VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili (Crockpot)

I haven't done a recipe review in a long time--mainly because I haven't been cooking new recipes. As you know, I've been having a really tough year; the last thing I was worried about was cooking new recipes. But I'm feeling SO much better--I have more energy, I have been thinking more positively, and I just feel more motivated in general.

Yesterday, I went for my morning run (my very, very short run around the block) and when I got back home, I felt like I had some energy to burn. I decided to prep dinner--and better yet, I chose a crockpot recipe. I love being able to prep dinner in the morning and not have to worry about it until dinner time.

I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, and I'm sure most people probably would (except maybe the sweet potatoes). I thought this would be a good recipe to post because it doesn't have "weird" vegan foods in it. It looked like a recipe that vegans *and* omnivores may like.

Because this is a crockpot recipe, there aren't many steps--so this will be a relatively short post. I found this recipe at Eating on a Dime. You can find the full recipe on the site. I will link to it again at the bottom of this post.

Duck is helping me write this today. He is so sweet and it absolutely melts my heart when he wants to be close to me like this. (Pressing the Return key isn't very easy, but every cat lover knows what it's like trying not to disturb a sleeping cat.)

First up is the ingredients list:

onion
green pepper
minced garlic
black beans
sweet potatoes
diced tomatoes
chili powder
cumin
paprika
cayenne (optional; I used 1/2 tsp.)
oregano
salt
broth (I use homemade bouillon, which I wrote about below)

To prep everything, I just chopped the onions and pepper. Then I cut the sweet potatoes into large chunks (I wanted them to hold their shape after the long cooking time in the crockpot). I opened the cans of beans and drained and rinsed those. 

For recipes that call for broth, I use homemade vegan bouillon powder mixed with water. It's very similar to a chicken bouillon powder. I usually use 1/2 Tbsp. of powder for every 1 cup of water. But any broth will do.

Then, I just dumped everything into the crockpot and set it on low heat (planning to cook it for about five hours).

I'm very familiar with cooking soups, stews, and chilis in the crockpot and three cups seemed like a lot of water, especially considering the amount of vegetables that would give off water as they cooked as well. 

Usually for recipe reviews, I do everything exactly as written. However, instead of the three cups of broth that is called for, I used two and set the third aside in case it was needed. After giving it a stir, I decided holding off on the extra cup of broth was probably the way to go, knowing there would be more liquid as the veggies cooked.

Other modifications: The recipe called for 1/2 an onion, which I never do--why not a whole onion? So I used a whole one. I also cut the salt in half, figuring I could add more later. (In the end, the extra broth and extra salt were not needed.)

I cooked it on low for about five hours. I gave it a stir a couple of times because I didn't want the sweet potatoes to get overcooked and mushy, and I also wanted to see if it needed more broth. This was about halfway through, and you can see there was a lot more liquid:

The house smelled heavenly of chili spices while it cooked. The kids (and Jerry) asked what was for dinner, and I told them Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili. None of them seemed thrilled, hahaha. I have stopped trying to cater to everyone's wants and decided to cook healthy meals that I thought sounded good--they can take it or leave it. Or cook dinner themselves.

When it was done, I tasted a chunk of sweet potato and was surprised at just how good it was. I've never added sweet potatoes to chili before; I like sweet potatoes, but I only ever really eat them as a side dish  (and even that is only occasionally). Sweet potato casserole, baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries. I tried them in a hash one time at a restaurant and wasn't a fan. So, I wasn't sure if I was going to like them in chili.

The sweet potatoes had completely absorbed the flavors of the spices, and I honestly couldn't tell that they were sweet potatoes (judging by taste). The texture was really nice in the chili--a contrast to the usual bean chili (vegan) or meat chili.

Jerry and the kids are *not* sweet potato fans, so I totally didn't expect them to eat it. However, I wanted them to at least taste a piece of the sweet potato because I was sure that it would change their minds. And I was right! Jerry's face went from extremely skeptical to pleasantly surprised. He said they were amazing--the taste and the texture.

