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Veggie Skewers & Black Bean-Corn-Mustard Green Salad

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Thursday night I had a crazy afternoon between a conference call, running, gardening and packing for our backpacking trip. So I decided to keep dinner quick and easy. I made veggie skewers with mini peppers, sweet onion and mushrooms; just toss with salt, pepper and olive oil and roast at 375F for 20-25 minutes. To go with the veggies I made a black bean and corn salad with mustard greens from my balcony garden.

Black Bean-Corn-Mustard Green Salad

  • 1T olive oil
  • 5 spring garlic, minced
  • 1/2 red onion, minced
  • 1 serrano chili, minced
  • 1-12oz bag of frozen sweet corn
  • 1-15oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 bunch of mustard greens, shredded
  • salt and pepper

In a large skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat; toss in the garlic, red onion and chili and cook for 3-4 minutes. Toss in the corn and saute until lightly browned about 5-8 minutes.  Stir in the black beans and mustard greens and cook until mustard greens are wilted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Roli Boli

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I picked up my favorite whole wheat pizza dough yesterday when I was grocery shopping and debated for awhile what I would make with it. I wasn’t in the mood for your standard pizza and I contemplated calzones and then I decided why not a stromboli?

Then I began to reminisce over the Roli-Boli  that used to be at the mall a billion years ago when I was a child and I used to love to steal samples. Does anyone else know what I am talking about? Well here is my Roli Boli Redux and veganized.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole wheat pizza dough (1 large pizza)
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1/2 T olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet potato, small dice
  • 1 medium onion, small dice
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
  • 1 tsp ancho chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 T nutritional yeast
  • 2 T tahini
  • 2-4 T water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450F.

Roll out your pizza dough to form a large circle about the size of a large pizza.  Top with the salsa and spread out leaving about a 1 inch border.

In a large saute pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add in the onions, sweet potato and garlic; saute for 4-5 minutes.  Stir in the corn, chili powders, salt and pepper and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until the sweet potatoes soften.  Stir in the nutritional yeast and tahini and enough water to incorporate all of the ingredients together.

Once everything is cooked and combined pour the sweet potato mixture onto the pizza dough.  Roll up the pizza dough tucking in the edges at the end and flipping the mixture so that the seam is on the bottom (this can be tricky so take your time and be gentle).  Cut 3 small slits in the top of the stromboli and if you’d like you can brush the top with a bit of olive oil to help it brown. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned; remove from the oven and let rest 5-10 minutes before cutting.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Smoky Pumpkin Chili

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As soon as the snow comes so do the chilis at our house. Yesterday was going to be a busy afternoon so I decided to get a head start on dinner before I went to work. I honestly rarely use our slow cooker and it has been in a box for the last year, however I decided that I would give it another try. Besides slow cooked food is always better especially when it comes to soups and chilis.
I have to say I used to be a little lost about how the slow cooker worked and years ago i decided I wanted to make chili in the slow cooker so I chopped everything up and placed it in the slow cooker, turned it on and then thought it was just going to cook everything perfectly…including the uncooked rice I had added to the chili. Boy did I learn my lesson- there are certain things that need to be cooked prior to being placed in the slow cooker (like uncooked rice).

That being said I learned my lesson and this chili turned out really delicious.

Slow Cooker Smoky Pumpkin Chili

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 3 celery stalks, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder or you can use 2 chipotles in adobo diced**
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoons pepper
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 (15oz) can of low sodium vegetable broth, reserve 2 tablespoons
  • 1  (15oz) can no-salt added diced tomatoes
  • 1 (15oz) can brown lentils, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (150z) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon lite soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)*
  • 2 teaspoons cocoa powder (make sure it’s unsweetened)
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add in the onions, carrots and celery; saute for 10 minutes.
  2. Stir in the garlic, spices and 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth into the onion mixture, cook for 1 minute.
  3. Add the pumpkin, vegetable broth, tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, lite soy, umeboshi plum vinegar, cocoa powder and onion mixture to the slow cooker.  Stir to combine and then cover and turn the slow cooker onto low for 6 to 8 hours.
  4. After 5-6 hours stir in the corn and taste for salt and pepper.

*You could use red wine vinegar.

**Chipotle is essential to make this chili smoky

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Recipe: Chocolate Chipotle Corn and Black Bean Soup

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Chocolate Chipotle Corn and Black Bean Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1T olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1t garlic powder
  • 2t ground cumin
  • 1t paprkia
  • 2t chili powder
  • 1t Italian seasoning
  • 1T soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup brewed coffee
  • 1T cacao powder
  • 2T chipotle chiles in adobo, diced
  • 1 (28oz) can peeled whole tomatoes with their juices
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Ingredients minus the beans- they were draining in the sink

In a large heavy bottom pot heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add in the onion and saute for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent.  Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the spice and cook for 30 seconds.  Stir in the coffee, soy sauce, cacao powder and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the chipotles and tomatoes with their juice; bring up to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Stir in the corn and cover and cook 15 more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.