Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 2/3 cup soaked dried black beans
• 2/3 cup soaked dried pinto beans
• 2/3 cup dried red beans
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 chopped red bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce

Cooking Directions

1. Using the saute setting heat the oil and add cumin seeds, onion, and garlic. Saute until onions begin to caramelize.
2. Add the vegetable stock, then the next 12 ingredients.
3. Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.
4. Do a natural release.
5. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. On the saute setting cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Add salt and top with cilantro.

• I found this is more of a beans dish, than a chili. Also it needs a lot of salt, and possibly more heat. 
• I think if I made it again I would add some crushed red pepper. 
• The large chunks of tomatoes weren't loved in my house. 
• I might modify in order that fresh tomatoes are used and put in before the pressure setting. 
• I always soak my beans for the Instant Pot. They come out much better. The one time I didn't they were too firm for my taste. 

Adapted from Instant Pot Cookbook by Monet Chapin. 

Potato and Egg Cake

I'm a bit of a procrastinator this year in regards to Thanksgiving. I have absolutely no idea where we are going or what I am cooking if I do indeed host. A large part of the procrastination has to do with the weather. West Virginia weather in November is really unpredictable. Some years it's in the 60's and other years it's snowing. Plus my in-laws live in the mountains so their weather is even more unpredictable than ours. So all in all I have no idea what we are doing for Thanksgiving this year, yet. I'm hoping that by next week I will be able to figure out if I'm hosting or not. Then the debate about what to fix starts, with my kids insisting on Cornish game hens, my in-laws preferring turkey and we not wanting either. Honestly I prefer the sides and dessert, I have never been a big fan of turkey.

I have been trying to reduce the amount of snacks that my kids eat. If given the option they will only eat snacks and never eat an actual dinner all week. So to combat this habit I have been reducing their snacks and making dinners that they are likely to at least try. The following is a recipe for Potato and Egg Cake, which is kid friendly and makes delicious leftovers.

Adapted from the Food Network Magazine.

Potato and Egg Cake

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
• 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 4 ounces sliced provolone cheese
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced jarred roasted red peppers, drained and patted dried
• 3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Add a rimmed baking sheet to the oven to preheat.
3. Fill saucepan with enough water to cover potatoes.
4. Add potatoes to boiling water over high heat.
5. Let cook until potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.
6. Butter an 8 inch cake pan.
7. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs.
8. Add 4 tablespoons of the butter and the parmesan to the potatoes, mash.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Add in the beaten eggs, slowly and mash.
11. Spread half to the mixture to the buttered cake pan.
12. Top with provolone, peppers, and parsley.
13. Make sure to keep an inch border all around the edge.
14. Top with the rest of the potato mixture, and smooth top.
15. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs.
16. Grate the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over top.
17. Place the cake pan on the heated baking sheet and baked for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely browned on top.
18. Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife.
19. Unmold and let the cake rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Tips:

• The version from the picture is made with gluten free panko. Gluten free panko is a great substitute for regular bread crumbs and I use it a lot in recipes. 
• The gluten free version takes a little longer to brown, approximately 5 minutes. 
• If you aren't a fan of provolone this would also work with Havarti or swiss. 

Spiced Fava Bean Soup with Rice and Tomato

I am beginning to get a complex thanks to Pinterest. Apparently every woman except me has a recipe binder, feeds a family of 4 for 100 dollars a month, and keeps their house clean with only 15 minutes of work a day. I am lucky if I can find the recipe I am following for the day,  I don't even want to talk about my grocery budget (how much milk can two boys possibly drink!), and I laugh at the idea of cleaning only 15 minutes a day. That's hilarious, I clean pretty much from the time I get up until I go to bed, no joke. Most days I feel pretty good about myself, until I step foot on the internet, then it all comes quickly crumbling down. I am so jealous of people that can keep their house clean and keep their food budget down. I do reasonably well for a family of four with our food budget. However, we don't buy anything pre-packaged and gluten free flours are crazy expensive. Plus I really need to get my two boys to stop eating all day, that would save a ton of money (obviously I'm kidding, mostly). At least my food normally looks half way decent and no one complains that it tastes bad, that counts for something right?

