The Work From Home Salad

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After working from home for about 6 months now, I’ve needed to come up with quick, easy lunches for days that I’m either feeling really lazy to make lunch; don’t have leftovers to eat; or don’t have time to make something. Six months later… I have a go-to WFH lunch salad. The salad really is made by the dressing, which comes together really quickly and really only requires one spoon to make (less dishes!). The dressing always stays the same, while the contents of the salad will always change based on what’s currently available in my fridge.

Ingredients

Tahini – this is the base that makes a creamy dressing!

Sesame oil – this makes the dressing so fragrant and complements the tahini so well

Salad – i like a crunchy romaine, but feel free to use whatever base green you prefer like iceberg, red/green leaf lettuce, butter, kale, etc. other fun additions would be cucumber, bell peppers, roasted vegetables and nuts.

Protein – i opted for a veggie protein substitute, but this salad would be great with any protein of choice like air-fried tofu, chicken, shrimp, or steak.

dressing
onions
avocado
salad
shake!

Work From Home Salad

Print Recipe
This creamy sesame dressing is fast and easy, the perfect accompaniment to your weekday lunch greens.
Course Salad
Keyword dressing, salad, sesame, tahini

Ingredients

Dressing

  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tsp tahini
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Salad

  • 1/2 head romaine lettuce
  • 1/4 cup onion
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 1/2 cup protein of choice

Instructions

  • In a large container with a lid, mix together all of the salad dressing ingredients. Taste and add additional salt if necessary.
  • Chop onion to desired size and add to dressing. Mix into the dressing to "marinate" the onion in the dressing.
  • Chop romaine lettuce into bite sized chunks and add to container.
  • Chop avocado and add to container.
  • Add protein of choice.
  • Attach lid to container and shake to toss the salad and disperse the dressing!

Try this salad alongside a pizza using Pizza Dough or with Shrimp & Snap Pea Stir Fry.

Lasagna

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Holidays were easy in terms of food preparation requirements this year. Each person was instructed to bring an item to share so really each person only had to make one thing! I’m an overachiever that likes leftovers so I made 3.25. I will take credit for 1/4 of this lasagna for contributing to the sauce and being an assembler during layering. This lasagna is saucy from the homemade tomato sauce and ricotta spread, has a good cheese pull from layers of extra cheese, and crispy edges so the center will satisfy your soft-lasagna people and the edges will satisfy your crispy-lasagna people.

We made two lasagnas. The first lasagna was a “classic” spicy Italian sauce and the second lasagna was a vegetarian one with mushroom as our filling. Depending on the size of your dish, you may need to break some of your lasagna noodles. If you use a 9 x 13 dish, you will not need to break any noodles!

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce – use your favorite but I like to make my own by further reducing my Tomato Basil Soup.

Protein – I would suggest a spicy Italian sausage for this if you’d like some meat, but it’s also really delicious with a variety of mushrooms (morel, button, chanterelle) and if you’re feeling adventurous, some olives!

Cheese – I like using a combination of mozzarella, monterey jack, and parmesan.

sauce the bottom
spread
start 1st layer!
sauce
ricotta
mushroom/protein
cheese
2nd layer & repeat
bake

Lasagna

Print Recipe
Cheesy, saucy lasagna with a gooey center and crispy edges to satisfy any lasagna lover.
Course Main Course
Keyword lasagna, pasta
Cook Time 45 minutes

Equipment

  • 9×13 baking dish

Ingredients

  • 32 ounces tomato sauce
  • 16 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
  • 8 ounces monterey jack cheese shredded
  • 8 ounces Parmesan cheese shredded
  • 9 sheets lasagna noodles
  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 lb Italian sausage cooked

Instructions

  • Par cook your lasagna noodles just a few minutes shy of the required cooking time on the box. Ensure your noodles are in salted water and stir every minute to ensure they do not stick.
  • If Italian sausage has not been cooked yet, saute until browned and broken into smaller pieces. Remove from any casing if required.
  • While noodles are cooking, make your ricotta mixture by mixing together ricotta, egg, and Italian seasoning.
  • Mix your mozzarella, monterey jack, and parmesan cheeses together.
  • Now that your ingredients are prepped, it is time to assemble!
  • At the bottom on the dish, add about 1 cup of sauce and spread.
  • Next, layer 3 cooked lasagna, 1 cup of sauce, and half of ricotta cheese mixture. Sprinkle about 1 cup of cheese and half of the sausage.
  • Repeat another layer of pasta, sauce, ricotta cheese, cheese mix, and sausage. You will have used up all of the ricotta cheese and sausage mix.
  • On the last layer, place your last 3 lasagna noodles on top of the mix, spread the remaining sauce and layer the top with remaining cheese.
  • Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly. If You may need to place a sheet tray under your baking dish in case any cheese bubbles over.
  • Let cool about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Try some other pasta recipes like Creamy Morel Mushroom Pasta or Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta.

How to Roll an Egg Roll

Posted on by Amanda 2 Comments

Being home for the holidays means being put to work by my mother and bulk rolling a batch of almost 200 egg rolls to fry, eat the day of, and then freeze the rest for easy reheating for the next couple months. Call them what you want: egg roll, spring roll, crispy roll, lumpia, etc; everyone has a special way they like to make theirs. They all consist of some kind of flavored and spiced filling with a wrapper that is deep fried. I’ve made egg rolls with friends and other family before, but I think this method is the best method for making a “full-sized” egg roll.

The filling is fully encased in the wrapper, ensuring that none of the contents spill out. This also reduces the amount of little bits that get broken off or end up staying in the oil that end up burning. A bit of egg wash helps keep the egg roll together, ensuring a tight seal and a tight roll. A tight roll reduces the amount of oil absorption too!

Everyone has their own filling recipe, but most people don’t make their own wrapper. It’s so much effort to make a wrapper that’s paper thin, not sticky, and cut them all to the exact same size. I channel my inner-Ina Garten, and just buy the wrappers. I recommend the Menlo wrappers for the crispiest texture I’ve found so far!

If you can, I recommend finding an assistant that will help you peel the egg roll layers apart, as it makes the process much faster!

wrappers
lay it out
add filling
fold up
fold sides
roll forward
egg wash
finish roll
done!

Steps

  1. Unroll your first wrapper and place on your plate with a point facing you.
  2. Scoop about 2 tbsp of filling onto the lower third of wrapper in a log shape.
  3. Fold the bottom corner forward all the way over the filling.
  4. Fold in the left and right sides, tight against the filling.
  5. From the filling, roll the egg roll forward.
  6. Once the roll is almost to the egg, stop and dab a bit of egg white on the top corner to seal it together.
  7. Finish the roll!

Not feeling crispy? Try Homemade Dumpling Wrappers & Dumpling Folding Guidance

Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

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I’ve exhausted my pumpkin resources for the year, so this will (sadly) most likely be the last pumpkin recipe for a while. Might as well end it on something big and extravagant like a multi-layer pumpkin cake! There’s a restaurant near me that have serve absolutely massive cakes. Definitely something straight from Matilda. They’re two layers and just so impressive. Each cake layer has got to be at least 4 inches, so the cake with the frosting pushes a full foot in height. I don’t have the cake pans to make a cake 4 inches thick and 2 feet in diameter (and it’s probably a a good thing that I cannot make a cake that large, who would eat it all?). For a normal sized gathering, my cake is much more reasonably sized.

Ingredients

Pumpkin – I like using fresh pumpkin! You can make your own using my recipe, Homemade Pumpkin Puree.

Sugar – This cake is not too sweet, just enough!

Oil – I use vegetable oil in this recipe. It’s much easier to mix into a batter and makes a really moist batter. Also can I say it’s slightly healthier than butter?

mix liquids
add flour
add fillings!
walnuts
layer
top it off

Pumpkin Walnut Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Print Recipe
A semi-fancy cake for any fall gathering.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, chocolate, hazelnut, pumpkin, walnut

Equipment

  • 2 cake pans 10-inch

Ingredients

Cake

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1.5 cups oil
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp clove
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 3.5 cups flour all-purpose
  • 3 tsp baking soda

Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Other toppings

  • 1 cup hazelnut spread
  • 1 cup walnuts toasted

Instructions

  • Mix together eggs, sugars, salt, oil, pumpkin and baking spices until well combined.
  • After no lumps remain, add all-purpose flour and baking powder, mixing until just combined.
  • Spray baking pans with non-stick spray and evenly distribute batter into pans.
  • Bake at 350F for ~45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • If baking ahead, the cakes can be removed from the pans, wrapped in plastic, and then placed in the freezer for easier handling when it's time to assemble. Do not assemble the cake until the cake layers have been fully cooled.
  • To make the whipped cream, add the heavy cream, salt and sugar to a mixer or mix by hand until stiff peaks are achieved.
  • Assemble the cake in the following order:
    1st layer of cake, hazelnut spread, half of the toasted walnuts, half of the whipped cream, 2nd layer of cake, rest of the whipped cream, and rest of the walnuts
  • Keep refrigerated until time to serve.

Some other pumpkin recipes: Pumpkin Basque Burnt Cheesecake and Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars.

Sourdough

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Temperatures have dropped so I am much more willing to turn on my oven to blasting 400F+ temps. My sourdough starter has been revived from the depth of my freezer where it has been hibernating in the summer. When it gets cold, I bake sourdough (almost) every day. The oven just helps warm up the kitchen! With holiday parties coming, I find a loaf of sourdough with (don’t you dare think butter board) some flavored olive oil, a balsamic glaze, aioli and maybe a little pate is perfect to bring with a bottle of wine. I’ll share my sourdough feeding schedule, daily prep, and baking that has resulted in some fluffy loaves with a crispy crunchy crust that’s so yummy to snack on.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour – This is a purposely very simple bread recipe that uses AP flour. If you are going to use a different type of flour, I would NOT recommend this recipe as the feeding schedule may differ and steps might be rearranged (such as autolyzing). Basically, only use this method if you are making loaves with AP flour. 🙂

bubbly starter
add starter to water
floating
mix + salt
add flour
it will look blobby
fold throughout the day
pull out to in
shape

Schedule:

Once I’ve started on my sourdough schedule, I end up consolidating all the steps into one day so that I can continuously have fresh starter and be able to bake a loaf of sourdough each day.

Day 1

Evening before, 7-9 PM: feed sourdough start with 35 g bread flour & 35 g room temp water

Day 2

Next morning, 6-9 AM: make dough, recipe below, allow to rest at room temp in the same mixing bowl throughout the day

Throughout the day: give the dough a couple folds here and there when you have chance, no big deal if you can’t

Evening, 7-9 PM: move dough into banneton or towel lined bowl & leave in refrigerator

Day 3

Next day, one hour before baking: Remove from refrigerator and allow to come back to room temp

Bake!

Sourdough

Print Recipe
An easy, passive sourdough recipe that only requires all-purpose flour, salt, water, and starter.
Keyword bread, sourdough

Equipment

  • 1 dutch oven

Ingredients

  • 330 grams water
  • 70 grams sourdough starter bubbly
  • 12 grams salt
  • 500 grams all-purpose flour

Instructions

  • In a bowl, mix together water and sourdough starter. Starter should be floating in the water, indicating it is the most active and will give you the most lift for your bread.
  • After mixed, add salt and mix again.
  • Add flour and mix until combined.
  • Cover with a dish towel and give it a few folds throughout the day if possible.
  • Transfer to banneton or towel-lined bowl.
  • When ready to bake, transfer to a parchment lined dutch oven.
  • Preheat oven to 425F. When ready, put loaf in dutch oven with lid on for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove lid and bake for an additional 40 minutes, until golden brown on the top.
  • Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting into the loaf.

Leftover sourdough? Use it in Bread Pudding or Cheesy Egg Strata.

Pumpkin Basque Burnt Cheesecake

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November is over, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop cooking with pumpkin (in my opinion, it’s not even really the “pumpkin” you taste, it’s just the combination of spices)! If Starbucks has the pumpkin spice latte running until the new year, I’m going to keep pumpkin around. Costco even has their signature pumpkin pies through Christmas at least. The holiday season seems to really focus on pies, but what about cheesecake? Specifically pumpkin cheesecake! Most cheesecakes take way too much time, requiring the graham cracker crust, a water bath, and God forbid your cheesecake have a crack on top. That’s why I opt for a Basque-style cheesecake, with a roasty toasty top that’s just so beautiful when you peel back the parchment paper layers.

Ingredients

Pumpkin – I use fresh pumpkin, but feel free to use whatever is easier! Learn how to make Homemade Pumpkin Puree.

Cream cheese – This recipe is not healthy. It’s the holidays. 🙂

Eggs – These really give the cheesecake the puff!

Sugar – I think this is the minimum amount of sugar you could use, otherwise the cheesecake will start being more savory and even approaching bland.

cream cheese/sugar
pumpkin
eggs
heavy cream & spices
flour
bake!

Pumpkin Basque Burnt Cheesecake

Print Recipe

Equipment

  • 1 12 in spring form pan
  • parchment paper

Ingredients

  • 1.5 pounds cream cheese room temp
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp clove
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

  • In a mixer, add cream cheese and sugar and beat with paddle until smooth.
  • While mixing, snap springform pan together. Rip a sheet of parchment to cover bottom and the sides, folding the extra parchment that covers the sides of the pans. If your sheet of parchment is not big enough, use more parchment, overlapping the sheets.
  • Once cream cheese and sugar are well-combined. Add pumpkin and continue mixing.
  • Stop mixer to scrape bowl and paddle. Continue mixing.
  • Add eggs one at a time, waiting until each egg has been fully incorporated before adding the next.
  • Stop mixer to scrape bowl and paddle. Continue mixing.
  • Mix salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger into heavy cream. Pour heavy cream mixture into the mixer.
  • While mixer is running, add flour and mix again for ~10 more seconds.
  • Stop mixer and finish mixing by hand until flour is gone.
  • Pour into parchment lined spring form pan. Bake at 400F for ~60 minutes in the middle rack. Tent with foil if top starts browning too quickly.
  • Remove from the oven after baking. The top should be a deep, golden brown and cheesecake should be puffy and jiggly. It will fall as it cools.
  • Serve at room temp!

Try other pumpkin desserts: Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread, Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars,

Honey Soy Vegetable Stir Fry

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In order to prepare for all of the unhealthy eating next week, I needed to cleanse with a healthy, fibrous vegetable stir fry before it turns into exclusively protein, carbs, sugar, and wine. The greens of summer are slowly disappearing, so I’m taking advantage of the fresh vegetables before it gets too cold. The base of this recipe really is just the sauce that is used at the end to coat the vegetables and give them some extra flavor, so the vegetables can easily be swapped with your personal favorites.

Ingredients

Vegetables – I used a mix of broccoli, eggplant, and peppers. Feel free to use whatever you like! Only use broccoli if you only like broccoli, or add different vegetables like celery, onions, bokchoy, or cabbage.

Sauce – Half, double, or triple the sauce quantity if you’re extra saucy or if you’re just making a smaller quantity of vegetables.

baby eggplants
peppers
simmery saucy

Honey Soy Vegetable Stir Fry

Print Recipe
A quick stir-fry to throw on a bed of rice.
Course Side Dish
Keyword honey, soy sauce, stir fry, vegetable

Equipment

  • 1 large pan

Ingredients

  • 1 clove garlic sliced
  • 3 pounds assorted vegetables cut in approximately the same size
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp corn starch
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

  • Wash and clean your vegetables, ensuring they are cut all to about the same size.
  • Heat up a large pan with a splash of oil on high.
  • When oil is shimmering, add vegetables to the pan. Do not move for 1 minute to sear.
  • After 1 minute, add sliced garlic and stir. Turn stove down to medium.
  • Allow vegetables to continue cooking for 5 more minutes. While cooking, mix together soy sauce, honey, and cornstarch.
  • Add the sauce and stir. Allow to keep cooking until sauce has just simmered and thickened.
  • Remove from heat and enjoy!

Try another Shrimp & Snap Pea Stir Fry!

Balance the healthy vegetables with a healthy vegetable dessert like Zucchini Bread.

Shrimp Cocktail

Posted on by Amanda Leave a comment

We’re entering holiday season and that usually entails potlucks, gatherings, entertaining, and most importantly, lots of tasty food! Before the main course is served, I always find myself snacking on something like a charcuterie board or some bread & butter (butter board, anyone?). Another app-y snack that I find can be overlooked during holiday season that is SO EASY to make is shrimp cocktail. A snappy shrimp in a tangy, sharp cocktail sauce helps break up the heaviness of a holiday meal and also clears out your sinuses.

Ingredients

Shrimp – I buy frozen, farmed, shell-on Vannamei shrimp that I shell and de-vein at home. I like taking the shells to make a shrimp stock to use for a sipping broth or to use in a soup. If you don’t have time for shelling/deveining, feel free to buy shelled and cleaned shrimp. I recommend buying raw shrimp that you can cook yourself. Sometimes the pre-cooked shrimp at the grocery store end up a little mushy. I also use 21-25 count shrimp, meaning that there are 21-25 shrimp in a pound. These shrimp are on the larger side to hold maximum cocktail sauce, without requiring a second dip.

Cocktail sauce – I think the best part of this recipe is the cocktail sauce, since you can customize how sharp and zingy the horseradish is. If you’re in a pinch, feel free to purchase some cocktail sauce to serve on the side.

cocktail sauce
arrange your shrimp
dip!

Shrimp Cocktail

Print Recipe
Snappy shrimp dipped in a zingy, horseradish-y cocktail sauce are a perfect appetizer for any season.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Keyword cocktail, shrimp

Ingredients

Shrimp

  • 2 lbs shrimp 21-25 count
  • salt

Cocktail Sauce

  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 2 tsp horseradish cream
  • 1/4 tsp soy sauce

Instructions

  • If not already done, shell and devein your shrimp, keeping the tails on. Set aside.
  • Set a pot with 8 cups of water to boil with 1 tbsp of salt.
  • While water is boiling, make the cocktail sauce! Mix together ketchup, horseradish, and soy sauce. Feel free to use more or less horseradish depending on your tastes. Refrigerate.
  • When water has come to a boil, add shrimp and gently stir to ensure all shrimp are submerged.
  • Boil for on medium heat for about 3 minutes until shrimp are pink and cooked through. Prepare bowl of ice water.
  • Immediately transfer to bowl of ice water to stop shrimp from cooking.
  • Drain shrimp and pat dry to prevent shrimp from getting mushy. Transfer to another container and put in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
  • Remove cocktail sauce and shrimp from refrigerator, arrange as desired, and serve!

Have some other holiday sides like Honey Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Posted on by Amanda Leave a comment

November = Thanksgiving and at Thanksgiving you have to have mashed potatoes. Many will argue that Thanksgiving has to have turkey, but I grew up a turkey hater (until I had a deep fried turkey) so I understand their perspective. The Thanksgiving turkey can easily be substituted for a Thanksgiving ham or a Thanksgiving roast. Regardless of the main protein (you can even have a tofurkey!), I find that mashed potatoes is always on the menu.

I like mashed potatoes that are creamy, but they still have to have some texture/resemblance of it’s original potato form. Hand mashing a potato gives you a smooth potato, with the perfect chunk, and additions of sour cream, cream cheese, and heavy cream give a little acidity and creaminess that keeps you reaching for more!

Ingredients

Potatoes – I used a mix of Yukon gold and red potatoes to add to the texture difference. If you want a smoother, creamier mash, I would only use the Yukon gold.

Dairy – The sour cream gives the potatoes a distinct tang, the cream cheese adds a really nice creaminess, and the heavy cream helps thin out the potatoes so the mash isn’t too chunky. If you don’t like sour cream or cream cheese, substitute with an equal portion of heavy cream.

Dill – I like dill to add some freshness, but if you would prefer something else, I’d recommend some green onions or chives to finish your potatoes.

chopped & soasking
boiled
add dairy

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Print Recipe
Course Side Dish
Keyword mashed, potatoes

Equipment

  • potato masher

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds potatoes
  • 1 tbsp salt + extra
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp dill
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

  • Peel potatoes and cut into golf ball sized chunks. Keep them approximately the same size as each other. Put cut potato chunks to soak in water to rinse starch and prevent oxidation.
  • In a pot of boiling water, add 1 tbsp of salt and cut and peeled potatoes.
  • Boil for 15-20 minutes until a knife passes through the potatoes cleanly.
  • Strain potatoes from water and return to warm pot. The warm pot will evaporate any remaining liquid on the potatoes.
  • Mash potatoes alone until they are broken up into smaller chunks.
  • Add sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, and black pepper and continue mashing until desired texture is observed.
  • Taste and add more salt as needed.
  • Stir in one teaspoon of fresh chopped dill and serve!

Need inspiration for more sides? Try Honey Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Pesto Roasted Potatoes.

Cozy Chili

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It’s like the weather flipped a switch! Really, it was 70F one day and the next, dropped to 50F. Pretty rude, but I guess with less than a week left of October, it was time for fall to truly set in. Fresh beans are out of the season with their pods all dried out. I got some fresh plucked beans from my CSA (are these fresh, dry beans?), there was leftover tomato sauce from the homemade tomato sauce used for the Zucchini Parm Lasagna, and I had a few peppers starting to wrinkle. With the chilly weather & these ingredients, I wanted something hot and cozy and fall? I think that means chili.

Ingredients

Beans – Use any beans you would like. When I have a lot of dry beans and I’m feeling especially beany, I’ll cook off a large batch and then freeze the cooked beans to use in future recipes. These beans can also be substituted for canned beans. In chili, no one will ever know.

Tomato sauce – I had some extra tomato sauce from the last batch of fresh tomatoes from the farm. My tomato sauce was flavored only with onions, garlic, and salt, but you can use any canned or jarred tomato from the grocery store. If using plain canned crushed tomatoes, more salt may need to be added.

Protein – I wanted to keep my chili veggie friendly, so I used a soy protein alternative. Use whatever you like! Some good options might be ground pork, beef, chicken, or even Italian sausage or seitan chunks.

sauté onions & peppers
add sauce & beans
return protein

Cozy Chili

Print Recipe
A warm and hearty chili that can be easily made vegetarian or vegan.
Course Main Course, Soup
Keyword chili, vegan, vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 1 pound protein
  • 1 yellow onion diced
  • 2 bell peppers any color, diced
  • 30 ounces cooked beans any kind
  • 32 ounces tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
  • 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • salt & pepper

Instructions

  • In a heavy pot, cook ground protein until browned, breaking up into smaller pieces. After mostly browned, removed from the pot. It's ok if it's not fully cooked yet, it'll finish cooking later.
  • Lower heat to medium, and add some oil to the pot, and sauté onions and peppers with a pinch of salt until softened. Scrape bottom of the pot to loosen any brown bits from the protein.
  • After onions & pepper are soft, add the beans, tomato sauce, Cajun seasoning, cumin, chipotle chili powder, bay leaves, and garlic powder. Stir until combined.
  • Continue cooking on low until mixture starts to simmer. Return protein to the pot and cover. Simmer for another 30 minutes – 1 hour.
  • After simmering, add additional water, salt, or pepper to thin the chili to your desired consistency and season to your preference. Enjoy!

Some other soups that are lovely for fall include Tomato Basil Soup, Pumpkin Soup, and Chicken & Napa Cabbage Soup. Stay warm! <3