F---ing Amazing Vegan Chili (and updates)

Hello! My golly-gosh I have not maintained this blog since June! I've actually been busy traveling and working during the summer and have not has enough time to make anything worthwhile in the kitchen! But alas, autumn is arriving soon and my schedule/routine has now settled enough for me to get back into the kitchen and experiment!
During the last week of  August, my family and boyfriend took a week-long trip to the Florida and a two-day cruise to the Bahamas. In Florida, we went to Disney World and my boyfriend grabbed a Chili cheese dog due to a tradition that ran in his family. The dish, though it looked greatly unhealthy, smelled really good and according to him, "didn't taste bad either".
Well, lo-and-behold, I had a sudden craving for a chili cheese dog, even though I was never a fan of chili or hot dogs. I blame it on the spices and my love for cheese.

Anyways, I concocted a hearty vegan chili recipe to go with my vegetarian hot dogs. Heck, I also smothered it on top of beef sausages for the rest of my family who are meat-eaters. