slow cooker chipotle pumpkin quinoa chili

I just love coming home to a house that smells delicious only to find a hot meal all ready to go, slow cookers rock my winter! And sure I did all the work in the morning, but still a meal that is hot and ready when we are is good stuff. I made this chili to use up some left overs from my new favourite red pepper quinoa which I made again the other night. I also keep staring at the last 4 little pumpkins in my pantry that need to be eaten… thus this pumpkin quinoa chili. Full of black beans, carrots, tomatoes, and smoky herbs topped with creamy feta cheese and some bright cilantro, all of this made for a perfect winter weekday meal.

Ohhh and the adorable new cloth napkins made our meal seem a little fancier than usual, I was so thrilled to receive my birthday present (to myself) last week from Oh Little Rabbit, a sweet print shop in the US, where they make the cutest printed organic cotton stuff. I got a whack of lovely napkins, which I am enjoying matching to my meals and table settings. You’ll see more soon… as I have been getting a little bored with my counter top / table top blog photo backdrops!

But back to the meal at hand… you could make this lovely red pepper quinoa dish first (a double batch) and use up the rest in this chili recipe, or you could just add the flavours and uncooked quinoa into the slow cooker and I’m sure the results will be just fine! either way here is what else you will need to jazz up some root cellar squash…

glory bowl dressing with roasted glorious squash

I know this dish looks pretty monotone.. but the flavours are a rainbow of fabulous-ness!

This dish also happens to be maybe the best way to ever to eat squash… certainly it did the trick with my daughter.. who really dislikes every variety of squash (unless i stuff it in ravioli and slather it with cheese). I traded a few little acorn squash I grew with a girlfriend who grew lovely huge spaghetti squash, and her squash was the feature in this meal, which seamlessly blended into brown basmati rice topped with toasted tofu and roasted seeds, all in a smooth garlicky glory bowl sauce.

First things first… the glory bowl dressing recipe comes from whitewater cooks recipe book and it’s fabulous on salad, rice, greens, roasted potatoes or whatever… the nice thing is you can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge, because it contains no olive oil, and it’s scrumptious!

Glory Bowl Dressing

1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 tbsp tahini paste

Mix well in blender or processor and keep in a mason jar ready to drizzle when ever you need a good kick of yum.

Now for the roasting goodness…

Get your oven fired up to 375

Half a large spaghetti squash and clean inside, saving the seeds for toasting. On a large roasting pan place both halves insides up and drizzle each half with an organic veggie oil and a heavy dusting of course sea salt, pepper, chillies and parsley, along with 3 cloves of smashed garlic dropped inside each half. (these pockets will soon fill with bubbling garlic oily goodness)

Roast for 3o minutes then add to the same pan:

1/2 cube of firm organic tofu sliced into strips and seasoned with S+P, a pinch of cane sugar, and a dash of parsley.

and all of the seeds from the squash, cleaned and patted dry then seasoned with S+P, and paprika along with a drizzle of oil and a quick toss.

Put the pan back into the oven for another 30 minutes,  flipping the seeds and tofu every 10 minutes, so all sides get toasty brown

meanwhile cook 1.5 cups of brown basmati rice.

Once the rice is cooked mix in about 3/4 of a cup of glory bowl dressing along with the garlic and oil and squash from one of the halves (use a fork to remove the spagetti squash gently from the skin). Use this rice squash rice mix as a base for your toasty tofu and seeds. The other roasted squash half is sitting in my fridge destine for a soup one day soon.

If I made this again I would add some leafy bitter greens to the mix at the last minute.. as I was missing a hearty green kick.. but a big salad easily overcame my green craving, but as I stare at this yummy image.. my heart bleeds for some green!

So give this a try next time you are drumming on a squash wondering how to deliver it to the table! And until then, whip up some glory bowl dressing!

garden harvest veggie ragu

My little green house is pumping out plump tomatoes, a couple handfuls a day.. most of which are chilling in the freezer, but these heirloom beauties were destine for a deep rich veggatarian ragu. This sauce is super versatile, I made a big pan full and had some on left over rice for lunch today dressed with fresh goat feta and oregano, the rest of the sauce (about a pint) will cozy in a jar and wait for a bed of pasta noodles this weekend.

