Easy Vegetarian Chili

Excuse the "going back for seconds" mess around the bowl. But I suppose it says something that this chili was worthy of seconds. I'm trying to cut some of the meat out of our diet and have been looking around for some decent meatless meal options and lo and behold turns out chili is a great no meat candidate, what with the loads of hearty beans and veggies that can take its place. I really loved this meal and all the many leftovers too, you could easily get a few meals out of it and I'm sure it would freeze just fine. Also, it came together pretty quickly, so nice not to have to stir a pot all day. Serve it with plenty of cheese, sour cream, even some chopped tomatoes and green onions would be a great addition. Hearty and filling and we didn't even miss the meat.

Easy Vegetarian Chili

{Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod}

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, diced and seed removed

3 15 oz cans diced tomatoes

2 15 oz cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups beef broth (or water with 4-5 beef bouillon cubes)

1 1/2 T cumin

2 T chili powder

salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until light brown, about 2-3 minutes. Add carrot, celery, peppers, and jalpeno. Cook for five minutes, or until veggies are soft.

Stir in diced tomatoes with their juice, rinsed beans, and water or broth. Season with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir and let chili simmer for 30 minutes. Stir frequently so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Serve hot with cheese, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and green onions if desired.

Thin Crust Cheese Pizza

Wowsers, this was such a great recipe! I'm a huge thin-crust pizza fan, but have yet to find a good at-home thin crust pizza dough recipe, until now.

I loved that you can make this dough up to 3 days ahead of time and that it freezes beautifully. The one potentially tricky thing is that you do need to make it at least 24 hours ahead of time. So it's not a same day recipe, but if you plan your menus for the week or know a day or 2 in advance of when you're making it, it's really quick to throw together and stick in the fridge and then get on with your planned dinner for that day. The idea behind the long and refrigerated rise time (plus the use of ice water as opposed to warm water), is that the less quickly it raises and the more minimal the volume of rising that occurs the thinner the crust will be. It works!

Now normally I like a lot of stuff on my pizza, plenty to entertain my palette. But when I saw the picture of this plain cheese pizza on Annie's Eats, I knew I just wanted pure, unadulterated cheese pizza. No frills. And it delivered! So satisfying despite the lack of toppings (although it would be a great candidate for any toppings one might hope for). And the pizza sauce was fantastic too. We ate it twice in a week's time!

Thin Crust Cheese Pizza

{Recipe from Annie's Eats. Do plan ahead as the dough needs to raise at least 24 hours and as much as 3 days. Dough Yield's 2-13 inch pizzas, Sauce-plenty for up to 4 pizzas and it's freezer friendly just like the dough, yay!}

Crust:

3 cups bread flour

2 t sugar

1/2 t instant yeast

1 1/3 cups ICE water

1 T veggie oil

1 1/2 salt

Sauce:

1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained

1 T olive oil

1 t red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 t salt

1 t oregano

1/4 t ground black pepper

Topping: (Note: In this instance it's better to grate your own cheese fresh, no pre-grated. It will melt way better)

Olive oil, for brushing

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella (the softer the better, I usually go for the ball of mozz. as opposed to the brick)

To make the dough, combine flour, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a food processor*. Pulse just to combine. With machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube and process just until dough is combined and all dry ingredients incorporated, about 10 seconds. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

Add oil and salt to the dough. Process until the dough forms a smooth, tacky ball that clears the sides of the bowl, 30-60 seconds. Remove from the bowl and knead for about 1 minute on a lightly oiled work surface. Transfer to lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at 24 hours and up to 3 days. (If planning to freeze, after the initial 24 hours at least of refrigeration time is the time to do this--note to follow)

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend briefly till smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Leftover sauce may be frozen for later use)

One hour before baking the pizza, remove dough from fridge and divide in half. (This is the time to wrap and freeze dough for another time. Just wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag for later) Form each half into a ball and place on lightly oiled baking sheet, spray dough balls with cooking spray, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temp for 1 hour.

To assemble pizza, place pizza stone or sheet on second highest rack position in oven. Preheat oven to 500. Transfer dough ball to a well floured work surface. Flatten into an 8 inch disk. Using hands or rolling pin gently stretch and roll into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a well-floured and large cutting board (something that will be easy to slide the made pizza off of and onto the hot pizza stone waiting in the oven). Lightly brush all around the outer edge with olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup + pizza sauce over dough. Sprinkle evenly with grated parmesan and shredded mozzarella cheeses. Carefully transfer to the preheated baking stone or sheet. Bake until the cheese is bubbling and slightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Let cool 3-5 minutes before slicing and serving.

*A stand mixer may be used, just keep in mind the idea is to avoid warming the dough so it will be thin after baking.

Roasted Garlic & Cauliflower Pasta

Wow this was such a tasty dish! I made it over the weekend and served it to company. But really once I tasted it all I wanted to do was hoard it all myself. And then I ate the leftovers for 2 days and couldn't stop dreaming about it in between.

The cauliflower and garlic are both roasted. For those who may not have tried roasted garlic and are balking at the 2 entire heads of garlic called for, never fear! Roasting the garlic really mellows it's flavor/bite and turns it into something wondrous indeed. I took the liberty of adding some cream and chicken broth to the original recipe and didn't regret it one little bit. And the toasted walnuts on top were the perfect finishing touch.

I think you'll find that this is the perfect accompaniment to many, many main dishes (I'll share what I served it with in a later post) and it could easily be a meatless main dish in it's own right. It's filling and oh so tasty!

Roasted Garlic & Cauliflower Pasta

{Adapted from Mels Kitchen Cafe}

2 heads garlic, papery skins mostly removed (but keep it intact), top 1/4 of heads cut off from pointy end of garlic and thrown away

6 T olive oil

1 head cauliflower (the bigger the better in my opinion)

1 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/4 t sugar

1 pound fusilli or rotini or campanelle pasta

1/4 t red pepper flakes

3 T fresh lemon juice

1 cup+ fresh grated parmesan

1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

chicken broth

heavy cream

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place trimmed heads of garlic, cut side up on a square piece of foil and drizzle with 1 t or so of olive oil. Gather foil up and around garlic to seal well. Place foil packet directly on rack of heated oven. Roast until garlic is very tender, about 40 minutes. Set aside to cool. (May do this a few hours ahead of time and just leave garlic out till ready)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and place a large rimmed baking sheet on middle rack to preheat. Trim outer leaves off the cauliflower and cut it into bite size pieces. Toss in a bowl with 2 T oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Remove hot baking sheet from oven and carefully spread cauliflower out on it. Sheet back into the oven and roast cauliflower until it's browned and tender, 15-20 minutes.

While cauliflower is roasting bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add 1 T salt to water and stir in pasta; cook until al dente. Meanwhile squeeze cooled, roasted garlic out of skins into a small bowl. Using a fork, mash garlic well until it's a smooth paste. Stir in red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in remaining 1/4 cup olive oil.

Drain the pasta and return pasta to pot. Add the chopped cauliflower, stir in garlic sauce, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, cream, and 1 cup of cheese. Adjust the consistency by adding more chicken broth and/or cream. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts and additional grated cheese. Serves 4-6.