My Other True Love

I have a MAJOR thing for soup. Everyone talks about the winter months being "soup season," but let's be honest...soup is fantastic 365 days of the year, if you ask me.

Which, obviously, you did. Or something.

Regardless of your opinion on the seasonal appeal of soup, the fact that it's December means that everyone should be cozying up to a bowl of warm, liquid perfection. I recently found two recipes that blew me away, and I had to share them with you. Bonus - they're both from the same website (Vegangela), which I will now be obsessively stalking. Girl's got talent!

First up was the Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. Until last week, I hadn't found a good recipe for butternut squash soup (most are too sweet for me). This one balances the sweetness of the squash with some tropical ingredients and there is so. much. flavor. in every bite. B even loved it, and he hates every ingredient on an individual basis. Note: I left out the coriander and cilantro because I was out of both. I also didn't use a jalapeno because I was lazy.

I tried the Roasted Fresh Tomato Soup the very next day. I had bought a ton of tomatoes at the grocery store for some reason and needed to use them up, stat! I eat approximately 1 tomato a month, so I don't know why I felt compelled to buy a pack of 9. Brilliant. But, obviously, it worked out.
I once again omitted the fresh herbs for this recipe. I also think I added a hair too much salt :( Don't get me wrong, it was still delicious, but the roasted veggies should really be the stars of the show here.

Let me know if you try out either of these awesome recipes! I still have a small container of the tomato soup sitting in my freezer, I'm trying to save it until I can get some more tomatoes and restock.

Have a happy Friday!

Holy Cheeseplosion, Batman!

Have you guys heard of the site called Pintester? No, not Pinterest....PinTESTER. This girl tries out popular ideas found on Pinterest to show you if they work or if they're a giant fail. She's HILARIOUS. But seriously - don't take my word for it - go read about the soap clouds.

Anyway, last night B and I were inspired by a pin about baked mozzarella cheese bites. Basically, you just (1) take a piece of string cheese, (2) cut it into cubes, (3) dunk the cubes in milk and roll in breadcrumbs (4) bake. Easy peasy, and we had all of the, uh, "ingredients" on hand.

Inspiration: *

 

Our sad little attempt: 

As Pintester would say.... "nailed it."

As ugly as they look, we devoured the whole pan. Warm, melty cheese is never a bad thing, although I think next time I'll just stick a cube of cheddar in the microwave and call it a day. 

*Original picture and recipe come from Abby at Never Trust a Skinny Cook. She DOES offer tips about how to keep your cheese balls from melting/expanding/exploding in the oven...we just didn't see them until it was too late. 

Drunken Veggie Chili

I love to cook and I love to alter other people's recipes, but I rarely come up with anything on my own. This recipe, though? All mine. It actually happened by accident: B had a chili cookoff at work and, procrastinators that we are, we didn't even try to think of a plan until the night before. We threw a bunch of stuff in a pot and it worked like a charm. Chances of that ever working out again: 0%.

Ingredients: 

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1.5 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cans (15oz each) diced tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp light brown sugar 
• 1 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 cup APA beer (we used Schlafly) 
• 3 cans (15oz each) of beans (we used kidney, pinto, and black beans)
• 2 cups water (plus or minus)
• Optional: shredded mozzarella cheese and Greek yogurt.*

Directions: 

1. Warm olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. 
2. Add onions, garlic, and bell peppers. Let saute until just short of caramelized, about 5 minutes. 
3. Add chili powder and red pepper flakes, let cook for another minute. 
4. Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, brown sugar, salt, pepper, beer, beans, and enough water to reach desired thickness (we used around 2 cups). Bring chili to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the beans are tender, about 30 minutes. 
5. Serve with mozzarella and a dollop of Greek yogurt. 
6. Optional: refrigerate overnight to thicken. Reheat next day. Win cookoff. 

We used McCormick Chipotle Chili Pepper instead of regular chili powder. It's amazing and a little spicy. Use regular chili powder or a mixture of the two if you're worried about the heat.

If I'm not crying, gasping, and choking, then it's not hot enough

Full disclosure: I hate beer. Luckily, the alcohol cooks off so the beer just adds a nice deep flavor that is so often missing from vegetarian chili. My first attempt at a meatless chili (from a real recipe, even!) tasted like chewy, barely-spiced beans...not good when you want a warm, comforting bowl of yum.

Do you want a picture of the finished product? Let me answer that question with a question. Have you ever tried to make a bowl of chili look appetizing in a picture taken at 8PM with an iPhone? (Hint: it's impossible)

What's your favorite recipe, vegetarian or otherwise?  I have too many to choose from (I know, that's a cop out)
Do you like spicy foods? YES. I have yet to meet a buffalo wing that is hot enough for me, much less too hot.

*Note that this recipe is vegan if you don't serve it with cheese and yogurt and pick your beer carefully.