In the event you too have a picky eater around, a thick tomato sauce is a great way to hid teeny tiny little veggie bits 😉 This ragu has 9 different veggies in it, I even slipped beet into this recipe, which I find adds a nice sweetness that works well with the mild acidity of the fresh tomatoes. I know a ragu is traditionally a meat based sauce… but seeing as this thick tomatoes sauce has a stick to your rib-nes to it.. I’m calling it a ragu!

Start warming a good amount of olive oil in a deep cast iron pan

add the following finely chopped veggies and brown:

1 yellow onion

1 carrot

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 of a large green pepper

1/4 of a small zucchini

season with S+P,  chili flakes, bay leaf, fresh minced herbs; oregano, thyme & basil.

Once all these veggies start to get  good and brown add in about 6 cups of diced tomatoes. I used an assortment of 6 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.

reduce heat and to the tomatoes add

2 cups boiling water

2 heaping Tbsp red pepper spread

1 small grated beet

Allow everything to simmer away for as long as you have to wait (adding extra hot water and season as needed) 1 hour is plenty but 3 is ideal! If you have less time to cook it down or  if you prefer a smoother sauce, you can zip it up with an immersion blender, me I like some tomato chunks.

That’s is.. simple garden harvest ragu, ready to smother anything you want to cover in deliciousness!

crimini’s + zucchini’s

After almost a week away from home (and man is it good to be home and get back into the garden for harvesting today) I was looking for a comforting flavor for dinner and found myself inspired by the way my mom used to fry up a fresh zucchini bits in butter with parmigiana cheese… this was always a favorite of mine growing up,  and I had hoped that my daughter (who HATES zucchini) would fall in love if I drown it in butter and decked it out with cave aged grana padano cheese. Zucchini surrounded  in golden browned tofu and mushrooms, who could resist? Appanently her … She ate everything except the zuc’s, but the mister + I really enjoyed this combination of flavors. I served this over brown basmati rice, and it made for a good use of fridge treasures (crimini’s) and garden overrun (zucchini’s)!

In a large deep cast iron pan start by melting a good 2 tbsp of butter, to this add and brown:

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 block of firm ORGANIC tofu (cubed)

2 cups of quartered mushrooms

get these frying for 5-7 minutes before adding 1/2 of a medium zucchini quartered and sliced, along with another 2 tbsp of butter.

Season with

S+P

2 tsp chili flakes

2 tsp fresh parsley

2 tsp fresh rosemary

Don’t over toss, but slowly allow the faces of the veggies to brown.

Once everything looks lovely and golden on most sides add between 1/2-1 cup of grated grana padano cheese (or parm) season with a few more fresh herbs and toss. Serve hot, and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

Rock ‘n Veggie Rolls

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This is a real crowd pleaser, they look like way more effort than they are, and once you make them yourself, I am certain you won’t buy the “asian appetizer sampler” from M&M ever again!

Start by browning both sides of firm tofu slices about 1/4” thick you will need three of them, season with S+P and brown in a blend of canola oil and sesame oil, set aside to cool a little. Add to the hot pan: 1 jalenpeno diced, 2 garlic cloves minced, 2” ginger knob finely grated and 1/4 of a red onion finely minced. Get these guys all browning and then add: 3 julienne carrots (sliced finely lengthwise). Reduce heat.  You want the carrot to get just tender… not cooked through, about 1-2 minutes only. Add equal parts about 1-2 tbsp each: soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweet chili sauce, and just a splash of sesame oil and coat mixture evenly. Turn off the heat, but leave your pan on the element and add two big handfuls of bean sprouts, 3 green onions diced, and your browned tofu now sliced like the carrots. Mix everything together and place in a bowl. Add a little cilantro chopped and a small handful of fresh spinich finely chopped. Toss everything and set aside to cool completely, then refrigerate until your almost ready to serve the spring rolls. Before using strain the juices from your filling.

shitaki soba noodles * return of the mushrooms!

Ok, so maybe you are thinking.. again with the tofu and mushrooms? enough all ready.