Eli was at work, but I gave Noah a piece to try; his face was skeptical as well, but he agreed. (I love that he is open-minded about trying foods that he thinks he won't like.) Just like Jerry, he was very surprised that he liked it. I was thrilled! Sweet potatoes are so healthy and I want to incorporate them into my diet more, so having the family on board is a bonus. I'm going to see if Eli will try a piece today. (I would bet my life that he'll say, "It's not bad". I don't think he would ever admit to liking sweet potatoes.)

Jerry took the chili to work with him and said that he "really liked the sweet potatoes, but the beans didn't have any flavor". This both surprised and confused me--canned beans are canned beans. I use them all the time in chili and he's never said that before.

I had a big bowl of it (too big, actually--I felt uncomfortably full afterward). I loved it! This is something I will absolutely make again. I would like to utilize my crockpot more, and this recipe was super easy. Noah actually ate a bowl of it for dinner, too, which I didn't expect.

Final thoughts: 

-super easy!
-lots of fiber
-tons of good nutrition
-use a whole onion
-cut salt in half
-reduce broth to 2 cups instead of 3
-good sweet potato recipe for people who think they don't like sweet potatoes
-the spiciness was PERFECT for me (if you don't like things spicy, then leave out the cayenne)
-leftovers reheat really well
-a good recipe for days when the groceries are running low

This was delicious and I definitely recommend giving it a try! You can find the recipe at Eating on a Dime.

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RECIPE: Mulligatawny Soup

I made this recipe a few weeks ago and planned to post a recipe review, so I took all the pictures. Then I realized that I couldn't post it because it came from a recipe book! I emailed the publisher to ask for permission to post the recipe here but I didn't hear back from them... until a few days ago. Thankfully, they gave me the go-ahead to share the recipe. (I don't like to post reviews of recipes that aren't freely available.)

This recipe is from "How it all vegan!", a vegan cookbook by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. It's an old book that I got from a thrift store.

The name of this recipe, Mulligatawny Soup, caught my eye at first; and then when I read the ingredients, I thought it sounded super interesting. It was unlike any other recipe I'd seen before, but it still used common ingredients (nothing weird in this one!). The coconut was especially intriguing.

A google search just now showed me that it's not unusual at all--Mulligatawny is a common Indian dish. This particular recipe, however, is different from the few that I looked at, so I have no idea how authentic this is. 

This cookbook is kind of fun to cook from because there are no pictures. Normally, I like cookbooks with pictures for every recipe! But to make something with a weird name and not having any clue what it's going to look like in the end was kind of fun.

Here is a printer-friendly version, if you want to skip my beautiful food photography ;) 

First, the ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. curry powder
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
6 cups vegetable stock
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 large potatoes, cut in cubes
1/2 cup rice
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small tomato, diced
1 cup cauliflower, sliced
3/4 cup grated coconut
3 tsp. lemon juice
3 tsp. cilantro (optional)

A lot of ingredients, but nothing strange! It didn't specify to use sweetened or unsweetened coconut, so I just assumed unsweetened and that's what I used. Also, I chose not to use the cilantro. As usual when I make new recipes, I prepped all of the ingredients first so that I didn't have to rush while cooking.

The "vegetable stock" powder I have is a homemade blend (recipe can be found here). I just add it with water for the vegetable stock in recipes; it's easier than having containers of stock around!

I thought it was a bit awkward to slice the cauliflower instead of cut it into small florets (and if making it again, I would choose to do the florets).

First, you sauté the onions and celery in oil in a large soup pot over medium heat until the onions are translucent.

Then you add the spices, soy sauce, veggie stock, carrots, potatoes, and rice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.

Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add the peppers, tomato, cauliflower, coconut, lemon juice, and cilantro. Stir together and simmer 5-10 more minutes until vegetables are tender.

Remove half of the soup and purée in a blender or food processor.

