Butternut Squash Chili

This is a nice seasonal recipe I came up with a few weeks ago that was pretty popular.  Anaheim peppers are milder than jalapeño or serrano - feel free to upgrade if you want an extra kick.



2 tbsp canola or olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
1-2 anaheim peppers, seeded and deveined, diced (optional)
4 cloves garlic, minced (or to taste)
1 large can tomatoes (or approx. 5 fresh tomatoes)
1 medium-large apple, diced
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (note: Costco sells packages of pre-cut/peeled  if you don't feel like wrestling one in your kitchen - they're tough to cut)
1 can black beans
1 can refried beans
1 can of corn (optional)
3 cups water
1 tsp turmeric (optional)
Cumin, paprika, salt and pepper to taste*

(* I used about 3 tbsp cumin, and 2 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp paprika, and 2 tsp cayenne instead of black pepper. Since it's a large volume doing a little more or a little less probably won't hurt)

In a large pot, heat the oil and begin sauteing the onions.  When they start to get translucent, add the bell and anaheim peppers and the garlic.  Give it 5-10 minutes, then stir in the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer approx. 45 minutes (or until desired thickness), stirring occasionally.

Novelties: Veggie Pizza with Portobello Mushroom Crust

This was one of my more inventive ideas - along with Venergy Drinks, coming soon. I still think it is theoretically possible to pull this off, but I'm not convinced the effort is worth it, since you can cut the stem off a portobello to make a mini-pizza anyway.

The basic idea, though, was to make a pizza crust without using dough. I've played around with roasted portobello mushroom dishes and decided that if I threw some mushrooms in my food processor and added some oil, I could make a crust. I threw in a few cloves of garlic, because why not get that in the "crust" directly if you can?

Ingredients:
2-3 portobello mushrooms
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup (maybe? Eyeball it) olive oil
1/2 cup tomato sauce, or canned diced tomatoes with basil and oregano
diced veggies/toppings of your choice
cheese of choice - enough to cover

Then the toppings are just like a basic pizza. You could theoretically do whatever you want.

I baked it for over an hour at 350 degrees. The "crust" never cohered, and burned a little around the edges. Although you couldn't eat it like a pizza, which was my main goal, it still tasted pretty good.

I'm thinking an egg or something else with emulsifiers might work better to bind it if I try it again. I may try to make the crust thinner, too. Pre-cooking or drying the crust may help as well.

Cowboy Soup

Soup really is good food, although I think it's way better when it's not out of a can. And given how easy it is to make, why would you use canned stuff? The ease with which it is made can be summarized by the following equation:

ingredients + water + heat + time = soup

Note that I have water listed in the equation, although it's way better with stock, which is really easy to make. It's also very Earth conscious, since you make it with stuff you would normally throw away. Go green. Just not in your soup. Unless it's St. Patrick's Day.

This is basically a tomato vegetable soup. I used the stock I made in the last recipe and then made up some more with some yam peelings, some chard stems, and the remnants of a lime I had squeezed for the lime juice.

Ingredients (but really, do whatever):
2 tbsp olive oil
1 quarter white onion, diced*
1 cup diced scallions*
1 orange pepper, diced*
1 yellow pepper, diced*
5 cloves garlic, minced*
2 liters vegetable stock*
1 can unsalted diced tomatoes, with juice*
1 can kidney beans*
1 can black beans*
2 cups chopped Swiss chard*
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp paprika*
salt and black pepper to taste
grated parmesan
3 basil leaves, chopped

* Or more. Or less. Seriously, do whatever. Note that I did not put an asterisk by the turmeric...that stuff is pretty potent so it's one of the few spices where I err on the side of caution.

You could get by with throwing everything in a pot and waiting for the veggies to get soft and the soup to taste yummy. But I modified a recipe in How to Cook Everything, which, despite its title, has a woefully limited scope.

Heat the olive oil in the biggest sauce pan/crock pot/iron cauldron you have. Sauteé the onions and scallions until your kitchen smells yummy. Add the peppers and the garlic and lightly sauteé them. Remember Alton Brown's directives about garlic: the smaller you mince it, the stronger the flavor; and once you burn it, it's toast.

Add the stock. If you have frozen stock, melt it separately (or in the microwave). Add everything but the parmesan and basil. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and cover, letting simmer for a few hours.

Garnish with parmesan and fresh basil. Makes 10 servings. Maybe more. Maybe less.