But in all honesty this recipe is truly an amazing combination of flavors, and it takes about 12 minutes to make. I am sure you could easily add chicken and cashews instead of mushrooms and tofu and it would be just as wonderful.

In this recipe I used 3 of my favorite ingredients: Soba king rice noodles (the pumpkin flavored ones) SilverKing Tofu (firm) and fresh local mushrooms (I used shitaki tonight)

Got energy-balls?

Well if you have 5 minutes and a food processor you do!

This is just a super quickie recipe I wanted to share. It’s Gluten Free / Dairy Free / Raw / Organic and a super yummy power snack, great for the lunch box or a guilt free late night treat. We make a few yummy versions of these at the local cafe I am baking at a couple days a week, and they are always a top seller.

Take 1 cup of dried fruit: anything at all, this batch I used equal parts gogi berry, cranberry and raisin, but dates are really yummy, so are apricots! I don;t think apples would work on their own very well but would be nice with something more goopy.

Take 2 cups of seeds and nuts; again anything you desire, my last batch I used sunflower seeds, chia seeds, almonds, and cashews.

Give these a whirl in the processor along with 1 tsp of cinnamon and a pinch of salt and blend it all until everything is really pebbly then add a good squeeze of honey, agave, or rice syrup (about 2 Tbsp) along with 1 Tbsp of coconut oil. Wiz it a little more and it will start to form a ball in the processor. Simply scoop out 1- 2 oz portions and form into balls using your hand or mechanical scoop and roll them in something, I used coconut last night, (which I adore) but I have used hemp seeds before, or ground nuts or flax meal.

The great thing about these is you can use what ever you have kicking around, I have even taken a really fruity trail mix and just used that!

So no reason not to make these.. you will love them, and once you make them once, you’ll find them so easy and so tasty they will be a regular part of your snack artillery.

 

 

Chantrelles & Moma Cows

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The garden is finally frosting and getting ready for a long winters rest. I have lots of work to do to clean up the beds and do some due diligence work to keep spring couch grass at bay. The garlic is getting planted tomorrow in a deep dark bed of soil from my first Kootenay compost pile! Currently I am drowning in grapes so I am going to attempt a batch of grape juice tomorrow, I had hoped to dry some and make raisins except the grapes I am flush with right now are seeded and after removing seeds from a few I decided juice would be more fun to make.

While I write this I am drinking the most delicious cup of tea ever, made with creamy delicious milk from the glowing mommy cow you see above. It doesn’t get much closer to your local food source than a gift of fresh milk 😉

Last night I whipped up a small batch of yellow pickled beets, which are sure to be my last pickles of the year.I couldn’t resist buying 10 lbs from a no spray farm we visited in Chilliwak last week, they were $2 a bag! I really love the recipe I am using for pickling beets which includes vinegar, apple cider vinegar, honey and cinnamon sticks, yum!

Mia came home from school today with a lovely little selection of Chanterelle mushrooms, as her class did a mushroom walk with the same biologist who taught our excursion 2 weeks ago.  So I did an Asian inspired stir fry of Chanterelles with tofu and pumpkin seeds on a bed of brown basmati rice for dinner tonight that was pretty divine if I do say so. (recipe below)

Corngetti & Bean Balls

This dinner was picture perfect spaghetti and meat balls, only batter. It was Wheat Free, Vegan, and totally guilt free.

When I made the below barley beet and bean burgers I set aside about 1/3 of the batch which yielded about 10-12 patties total. The portion I didn’t turn into patties I rolled into little bit size “meat”balls  which I browned for dinner last night.  Dinner came together in about 15 minutes and was super easy. I started with 1/2 of a red onion and a few cloves of garlic diced and browned, simmer this with a can of tomatoes, whole stewed if you like your sauce chunky or crushed if you like it a little smoother. * I can’t wait to savor the first tomatoes from the garden this year! anyways as for garden goodie these day I had a bunch of basil and some parsley so I diced this up and added it to the simple sauce along with a pinch of S+P and a squeeze of lemon. In a separate pan (or the sauce pan if you want to do the meatballs first; simply brown the formed and refrigerated balls in olive oil slowly, rolling them around often to evenly brown all sides. Boil a package of Organic corn spaghetti toss it all together and top with more fresh herbs! Viola.