While most people stop making soups in the summer, I'm a little abnormal. I make soup year round, I love warm soup in warm weather. I blame my grandmother who was determined hot coffee in the summer made you cool down (don't worry I know this isn't actually true). Last week I tried a new recipe for Spiced Fava Bean Soup with Rice and Tomato from the April 2014 of Bon Appetit Magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes an hour of total time, all of which is active, and makes 6 servings. I made a number of changes to the original recipe. First, I used long grain brown rice. It was what I had in the cupboard and I didn't want to have to buy more rice. I have never actually seen dried fava bean in my area, so I used lima beans instead. I allowed the lima beans to soak overnight in order for them to be soft enough cooked in the recipe, I hate half cooked beans. Finally, for the broth I used homemade veggie broth. I love making homemade vegetable stock, you can literally throw in whatever old veggies you have in the fridge and let them simmer for a couple of hours. Much, much, cheaper than store bought.

My soup came out thicker than the magazine recipe. It was more of a stew than a soup. However, the flavor was delicious and it was a nice way to get my family to eat a vegetarian meal. Best of all there were enough leftover for two lunches for my husband for the week so it was economical. He's slowly coming around to eating more vegetarian meals, slowly.

For the recipe go to Spiced Fava Bean Soup.

Slow Cooker Curried Chickpeas and Spinach

My two kids are currently watching PBS nature shows. While most kids love movies, cartoons, etc., my kids love documentaries, history shows, and animal shows. At first I thought it was a phase, then the phase only got stronger. My oldest wrote about Christopher Columbus in his class journal last week. While most kids were writing about monsters, princesses, what have you, my child was writing a history paper. When his class goes to the school library he goes to the reference section and comes home with science encyclopedias, and he reads them cover to cover. Most of my kids odd behavior I blame on my husband and I. My favorite books are classics and I love social and medical documentaries. My husband was a history major and knows the answer to just about any history question you can ever ask him, and he doesn't just give a simple answer, he goes on for 30 minutes. Apparently my kids are following on the traditions that my husband and I started, hopefully they can find other people that share their same interests.

The males in my family love meat, I was a vegetarian for over ten years. To make everyone happy I make meat for dinner 5 nights a week. The other two nights I make vegan or vegetarian meals. Over the years my husband has grown to love many of the vegetarian meals we have tried and his cholesterol levels have stayed nice and low. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Curried Chickpeas and Spinach from the April 2014 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 4 hours and 20 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I ran out of curry powder so I used a tablespoon and a half of curry powder and a half of a tablespoon of garahm masala. For the cheese I used 8 ounces of Feta and increased the amount of spinach to 15 ounces. I microwaved the spinach and then rang all the water out before adding it to the rest of the ingredients in the crock-pot. Finally, I served the curry over brown rice.

The amount of salt in this recipe is perfect. The cheese adds just enough that it doesn't need to be further salted, which is nice since most recipes have to have a large amount of salt adjustment. If you aren't a fan of feta another type of cheese such as paneer would also work. My husband and I really liked this recipe. It was easy to prep in the slow cooker and made more than enough for two meals when served over rice.

For the recipe go to Slow Cooker Curried Chickpeas and Spinach.

Spaghetti Squash Tostadas

I am so sick of school fundraisers. That sounds horrible I know, but also very true. It all came to a head last week with a fundraiser not benefiting the school. I won't go in to details, but since I decided that I didn't want to have my son raise money he was not allowed to enjoy the popsicles and apple juice that all the other kids received for participating. I could have done the fundraising, but I chose not to. It was the 4th fundraiser since the beginning of the school year. During the first fundraiser my son raised 1200 dollars. I feel that that should be more than enough as my contribution for fundraising for the year. Apparently not though, they have had 3 more. Maybe I am getting old, but when I was growing up we had one fundraiser a year. One, nothing more. I understand that times have changed, things cost more money etc. However, I would rather donate supplies that I bought at 90 percent off at Target than donate to 4 fundraisers in 8 months. I joked with my husband that I am going to run for PTO next year with the slogan work smarter not harder. Obviously that won't happen, I'm way too much of a perfectionist to deal with all the fundraising drama. In the meantime I bought my son a whole box of popsicles for the dollar that he would have had to raise to enjoy the one at school.

 I try to incorporate at least one vegetarian or vegan meal into my meal plan every week. If left to their own devices my family would only eat meat (mostly bacon) three times a day. I prefer a more varied diet and have slowly converted them to my thinking. My husband has even started drinking the banana tofu smoothie I blogged about recently for breakfast every morning. Major progress. Last week I tried a new recipe for Spaghetti Squash Tostadas from the March 2014 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used homemade beans instead of canned. I prefer homemade beans, they are cheaper and far lower in sodium than store bought. Secondly, my microwave wasn't large enough to fit the spaghetti squash in so I roasted it in the oven instead. It was easy since it could roast the squash while the tomatoes and onions were in the oven. Finally, I make my own chili powder. The flavor is better and it stores for 3-6 months, so it saves money.

With 440 calories and 11 grams of protein these tostadas were a nice vegetarian meal option for my family. My husband absolutely loved the spaghetti squash and ate the leftovers without the tostada shell for breakfast the next morning. Like most kids my sons were thrilled with the spaghetti squash, it's very kid friendly. To cut down on the heat for their servings, I tossed sour cream with the squash on their plate.

For the recipe go to Spaghetti Squash Tostadas. 

Winter Vegetable Dal

Winter Vegetable Dal

I want my kids to fail. That's right I don't want my kids to succeed at everything they try. Why? Failure is one of the most important lessons we should be imparting to our kids. Let me provide a little background to my reasoning. My son came home from school last week and informed me that everyone got a ribbon for participating in a school event. Great, so everyone wins for doing nothing. I know that sounds a little harsh, but good old fashioned competitiveness is not a bad thing. I failed a lot growing-up. I tried basketball, softball, gymnastics and I was horrible at all of them. Then I discovered swimming and I was great at it. The pleasure I got from succeeding was that much better since I knew what it was like to be horrible at something. In college I had a professor inform me that I didn't understand anything about the concept of 'national identity' and that I should avoid a degree in English. I ended up getting my BA in English Literature and wrote my master's thesis on national identity and geography. However, if I hadn't done horribly in that class I might have had a very different life. We remember the times we fail, we need those failures to become the adults we are. It seems that we are now teaching our children that failure should be avoided in order to save our children the pain. Yes failure hurts, but the success that eventually comes is that much sweeter for having the fought our way back. So yes I want my children to fail, I will comfort them from the pain and cheer them on when they find a way to succeed. It's a part of growing-up.

My family rarely eats out, less than once a month. However, we all love various ethnic foods so I try to re-create as many dishes at home as I can. Last week I tried a new Winter Vegetable Dal recipe from the January/February 2014 issue of Eating Well magazine.

Winter Vegetable Dal

 

This recipe has 18 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, 35 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First, I used a bay leaf instead of curry leaves. Curry leaves are very hard to find in my area and I didn't want to have to go searching for them. I thought that I had cumin seeds in my cupboard, but wasn't able to find them when I made the recipe so I substituted ground cumin instead. I cut my potatoes small, but I still found that my dal took longer than the recipe suggest for the vegetables to fully cook, approximately 10 additional minutes.

Winter Vegetable Dal

My husband and I enjoyed this recipe. It was mild enough that my kids loved it while still being flavorful enough for adults. If you like your dishes spicier you can add a small amount of crushed red pepper. The leftovers of this dish re-heated well and it tasted great over brown rice.

For the recipe go to Winter Vegetable Dal.

Smokey Weeknight Chili with Homemade Chili Powder

Smokey Weeknight Chili

My husband thinks that I rearrange our furniture every 3-4 months to amuse myself. While I do enjoy moving things around in the house, the main reason I tend to rearrange rooms is to make space for the new things we accumulate. With four people in the house we end up with a lot of new things over the course of the year. Most things I buy second hand, clearanced or up-cycled. Every three or four months I go through the house and donate any items that we no longer use or I can't find in a way to re-purpose. Yesterday I spent the day moving a bookcase out of my kid's room and re-arranging the remaining furniture in their bedroom. Now they have a large play area and I have a bookcase that I will paint and make look like new for the living room. I already found oopsie paint at the home improvement store for 2 dollars. I love oopsie paint, it's a great way to buy high quality paint for very little money. The paint I found was originally 40 dollars, so 2 dollars was a great deal! The best part of rearranging furniture is watching my husband try to figure out where everything has been moved to. It always makes me smile.

I have been making a lot of soups and chili the last month due to the cold weather. It has been a very cold winter and when the weather is far below freezing I prefer food that is warm and comforting. Last week I tried a new recipe for Smokey Weeknight Chili from the February 2014 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

Smokey Weeknight Chili

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active. I followed the original recipe pretty closely. The only change I made was to make my own chili powder. I prefer homemade chili powder to store bought, it tastes better and I can adjust the amount of heat for my family's tastes. Here is the recipe I used:

4 tablespoons Ancho chili powder

2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
4 teaspoons paprika (I use smoked)
1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoons black pepper

It took minutes to make and was really great tasting. I also made my beans from scratch. I made my beans in the crock pot in a big batch and then measured out the equivalent amount of beans (about a cup and a half for a 15 ounce can). 

This is a very easy recipe to put together. You can substitute black or kidney beans if you don't have chickpeas (or just prefer the taste). It's also an inexpensive meal since it's vegetarian and is even cheaper if you make the beans from scratch. It has 15 grams of protein per serving and only 6 grams of fat so it's a nice all around meal. My family liked the chili with a bit of sour cream since my homemade chili powder is a little on the spicier side. 

For the recipe go to Smokey Weeknight Chili. 

Tofu and Veggies with Peanut Sauce

Tofu and Veggies with Peanut Sauce

As I have discussed numerous times before I live with three males (my two boys and my husband). My boys are both very tall and thin (like my dad) and eat all the time. I think by the time they are teenagers I will just go to the butcher and purchase the whole cow cut-up (you can do this and it's awesome for big families!).  All three of the males in my house are big meat eaters, especially pork. However, I am the odd one out. I was a vegetarian for over 10 years and eat two out three meals everyday without meat. I am attempting to convince the rest of my family that vegetarian food can be just as delicious and filling as meat. It has been an uphill battle, but I'm still trying. I'm particularly adamant with my husband since his father had triple bypass just a few years back. Adding more plant based proteins is always a good idea for heart health.  This week I tried a new recipe for Tofu and Veggies with Peanut Sauce from Redbook magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. Make sure to fully squeeze all the water out of the tofu. It really has to be pressed firmly or the tofu will not crisp up in the oven. Even with all the squeezing I found that my tofu needed 30 minutes in order for the vegetables and the tofu to fully brown. Additionally, I used the whole eggplant instead of half. My family loves eggplant and I didn't want to waste the other half. Finally, I chose not to add the chopped peanuts on top. Honestly, I forgot and it was fine without them. 

I was so happy with how well this recipe went over with my family. My husband and kids loved the tofu and eat their entire servings. The only change my family would make was to add another vegetable besides the green beans. My oldest loves green beans, but my husband would have preferred another vegetable or just additional eggplant. Overall, this was a great vegetarian meal option and something I would make again. 

For the recipe go to Tofu and Veggies with Peanut Sauce. 

Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves from Martha Stewart

Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves

Today reminded me that I'm not in my 20's anymore. Since my oldest had the day off school I thought it would be a good day to paint the ceiling in our dining room. The last time I had painted a ceiling was 7 years ago when I was in my late 20's. This evening I am sore, very sore. What was relatively painless in my 20's is an entirely different story in my middle 30's. I'm positive tomorrow is going to be a day for painkillers and my neck and back are not going to be happy. It's days like today that remind me that I have gotten older. On a daily basis I tend to forget my age, but when a task that was easy 10 years ago takes twice as long and makes me feel twice as bad I remember that I'm not the same early 20 year old I was before kids. I also remind myself that that's okay. I might take a little longer and feel a little more sore, but I'm also smart enough to know how to do something right the first time due to the wisdom I have gained with age. I would much rather be where I am now, being in my 20's was confusing and tiring. In my 30's I am older, wiser, and happier. I know who I am and can stand up for myself with no qualms. My younger self was quick to judge, talked first, thought later and could be more than a little selfish. My 30 year old self is pretty great, I listen first, talk later, look at most situations from all angles and have the wisdom to know how to deal with most situations. So tomorrow as I take a few aspirin with my morning coffee I will smile knowing that even though I am older, I am also only getting better with age. Now on to the recipe! Tonight I tried a new recipe for Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves from the Martha Stewart website.

Cabell Huntington Hospital Huntington, WV

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 1 hour 50 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 1 large loaf or 3 mini loaves. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First I was out of curry powder. So instead I used a mixture of the spices I already had on hand to make homemade curry powder. I love making my own spice blends and they are oftentimes cheaper than the pre-made varieties. For the rice I used arborio and homemade black beans instead of canned. Make sure to let the loaf sit after cooking in order that the loaf doesn't fall apart when sliced.

Harris Riverfront Park Huntington, WV

My husband isn't a big fan of meatless meals. He did however, like this recipe. It had the right amount of salt and I added cayenne to my curry powder so the loaf had a nice amount of heat. Finding vegetarian recipes that my family will actually eat can be really hard. This recipe was nice since everyone in my family ate it without complaints.

For the recipe go to Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves.

Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A vegetarian recipe for Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves. Full of lentils, black beans and curry powder.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Cooking Time: 1h, 0m

Total Time: 1h, 50m

Yield: Serves 8

Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew From All You Magazine

Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew

My husband and I rarely agree on what to watch. We haven't been to a movie in the theater for 8 years. Partly because we are both too cheap and mostly due to the fact that we hate most movies and can't agree on the few that either of us would see. Last month my husband set up separate Netflix user accounts so that what I watch wasn't in his recently viewed section. I was fine with that since he watches nothing but horrible television shows and movies by people that I never thought where funny when they were on Saturday Night Live. He also watches non-funny 80's and 90's comedies that I avoided like the plague when they were originally in theaters. My husband complains that I watch nothing except Sci-Fi and 80's/90's cult classics. He would be mostly right, I to this day claim "Heathers" as my all time favorite movie. So for the most part we watch separate movies and television. However, every year we pick a few new shows that both of us can agree upon. Normally they aren't something that we love, but that we agree we love each other enough to sit through. This normally lasts for a season or two before both of us give up on the show and we have to move on to another show that we both deem semi-adequate. Regardless of our faults we seem made for each other since we continue to try to find common movie/TV ground. It's the constant commitment to finding common ground that reminds me that our marriage is important to both of us. In 10 years we have only found a few shows/movies that we both love, but we have enjoyed the journey of trying to find something together. Tonight's dinner recipe is another example of compromise. My husband loves the Indian restaurant in our city, I pretty much hate it. To compromise I make a lot of Indian dishes at home. Some recipes I pick are traditional (to appease my husband and I) and some are more Americanized (for my kids). Tonight I tried a new recipe for Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew from the September issue of All You magazine.

Harris Riverfront Park Huntington, WV

This recipe has 17 ingredients. It takes an hour and ten minutes of total time, 45 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I made a  few changes to the original recipe. My family loves the taste of ginger so I used 2 tablespoons of minced ginger instead of 1. I was out of turmeric so I left it out and added a small amount of crushed red pepper for flavor. I found that the dish needed a lot more salt than stated in the original recipe, I ended up adding an additional 1 1/2 teaspoons. Finally, I added a cup of coconut milk. I found that it helped with the flavor and made for a more 'stew' like consistency.

Downtown Huntington, WV from Harris Riverfront Park

My two boys were in love with this recipe. The spices were mild enough to be kid friendly while having enough flavor for adults. This is definitely a more 'Americanized' Indian recipe, which is nice for kids or adults that aren't fans of the strong flavors many traditional Indian dishes can have. If you want to increase the heat you can always add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. This will add a little bit of heat without overpowering the flavors of the dish.

For the recipe go to Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew.

Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A kid friendly recipe for Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew from the September issue of All You magazine. Only $1.63 per serving.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Cooking Time: 0h, 45m

Total Time: 1h, 10m

Yield: Serves 6

Leftover Herb Pesto

Leftover Herb Pesto

It seems to be bug season in my back yard. I made the mistake of going out to trim my tomatoes this evening. Very bad idea. I literally came in and had to take a benadryl since I had so many bites. Cicadas are the other fun visitor my yard now has. They arrived a couple of weeks back. In previous years they have arrived earlier, but this year they didn't arrive until August. Growing up in Seattle I had no idea what a cicada was when I moved here. The first night I tried to fall asleep in my new apartment I was driven crazy by a deafening noise. I had a giant tree outside my window and between the train that went through at 2 am and the cicadas I decided I would never sleep again. Over the years I have gotten used to their deafening noise, but they still aren't my favorite summer sound. Apparently we aren't even supposed to have cicadas this year, wrong. They are in my front yard and they are huge. Plus I don't trust any insect that is part of a horde. It just sounds wrong. So I am avoiding my yard for a couple of days until the bugs leave me alone. Yesterday I had to venture into my yard to cut back my herb garden. It has gone crazy in the last week and I am swimming in basil, so time to make pesto. I tried a new recipe for Leftover-Herb Pesto from Martha Stewart Living.

Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 3/4 cup of pesto. For the pesto I used basil and tarragon from my garden, pine nuts for the nuts and an extra clove of garlic. I prefer my pesto to have a pretty strong garlic taste. I also added part of the cheese to the food processor and then added the other half to the finished pesto. I prefer the texture with this method. Plus the flavor of the cheese come through better.

View From Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

I love making quick and easy recipes. Pesto is a great way to use herbs that you have leftover in your fridge or garden and the taste can be easily adapted based on what ingredients you have on hand. In addition to serving with pasta, this recipe would be great with chicken or fish. I love using pesto with grilled salmon, it's wonderful.

For the recipe go to (video form) Leftover Herb Pesto.

Leftover Herb Pesto

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A very simple 7 ingredient pesto recipe. Can be made with any leftover green vegetable in your fridge and a variety of nuts.

Preparation Time: 0h, 5m

Total Time: 0h, 5m

Yield: 3/4 cup

Summer Vegetable Chili

Summer Vegetable Chili

My son is enamored with a pet rat. The first thing I heard as he got off the bus his first day of school was that his classroom had a new pet, a hairless rat. Apparently they are also getting two hamsters next week. He is obsessed now. At the library he wanted all books on rats and he talks about it constantly. I think it's pretty cute. We have three dogs and three cats, but we haven't had any small pets since before he was born. Before kids my husband and I had dwarf hamsters and I grew up with gerbils. I haven't allowed my boys to have any small pets yet, since they are a little small to be able to understand being gentle. Having a classroom pet is the perfect compromise. My oldest son feels an attachment and responsibility for a small animal and I don't have to do the daily care etc. I love it. With last week being the first week of school I didn't do a lot of cooking, but this weekend it's back to the kitchen. Today I tried a new recipe for Summer Vegetable Chili from the June 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

Owingsville, Kentucky

This recipe has 16 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few modifications to the original recipe. First I always use canola oil instead of vegetable oil, I prefer it for heart health. I bought regular frozen corn since I have never seen fire-roasted at the stores near me. Additionally I purchased regular beans and tomatoes not low sodium since the store I went to only had one variety. I cooked the beans on high for the 20 minutes of cooking time, watching it closely to ensure that it did not burn. Using a dutch oven is a great way to make chili, it heats evenly and is big enough to make big batches. I found that I had to add more salt at the table, but that is more of a personal preference, if you like food with less salt it would be fine as written.

Country Roads Kentucky

The mushrooms in this recipe really made the dish. They allowed for the chili to have a lot of flavor. Plus my husband who isn't a big fan of vegetarian chili really liked this recipe. With the mushrooms it was definitely more male friendly. My two boys were skeptical, but after tasting it they ate their whole bowls. The recipe states that it only makes 4 servings, but after my family of 4 had a dinner sized portions there was more than enough for at least another meal.

For the recipe go to Summer Vegetable Chili.

Summer Vegetable Chili

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

An easy vegetarian chili recipe that has great flavor from the addition of portobello mushrooms. Makes enough servings for multiple meals.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 4

Put Down the Take-Out Menu: Try Red Lentil Curry at Home

Red Lentil Curry

I made brownies for the first time in months tonight. My kids ate almost the entire batch in just a couple of hours. They were really good for gluten free brownies, probably the best I have made since I started baking gluten free. I normally would have allowed my kids to only eat one or two, but they have been very good this week. The weather has been hot and we have been spending a lot time in our front yard. Today I pulled out the super soakers for the first time this summer. They had so much fun running around playing in the water. It made me miss being young! Since it has been so hot I have been trying to keep my time in the kitchen to a minimum. The idea of spending hours with the oven on just isn't appealing when the weather is in the 90's with high humidity. This week I tried a new recipe for 40 Minute Red Lentil Curry from allrecipes.com.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I wasn't able to find curry paste, so I made my own. I thought that I had turmeric when I started this recipe, but it turned out that I didn't so I left it out. I allowed the lentils to cook for 25 minutes,  I like my red lentils to be pretty soft in curry. Finally, after all the ingredients were added I cooked the curry an additional 5 minutes.

The flavor on this curry is pretty mild. If your family likes the flavor of Indian food, but aren't fans of a lot of heat this recipe would be perfect. My husband and I added cayenne pepper to our servings to increase the heat. We both prefer our food to be a little spicier than the recipe as written. I served the curry over basmati rice and my kids really liked it. The recipe is a nice way to get kids to eat a larger variety of foods without having them turn up their noses.

For the recipe go to Red Lentil Curry.

Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce Recipe

Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce

My oldest has two weeks of school left. To say that he is ready to be done would be understatement. Getting him to be motivated to actually go to the bus in the morning has not been easy. He has also been very food picky. It might have a lot to do with the fact that he lost his first tooth this week and the new tooth coming in his been causing him discomfort. Due to all the activity in our household I have been trying to make quick and easy meals. Earlier this week I tried a new recipe for Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce from the May 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

Gluten Free Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. Since I eat gluten free, but the rest of my family does not, I made two versions of this recipe. For the tomato mixture I used kalamata olives, unrinsed capers (we prefer the taste of the salt) and roma tomatoes. I divided the mixture between the regular spaghetti for my family and gluten free spiral pasta for me. Make sure to serve the dish soon after you add the mozzarella, if you wait it will melt and turn into a big cheese clump.

The flavors in this recipe are great. My two boys loved the olives and capers and dividing the tomato mixture worked out well. Not rinsing the capers gave the pasta a nice salty flavor, which I really liked. The sauce would work with variety of pasta types in case you aren't a fan of spaghetti or bucatini.

For the recipe go to Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce.

Watercress Pesto Recipe

Watercress Pesto

I make a lot of pesto in my household. Especially in the spring there is something very comforting about a big plate of pasta with a pesto made from greens. Even my two picky boys can agree that pasta is delicious and will eat it happily. Since basil pesto can get boring I love switching up the pesto that I make with various spring greens. Last month I even tried a delicious asparagus pesto, which turned out perfectly. My husband is a big fan of greens that have more of a bite, while my kids would be happy eating basil pesto frequently. This week I tried a new recipe for Watercress Pesto from Martha Stewart Living.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First I made two versions, one gluten free and one with regular pasta. I did not use whole wheat spaghetti for the regular pasta, my family will not eat it (and I have tried I promise - every brand and they still hate it). To toast the pine nuts I used a skillet on the stove, very easy just make sure to watch them and they should only take a couple of minutes. Make sure to adequately salt the pesto, it will need a fair amount.

My husband and I thought this pesto was good. I would suggest adding more garlic, I like my pesto pretty garlicky tasting. I also would add a fair amount of crushed red pepper. It can be a little bland without it. The addition of cheese would also be nice, Romano would work nicely with the flavors.

For the recipe go to Watercress Pesto.

Crock Pot Pinto Bean Stew with Jalapeno Corn Dumplings

Crock Pot Pinto Bean Stew with Gluten Free Jalapeno Corn Dumplings

Beans weren't something my mother prepared very often when I was growing up. She made terrific pasta and meat dishes, but beans were only a sometimes food. When I decided to become a vegetarian in high-school my stomach went into shock due to the sudden increase in bean consumption. Luckily I got used to it and to this day I eat a substantial amount of beans every week. My husband was born and raised in West Virginia and pinto beans were always a stable in his house. When we got married I had to learn to cook with pinto beans since I had only eaten black, white and navy beans previously. Now days we eat pinto beans regularly and my kids love them. This week I tried a new recipe for Pinto Bean Stew with Jalapeno Corn Dumplings from the April 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 20 ingredients. It takes 9 hours in the slow cooker, 30 minutes of prep and makes 8 servings. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I allowed my beans to soak overnight. The overnight soaking method is the way that I prefer since it takes less active time than quick soaking on the stove. Since I eat gluten free I used brown rice four instead of the all purpose flour called for in the dumpling recipe. For the topping I let off the sliced radishes. My kids do not like them and my local grocery store didn't have them in stock. I let my beans cook on high for 8 hours and then another hour with the dumplings. I always allow my pinto beans to cook for at least this long. Beans in the crock-pot take a will in order to come out soft and flavorful.

The dumplings in this stew are the stars of this dish. The stew tasted like any other vegetarian chili and didn't leave a lasting impression. I thought that the pinto beans would be better cooked with a ham hock with the dumplings served on top. Pinto beans cooked in the slow cooker are delicious and the dumplings would work well with them as a topping. My two boys liked the chili (I seeded the jalapeno and used mild chili powder so it wasn't too spicy). They ate their servings and most of the leftovers.

For the recipe go to Pinto Bean Stew.