boboli)

1 small white onion, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 large, ripe pear, thinly sliced

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used Gorgonzola)

1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

4 cups baby arugula leaves

about 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt butter with olive oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 10-15 minutes or until the onion is soft and lightly browned all over.  Spread onions evenly over pizza crust.

Sprinkle cheese evenly over onions, then top with pear slices.

Bake pizza for 10 – 15 minutes or until cheese is thoroughly melted and crust is lightly browned.

Remove pizza from oven and top with toasted nuts.

Toss arugula with vinegar (you may not need all the vinegar) and place a nice layer of it over the top of the pizza.

Cut the pizza into wedges and serve with any leftover arugula on the side.

Homemade Cheddar Crackers

Recipe here.

These were really tasty, but a bit of trouble to roll out and don’t predictably bake to anything resembling a uniform size.  They puff and wobble as they bake, so some turn out thicker or smaller.  They taste good, but they’re just difficult to work with.  If I make these again, I will probably roll the dough into a log, freeze it, then slice into coins for baking.  The one thing that I really DO like about this form factor is that they are a perfect Goldfish-like “pop into your mouth” size.  Perfect in a little bowl to accompany a cocktail or, with some juice, for an after-school snack.  I would probably add a bit of cayenne and or paprika or pimenton the next time that I make these, just for a bit more kick.

Apple and Pear Beignets with Vanilla Bean Sugar

Recipe here.

I wanted to make something a little special this morning because Girl had a couple of friends to spend the night last night and so I was feeding a crowd for breakfast.  These were a big hit with the girls, who immediately noticed that the sugar “tasted REALLY good” and “MUCH better than plain sugar.”  True, the vanilla beans in the sugar were fantastic.  Not cheap, because I made a double batch (2 vanilla beans!,) but well worth the expense.  I should have cooked the beignets a tiny bit longer, because they could have been a little more cooked in the middle, but they were still fantastic.  I used an OXO cookie scoop to plop the dough in the oil.

I had quite a bit of the vanilla bean sugar left over, so I’ll be finding some luxurious uses for it soon.  It might be fantastic to top a creme brulee with.  We’ll see!