Then pour it back in the soup pot and stir to mix it all together.

And this is what it looked like when it was done:

Thoughts? It was very good! It was surprisingly creamy, considering there weren't cashews or coconut milk in it. To me, it tasted like a smooth, spicy curry. The curry powder I have is on the spicy side, so the spice level may vary, depending on the brand of curry you use. I loved all the different textures and I thought all of the flavors went together really well.

I can't remember if the kids ate it, but I know Jerry and I both really liked it, and we each had leftovers the next day. The creaminess and the spice made me think that it's the perfect winter comfort-soup. Next time, I'll make some bread to go with it. It's a great soup to make when you've got some veggies to use up! I think I may add some tofu next time, too--because everything is better with tofu ;) 

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VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Pasta e Fagioli

I've been posting a lot of tofu recipes lately, and since not everybody likes--or is familiar with--tofu, I figured I would try out a recipe that uses ordinary ingredients. I still like being somewhat adventurous, though, so I chose to make a chickpea loaf (similar to a meatloaf, only using chickpeas in place of meat).

I made the chickpea loaf yesterday and uploaded the photos to my computer... 

And you know what? I just now searched my blog for "lentil loaf" because I was sure I reviewed lentil loaf for one of my first vegan recipes. It turns out, I had actually made Chickpea Loaf in March! It was the same exact recipe that I made yesterday. Hahaha, I'm cracking up! My memory is horrible. Interestingly, though, I really didn't care for the chickpea loaf this time, even though I loved it before. Maybe now that I've tried so many other amazing vegan foods, the chickpea loaf is just meh. 

It's so funny--all that I just read in my post from March is pretty much what I was going to write today, except that I didn't care for the loaf this time.

Thankfully, I prepared another recipe today and I took photos just in case I wanted to use it for a recipe review. Today, I made Pasta e Fagioli. I have been making my own recipe for years, and my whole family loves it. However, it's not vegan. I could easily make it vegan, but I thought it would be fun to try something completely new.

I picked Pasta e Fagioli by Cookie + Kate (I'll link to it again at the end of the post). The ingredients were simple enough. The only thing I didn't have was the kale. I wasn't a fan of kale the last time I had it, but I found "baby kale" and it looked better.

Ingredients: olive oil, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, white beans, pasta, parsley, kale, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, oregano, vegetable broth, water, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. (I don't buy vegetable broth; I make a bouillon powder and mix it with water to make broth.)

This recipe took me a while because I prepped everything first instead of doing it as I was cooking, but it was easy enough.

First, you heat the oil in a pot, then add the celery, carrots, and onions. I always like how pretty the three look together.

Cook until soft (it took about five minutes) and then add the garlic and cook for another minute. I meant to take a picture, but forgot until after I added the tomatoes (the next step).

Cook a few more minutes, and then add the broth, water, and spices. At this point, it looked very watery, and I hoped that the end result would be thicker.

Simmer for 10 minutes or so, and then comes the scary part. I didn't read this ahead of time... but you have to add 1-1/2 cups of the hot soup to the blender with 3/4 cup of the beans and then purée until very smooth. Well, remember what happened when the bullet blender nearly took my head off? It was because I wasn't supposed to blend hot liquid in it--when the seal is airtight, the pressure builds up and causes it to explode.

I carefully put a cup and a half of the soup, along with 3/4 cup of beans, into the blender. The Ninja blender I have has an airtight seal, but there is a pouring spout on one end--so when the spout is open, it's obviously not airtight. I opened it up and then covered it with a towel (to avoid spattering) before blending. Thankfully, it worked out just fine!

Then you pour it back into the pot. The soup was still very watery, but I know that adding pasta really thickens up soup--even if there isn't a ton of pasta. After you pour it back into the pot, you add the beans, pasta, kale, and parsley. 

Bring it to a simmer and let it cook for about 20 minutes. I hoped it wouldn't make the pasta soggy by cooking it for so long, but I was glad to see that it had thickened up quite a bit!

