Black Bean Chili

This really is my favorite chili. I used to make it meatless, but my family likes it better with ground turkey added.

2 cups cooked black beans (or 4 cups if making meatless)
1/2 lb. ground turkey
2 Tbsp cumin seed
1 tsp dried sage or 2 sage leaves
1 Tbsp oregano
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped bottled jalapeno slices
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 lg can diced or crushed tomatoes

Roast cumin, sage, and oregano in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Heat oil and add onion, garlic, green pepper, and toasted spices. Cook until onions are soft. Add ground turkey, if using, and brown. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, beans, 1 cup of bean cooking liquid, and remaining spices.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes, adding liquid if needed.

Menu Plan Monday – Week of 9/21/2009

It’s officially autumn, so I decided to have a pumpkin dish this week. We have canned pumpkin in the cabinet and I think we may still have some frozen pumpkin from last winter in the freezer. Some of the farmer’s markets near me have pumpkins already, but sugar pumpkin and squash season should be in full swing shortly.

I’ve been making preserved lemons on the counter, so I decided to use them this past Sunday in Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Olives. It normally would be an expensive dish, but we had all of the ingredients in the cabinet, and it was really tasty. With chicken on super sale, I think it cost us about $4. (Of course, I suppose I will want to replace that saffron eventually, but we have saffron to use in special dishes and only use it once in a while, so you have to use it up before it goes bad, right?)

Here’s this week’s meals:

Monday – Leftover chili over spelt tortillas/tortilla chips with fried eggs on top (had some eggs to use up, got some tortilla chips from a party this weekend)

Tuesday – Thai Chicken Fettucine (subbing sunflower seed butter for peanut butter)

Wednesday – Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries (inspired by free menu plan by Heart of Cooking, although I have my own recipe for sweet potato fries)

Thursday – Crockpot Chicken Makhani (this has become our staple crockpot meal, since it’s easy and tasty and cheap)

Friday – Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce

I think that we will have burritos on Saturday and Peanut Butter Chicken on Sunday, but that is still up in the air. We like to plan our weekend meals on the weekend, since that’s when we do our shopping.

Menu Plan Monday – Week of 9/14/09

Monday – Spaghetti and Meatballs

Tuesday – Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Lime Chicken

Wednesday – Black Bean Chili

Thursday – Puerto Rican Rice with Ham

Friday – Chicken Basil Pasta

Kale and Rice Casserole

All summer long, we have been able to get kale at the farmer’s market. It is one of my favorite vegetables, although my family needs it disguised in order to like it. The original recipe came from The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook: Whole Foods To Nourish Pregnant And Breastfeeding Women – And Their Families, but I’ve changed it up quite a bit.

4 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups kale, cut off stems and cut into ribbons
1 1/4 cups goat milk or non-dairy milk
3 eggs
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tsp dill
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tomato, sliced
paprika

Grease 2 quart baking dish. Heat oven to 375. Mix kale and rice and put into baking dish. Beat together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, nutritional yeast flakes, and dill. Pour over kale/rice mixture. Top with chopped walnuts and then tomato slices. Sprinkle paprika liberally over the top. Bake for 40 minutes.

Kale and Tomato Crustless Quiche

I bought a huge box of tomatoes at the farmer’s market to can over the long weekend. A few tomatoes were too bruised/squishy to use in canning safely (at least in my opinion), so I needed to come up with a use for them. We also had a lot of eggs, because they were on sale this week, so I bumped one of the other meals to next week and made this instead.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 bunch kale, cut off stems and into ribbons (about 2 cups, you can use less)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tomatoes, diced
5 eggs
1/2 cup goat milk
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
2 oz. goat or sheep feta

Saute kale and garlic in olive oil. Put into greased 9″ pie or quiche pan. Add tomatoes. Beat eggs until frothy, add milk and spices. Pour over vegetables. Crumble feta on the top.

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.

Serve with brown rice and salad.

Scrumptious Sesame Spelt Hamburger Buns

These are based on my favorite wheat hamburger buns back from when I ate wheat. They do have egg in them, but they are just as good as any wheat buns.

1/2 cup warm water (a little more if needed)
1 Tbsp instant yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 1/2 cups white spelt flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
—-
For topping:
1 egg
2-3 Tbsp sesame seeds

Mix yeast, honey, and water. Add egg, olive oil, flour, and salt. Mix and knead gently (you need to be careful not to over-knead spelt). Cover and let rise for one hour.

Divide into 8 pieces. Form them into balls, and then flatten into circles, about 1 inch high and 3 inches in diameter. Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise for around 1 hour.

Beat together 1 egg and 1 Tbsp water. Brush rolls with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until tops are golden but bottoms are not overly browned.

Menu Plan Monday- Week of 9/7/09

Monday – Tofu stirfry

Tuesday – Tuna Pasta (we didn’t have this last week)

Wednesday – Double Broccoli Quinoa

Thursday – Split Pea Soup

Friday – Ham & Lima Bean Casserole (from The Big Book of Casseroles: 250 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food)

Chicken Basil Pasta

We had leftover chicken that needed to be used, so I invented this dish. It was really good.

3 cloves garlic
3 sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped
1-2 Tbsp oil from sundried tomatoes or olive oil
Around 1 cup leftover cooked chicken (you could use more if you have it)
Handful of fresh basil, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2-1 cup soft goat cheese
8 oz Tinkyada brown rice pasta (penne, spirals, etc.)

Cook pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile, mince garlic. Saute in the oil. Add chicken,sundried tomatoes, and fresh tomatoes. When tomatoes are softened and chicken is heated, mix in goat cheese. (You could leave it out if you can’t have goat dairy; I would use more oil in that case). Stir until cheese has melted and combined with the other ingredients. Add basil. Toss the chicken/sauce mixture with the pasta, and serve.