Vegetarian Chili

Let me tell you a cautionary tale about the importance of close reading.  I found a delicious-looking recipe for vegetarian chili in March 2011's issue of Triathlete Magazine (aspirational reading, okay?) and stuck it up on my refrigerator.  When I went to the grocery store, I was overly confident that I remembered the correct ingredient proportions, and this confidence spread over into the actual cooking process.  Long story short, I wound up with 12 servings of vegetarian chili instead of six (suspicions arose when I had to break out the stockpot because the normal-sized pot was too small, but at that point the commitment had been made).

So this is a recipe for a massive amount of veggie chili.  You could make less, but I'm not capable of doing that.  It's good though—leave out the bulgur for your gluten-free friends, put the bulgur in for an extra-nice texture.

Refrigerator Pickles

Like most Americans, I consider Labor Day to mark the end of summer, even if it's somewhat wishful thinking here in balmy North Carolina.  In any case, the holiday weekend provided the perfect excuse for one last barbecue, and you'd better believe I took advantage of it.

Hot dogs and hamburgers are enticing enough, but I wanted to make something a little extra interesting to attract attendees.  "I'm making my own pickles!" I crowed, not actually knowing anything about pickling.  An hour of reading later, I'd realized a few things: 1) There was no way I would be canning anything, so refrigerator pickles were the way to go; 2) Bread-and-butter-style pickles are a little more interesting to make, as you can play with the flavor profile in a way you can't with the more rigid dill-pickle style; and 3) Pickling is EASY.  Here's how you can do it too:

Red Potato and Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Why is summer the best time of the year?  Extreme heat, popsicles, outdoor movies, long hours of sunlight, and PICNICS.  Yes, I admit it: I'm a picnic partisan and I think everything tastes better al fresco.  And what's a picnic without potato salad?  This recipe includes a little greenery for a healthsome crunch and an olive oil dressing.  Bonus: Using olive oil instead of mayo as the binding/moisturizing agent prevents the potato salad from going bad in the summer heat.  Nobody likes food poisoning.

 

Caponata

There are certain recipes that, when I cook them, make me feel like wherever I'm cooking is home.  Caponata, an Italian eggplant dish that my grandmother used to cook all the time, falls into that category.  Though my grandmother was from Northern Italy (Trieste, to be exact), she loved to cook this Sicilian vegetable stew.  I guess she was ahead of the curve on pan-Italian cooking.  Served hot with pan-fried polenta or cold with a crusty piece of bread, caponata is one of my feel-good standbys, so today I'm going to share my grandmother's recipe with you all.  Now, being of the old school, my grandmother wasn't big on writing down recipes or measuring things, so it evolves a little bit every time I make it.  You should feel free to make it your own too.

You'll need:

Black Beans and Rice

So I've been sitting on this recipe for a long while now, but since I started my new job today, I am once again inspired to cook/blog!  While I haven't actually made this since I left Chicago, I'm excited to cook it here and bring the delicious leftovers along with me for lunch.  Because, for me, this dish is all about the leftovers.  The flavors actually get better as they soak together in the fridge, so it's perfect for a week's worth of protein-rich lunches.  I adapted this recipe from the Whole Foods website—my version's a little less fancy, but you've probably figured out by now that I don't like to use tons of ingredients.

Canning Party Carrot Salad

My good friend Kirsten invited me along yesterday to a canning party at her sister-in-law's house in Kensington.  At first, I was a little dubious (canning?), but the party was fun, informative, and delicious.  The guests were in charge of all the chopping and prep work for a strawberry jelly, sour cherry and currant jam, and fresh salsa.  I had a little bit of a bad run-in with some jalapeños (I'd never encountered one in real life before), but it was a great chance to meet some lovely, interesting ladies and have a demonstration in case I ever feel the urge to can (I admit this seems unlikely, since I like to eat what I make as soon as I make it, but you never know).