Finally, you add a little more olive oil, the lemon juice, and salt. I couldn't wait to eat it! Lately, I've been making dinner super early in the afternoon, which isn't ideal. I like to eat dinner late (like 7:30 ish) but Jerry goes to work before then. So I cook dinner, and then he takes some to work and I save some for later. So we are both reheating food, haha. 

We tasted the soup when it was done, though, and it was SO good. Absolutely perfect for a fall day! I added some vegan parmesan that I made a couple of days ago (also a recipe from Cookie + Kate). Jerry and I both agreed that the soup was delicious. The pasta e fagioli that I've been making all these years has sausage in it, but this vegan one is so flavorful that it doesn't need meat. And I like the addition of the kale!

The kids weren't here to taste it, so I can't write their opinions, but I am fairly certain they would like it. Eli would probably pick around the kale, but there aren't any "weird" ingredients, so I think he'd give it a chance ;)  (ETA: Eli just came home as I was writing and he ate a whole bowl--so he likes it!)

Overall: I'll definitely be adding this to my collection of "make this again" recipes. If the kids don't eat the leftovers, I'm going to have it again tomorrow.

Here is a link to the recipe for Pasta e Fagioli from Cookie + Kate.

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VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Pot Pie Casserole

Spoiler: HOLY COW this was so good!

I resisted making this recipe for a long time, even though I'd printed it out and flagged it with a Post-It. I wasn't ready to buy a bag of soy curls when I wasn't sure if they would just go to waste. Soy curls are basically the same thing as textured vegetable protein (TVP), but they are chunkier pieces instead of crumbles.

Here is a comparison:

What the heck is TVP? It's just made of soy flour (after the fat is removed from soybeans), and then somehow they are shaped into these airy crumbles or, which this recipe calls for, curls (or chunks). If it sounds really weird, but you're about my age, you may have even eaten it before! I learned this only as an adult, but I used to love those rectangular cafeteria pizzas--they came in plain cheese or with "meat".

The meat, I always assumed, was very finely ground beef. It was always under the cheese. Sneaky! It was actually textured vegetable protein. When I learned that fun fact, I bought some of the crumbles to try at home (long before I became vegan) and they were exactly as I remembered. There is something nostalgic about them.

Anyway, I finally decided to buy a bag of the soy curls. (And naturally, when I was going to link to the ones I bought, they are no longer available on Amazon. They are the Anthony's brand. But there are a lot of different brands on Amazon.)

After they arrived, I still resisted making this recipe because it involved so many steps. It calls for homemade cream of "chicken" cream soup (like the condensed cream of chicken soup you buy in a can). That requires cooking some ingredients together and then blending them into a very creamy soup. 

The recipe also calls for vegetable bouillon powder, and naturally, there is a link to that recipe as well. I've used the bouillon powder before in other recipes, and I have to say, it's REALLY good. Thankfully, I already had a batch of that in the pantry.

Once you have the cream of "chicken" soup and the bouillon powder, you can move on to the pot pie recipe.

Well, I'm a very-little-prep-and-only-one-pot kind of girl. But I bought the soy curls and the weather today (cool, crisp air, a little breezy) made me think that today was a good day for a pot pie casserole. The recipe can be found on Plant Power Couple (I'll link to it again at the end of the post).

I gathered the ingredients for the cream of "chicken" soup and for the pot pie...

Water, red lentils, cashews, vegetable bouillon powder, puff pastry, potatoes, frozen mixed vegetables, soy curls, salt, pepper, and onion powder.

The vegetable bouillon powder can be found on the same site here. Even if you have no interest in making this pot pie, or even if you aren't vegan or vegetarian, this is definitely worth making. Because the cream of "chicken" soup that I'm about to describe calls for it. And THAT is something that I could eat from a bowl and lick clean. It made the house smell amazing, and the boys came into the kitchen to ask what I was making. I hadn't even gotten to the pot pie yet!

