Vegan Chili with Avocado

Vegan Chili with Avocado

Since moving downtown and kicking up the work hours, I have been finding myself spending less and less time in my gorgeous kitchen. Which is completely obvious by the lack of posts the last couple of months, right?

As the school year comes to a close and the realization that I am about to spend my summer living in dormitories hits me, I am racing back to my kitchen to kick it into high gear. However, I still don't have a ton of time during the weekdays. Thus, I am trying to prepare meals that can be reheated throughout the week. This one was a winner so I had to share.

Vegan Chili with (optional) Avocado - Serves 8

Ingredients
1 block of extra firm organic tofu packed in water (14-ounce package)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 small red onions, chopped
2 lb frozen broccoli
5 cloves of garlic, diced
1 15-ounce can of no-salt added pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can of no-salt added black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can of no-salt added kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 4-ounce can of chopped chilies
2.5 cups frozen sweet corn kernels
2 large zucchini, diced

Instructions
1. Freeze the tofu. Defrost it fully. Squeeze all excess water and crumble.

2. Lay bag of frozen broccoli out on table. Beat to death with a meat cleaver. Feel better about life and get lots of broccoli crumbs in the process. I guess you could also just defrost and dice it but that's not what I did. My method was both tasty and therapuetic ;o)

3. Heat large stockpot over medium-high heat and brown tofu with chili powder and cumin for several minutes.

4. Add onions and cook for several more minutes.

5. Add remaining ingredients. Stir well. Bring temperature down to a simmer. Cover and let cook for 2.5 to 3 hours.

I mashed up an avocado and spooned some of it on top for a creamy element. Nutritional Information does not include avocado because I'll be honest... I can't measure that goodness!

Nutritional Information for 1/8 of recipe: 296 calories, 2.9g fat, 47g carbs, 14.5g fiber, 17.5g protein
Nutritional Information for full recipe: 2364 calories, 23g fat, 378g carb, 116g fiber, 17.5g protein

CSA Box: Squash, Turnips, Okra, Tomatoes, Corn, and more!

Produce picked fresh the day you pick it up from the farm. Who could imagine something better that delicious goodies you can see being grown and prepare that evening in your home! Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has been growing in popularity around the country. A CSA is when a local farm offers up limited "shares" of the harvest for sale to community members. I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to purchase a half-share at Full Circle Farms in Sunnyvale, Calif. After picking up my first week of produce, I posed a question to Twitter to see if anyone would be interested in how I am using my CSA box each week. You asked, and I delivered. This was my box for the week of October 11th.

This delivery included:

• Silver Queen Corn
• Red Russian Kale
• Oils of Paicines Organic Olive Oil Sample
• Yellow Borettana Onions
• Sage
• Mixed Peppers: Poblano, Hot Wax, Dried Cayenne
• Slicer Tomato
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Hakurei Turnips
• Sweet Dumpling Squash
• Okra

I knew I would be traveling for part of the week at a debate tournament. Which meant that I both wanted to ensure I used the produce before traveling but also wanted to bring some of these goodies with me on the plane.

Corn: I did a quick partial steam on the corn to set the milk. Once it cooled, I used the OXO Good Grips Corn Peeler I scored from IFBC, to shuck the kernels. I then dehydrated them and bagged them for use later this winter. Snuck a couple bites for a snack and it was sweet and country. Can't wait to throw them into a dish or just munch on them one afternoon!

Kale: This one was easy. Kale chips!

Olive Oil & Sage: I washed and left the sage leaves to dry between paper towels. I then sliced the sage leaves into ribbons and added it to the oil to infused. I should have sage oil soon!

Onions: Sliced thin, I added these to a homemade miso soup.

Mixed Peppers: Sliced and dried to spice up future recipes!

Slicer Tomato: Sliced and ate fresh by itself. Fresh local tomatoes are amazing!

Cherry Tomatoes: These were cut in half and tossed into the dehydrator. After drying, I had snacks for the plane.

Turnips: These were sliced super thin, tossed in a drizzle of organic canola oil and some sea salt and chili powder. Dried to make turnip chips for traveling.

Squash: Sliced and drizzled with coconut oil. Roasted. Yum.

Okra: Spicy Okra Fries to enjoy on my trip to the airport.

Hopefully this gave you some ideas! I look forward to sharing the bounty and how it is used each week. However, I would love your ideas. How would you have used the goodies in this week's CSA box?

Doug's Burrito Filling

I know it isn't the most appealing picture, but hear me out on this recipe. I am a very lucky girl in that my boyfriend can cook, and attempts to make healthy dishes for me. One of his staples is something he likes to throw together for himself and has since lightened up the recipe so I can enjoy it too! It is simple and filling (and I had it for brekkie this morning!).

He sautes a pound of 93% ground beef in a nonstick pan with a packet of burrito seasoning and then adds a can of fat-free refried beans. That's it! It is so simple but so good. I like to add a generous serving of hot sauce to spice my serving up, but he enjoys it with a little less spice. I enjoy this filling because the flavors come together better then when served seperately as the beans soak up what little fat cooks out of the meat. The beans also stretch out the meat to make more servings for diners on a budget.

He also makes a burrito filling that is vegetarian friendly. Saute up a can of low sodium corn (drained) with a can of black beans (rinsed) and half a packet of the burrito seasoning.

You can pump your burritos up with lettuce, grilled veggies, low fat cheese, salsa and whatever else you can dream up. Both fillings also work great on top of salads.

I was surprised at how simple both of these were and yet so filling and tasty. Sometime the simplest recipes are the ones we forget about but are so satisfying to the taste buds, the stomach, and the pocketbook.

The nutritional information will vary based on the brands you use so check them out. You would be surprised at the difference in calories on two cans of fat free beans! Doug's recipe makes about 10 servings and for our products that meant 129 calories/6.8 grams of fat/10.5 grams of protein/2.1 grams of fiber per serving.