After the food prep, a delicious afternoon tea party spread was set out, including banana bread sandwiches (genius!), brown bread baked in a coffee can (deliciously moist), chicken salad, scones, homemade sangria, and stuffed grape leaves.  My own humble contribution was a cold carrot salad, which was one of the lesser impressive items, but it's the recipe you're going to get.  I also neglected to take a photo (tsk tsk).  But it is tasty, simple, and extremely portable, so let's get cracking:

You'll need:

1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 cut white onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp. parsley, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Bring a small pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then add carrots.  Cook in boiling water for about 8 minutes, or until tender.  Be sure not to overcook—mushy carrots are gross.  Drain in the sink and then rinse with cold water for about 4–5 minutes to stop the carrots from cooking with residual heat.

Meanwhile, combine all the rest of the ingredients, except the parsley.  Stir well.  Once the carrots are cool, put them in a bowl and drizzle the marinade over top.  Mix well and stick in the fridge for at least 8 hours.  Right before you're ready to serve, toss in the minced parsley.  This keeps it from wilting and maintains the nice crunch.

And you're ready to go!  You can even walk two miles to the party with your tupperware in your bag and it will still be delicious!  Not that I know about that from experience or anything...

Meanwhile, our sous chef was:

Yeah, big help.

Braised Fennel

Fennel is one of those vegetables that rarely gets used in American cooking, which is a damn shame, since it is so delicious.  My grandmother used to make this dish, one of my go-to comfort foods.  And it is possibly one of the easiest recipes to make ever.  It's also a great way to kill a partially empty bottle of white wine.

You'll need:
1 large fennel bulb
1 tbsp. olive oil
About 1 1/2 cups of white wine
Lots of freshly grated black pepper

Remove the feathery stalks from the fennel bulb and dispose.  Roughly chop the remaining fennel into bite-sized pieces.

Cover the bottom of a small-to-medium saucepan with the olive oil.  Place over medium heat.  Then add the fennel and stir until it begins to make a hissing sound.

Pour in enough white wine to cover the fennel.  The type of white wine doesn't matter so much—I used a cheap Rhone varietal.  Grate in black pepper to taste and stir well.  Bring the wine to a boil.

It should look something like this.

Let simmer for 20–30 minutes, or until the fennel is tender.  Remove from heat.

This dish is delicious as soon as it comes off the stove, but I think it's even better after it marinates in the fridge overnight.  Just wrap it up in a bowl and serve it cold for a simple side dish.

I also made my first béchamel sauce at Erin's house last night (she made an amazing cauliflower dish from Mastering the Art of French Cooking that required it), but that's a story for another day.

Hearty Lentil and Chickpea Soup

There is very little more depressing than a sunless Saturday in Chicago in late February.  In fact, if you asked me what I did today, I would have to think very hard (I finished a collection of Truman Capote essays, but mostly I sat around and thought about what I would do if I had the energy to go outside).

This kind of day.

Around late afternoon, someone on my hallway started cooking something that smelled extremely chicken-y, and not in a good way.  Clearly the answer was to cook my own good-smelling meal to overwhelm the stench.

My mother has been telling me for weeks now that I should eat more lentils.  So I thought I would try to make a chickpea and lentil soup.  After investigating some recipes, they all called for either exotic spices (which I don't have) or a slow-cooker (which I also don't have).  So here's my own riff on a fragrant, vegetarian, and protein-heavy soup for a gloomy day.

You'll need:

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup lentils
1 28 oz. can tomato puree
2 cups vegetable stock (I used Better than Bouillon, which has the added advantage of having all the salt you could possibly want in a soup)
1/2 cup black olives
Black pepper
Cinnamon

Sauté the chopped onion in a small pan in the olive oil for 3–4 minutes, until it starts to soften.  Then add the minced garlic and chopped carrots, sautéing for an additional 2–3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Spice with black pepper and cinnamon to taste.

Add everything together in a big pot and put it over medium heat, partially covered.  Bring to a boil, and cook for 30–40 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked.

I put a nice dollop of 2% Greek yogurt on top, but otherwise this soup is vegan-friendly.  I'm estimating 5–6 big bowls of soup from this recipe.  Now I just need to figure out how to store all the rest of this...