Even if you are not vegan or vegetarian, you have got to try this alternative to condensed cream of chicken soup. (Recipe here.) Absolutely worth the hassle. And it literally tastes amazing on its own. To make it, you simply combine the water, red lentils, cashews, veggie bouillon powder, and sea salt in a pot. Then you bring it to a boil on the stove, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Then you pour it into the blender and blend until smooth. This is the point when the kids came to the kitchen, asking what smells so good. I took one taste, and almost just called off the whole pot pie. I was ready to eat the entire batch of this!

You're supposed to refrigerate it so that it thickens up, but I was planning to make the pot pie filling right away and let it rest for a little while before pouring it into the crust to bake. (Just trying to time dinner.)

Finally... ready to make the pot pie. I took the pastry out of the freezer to thaw when I started making the soup. I'd never used puff pastry before, but I was familiar with what it is. Most store bought brands are vegan (using oil instead of butter), but if you're looking for a vegan one, just check the ingredients. This Pepperidge Farm brand is vegan.

The recipe calls for "two large potatoes, peeled and small diced"--since 'large' and 'small' are all relative, I just guessed. I used Yukon Gold potatoes, because that's our favorite and I always have some on hand. I didn't peel them, because the skins are so thin, but I cut them into pieces about the size of frozen hash brown potatoes. (In retrospect, I'd cut them a little larger next time-like the size of dice.)

This recipe was specific about the amount of water you use to boil the potatoes, which I thought was odd, but it doesn't say to drain the potatoes before adding the other ingredients. So I hoped that was correct!

Once the potatoes have simmered, you add the frozen veggies, the cream of "chicken" soup, the salt, pepper, onion powder, and soy curls. This is the reason I'm not a food blogger--I take photos of the "ugly" parts of cooking.

I have to say, I was very hesitant to add the full amount of salt (2 tsp); between that and the salt in the bouillon powder and the salt in the soup, I was thinking about how this was definitely going to bring my blood pressure out of the "low" range, haha.

It thickened up quite a bit after I turned off the heat.

I thought the pastry would be the size of a 9x13 pan, but it was probably 9x9 square. I didn't realize I had to roll it out. I hate rolling out any sort of dough because I have to clean the counter really well, and then just make a huge mess on it again. Then I realized how handy these silicone baking sheets are! They are finally getting some use.

I lifted it into a 9x13 casserole dish, poked a million holes with a fork, and then baked for 15 minutes (just the bottom crust).

Then I poured the filling on top. I was going to take a picture but the lighting was way too dark, so I picked up the dish to move to the island--and totally forgot I'd just pulled it out of the oven. I'm pretty sure I no longer have fingerprints on my thumbs.

Finally, I topped it with the second layer of pastry and cut some slits in the center for steam to escape. 

The recipe said to bake for another 20 minutes, but I took it out after 35--it still looked raw in the center after 20 minutes.

By this point, the whole house smelled amazing--I couldn't wait to eat. HO-LY MOTHER. It was delicious! I was bummed the kids weren't here to try it and tell us what they thought, but hopefully they'll try the leftovers. I am thinking that the puff pastry won't do so well when reheating, which is a bummer. Next time, I'll probably halve the recipe unless the kids will want to eat it too.

Overall, this recipe was definitely a winner for both Jerry and me. And it's kind of a three-in-one (the bouillon powder, the cream of 'chicken' soup, and the pot pie). All three of the recipes are amazing!

The recipe for the Pot Pie can be found on Plant Power Couple. (That post links to the bouillon and soup recipes as well)

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VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Tofu Scramble

I actually tried out this recipe about three weeks ago and I'd planned to write about it then, but that was when I took my week-long break from blogging. I completely forgot about it until I made it again a couple of days ago and I realized I never posted it.

Spoiler: I liked it enough to make it again--twice--since then.

I bought silken tofu on Amazon and it came in a box of 12. At the time, I had no idea what to do with it! But I'd eaten quite a bit of extra firm tofu by then and really loved it, so I wanted to give the silken tofu a go. A few weeks ago, I tried the recipe for chocolate pudding with the silken tofu and it was SO good. I was very skeptical of this "tofu scramble" idea, though.

When I was losing weight, I ate a lot of scrambled eggs. They were especially convenient for a quick dinner when I was home by myself. I used to make them with butter and cheese... and now that I don't eat eggs, butter, OR cheese, how on earth was this tofu scramble going to remind me of scrambled eggs?

Well, according to what I read on several websites, the key ingredient is black salt (also called kala namak). I'd never heard of it, but it supposedly had a sulfur-like smell/taste, reminiscent of eggs. Sounds appealing, right? ("Sulfur-like" is not really what I'm going for when I am looking for something to eat!) But I ordered some from Amazon because I really do love trying new things.

The black salt is actually pink and not black... definitely prettier this way.

I tried this recipe from My Plantiful Cooking--and I *really* liked it! I ate it on a toasted slice of Dave's Killer Bread with vegan butter. I'll link to it again at the end of the post.

The ingredients are really simple: silken tofu, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, and black salt. 

The instructions are super easy, too. First, you mix up the spices...

(Now that I know I like this, I'm going to make a big batch of the seasoning to keep in the pantry and make it even faster. I make a lot of recipes from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken because I have two of her recipe books. I tried her tofu scramble seasoning after this one and I did not like it. I'm glad I tried this one first, otherwise I may not have tried making a scramble again.) 

Then you add the tofu block to a skillet (heated with oil):

Note: I'm really good at cooking scrambled eggs and one of my cooking pet peeves is when eggs are stirred too much while cooking. Rather than fluffy pieces, they wind up being dry and crumbly. I was curious how this tofu was going to turn out in comparison to eggs. However, I went into this thinking of it as "tofu scramble" and not "vegan scrambled eggs"--because I like to call it what it is. And comparing tofu and and eggs is like comparing apples to elephants. Completely different things. I only care about whether it tastes good, regardless of what it's called.

Anyway, the recipe specified to break into large chunks at first ("large" is all relative, so I just figured this size was good):

Then you let it cook for 6-8 minutes without the seasoning and without "scrambling"--so it will release the water from the tofu while not making it dry and crumbly. I just turned the pieces a couple of times and then added the seasoning mixture.

From there, you just gently break it into smaller pieces to incorporate the seasoning without making it *too* crumbly.

It looked more crumbly than eggs (at least how I cook them) but the texture was soft and not dry at all. I could have kept bigger chunks, but I wanted the seasoning to be uniform throughout. I toasted a piece of Dave's Killer Bread (SO good!), added some vegan butter, then topped it with the tofu and some extra black pepper.

Again, I was VERY skeptical of eating this, but also just as curious. It really surprised me! I liked it so much--I immediately had Noah try a bite and he agreed. I wouldn't try and fool anyone into thinking it's actual eggs, but I thought it was as similar as you could get. And from tofu?!

I was talking on the phone with someone and saw Jerry was eating some sourdough toast with just a few bites left. I motioned for him to stop eating so he could try it as well. I put some of the scramble on his toast and watched as his face registered the surprise. He said it was really good, and definitely something to keep the ingredients on hand for a convenient meal. All three of us couldn't believe how much the black salt made the tofu taste like eggs--without an overwhelming sulfur-smell.

Tofu continues to surprise me each time I eat it. And I just keep liking it more and more! (If you have a favorite tofu recipe--of any kind--please share. Jerry, Noah, and I have really embraced it and wish we'd started eating it sooner. Noah's not vegan (or even vegetarian) but he really likes tofu.

Jerry started a plant-based diet as a challenge to himself for the month of August--not at my request--and he said it was so much easier than he imagined. It's now been two months and he's continuing to eat plant-based indefinitely! I'm going to have him write a guest post about it.

You can find the full recipe I used for the silken tofu scramble at My Plantiful Cooking.

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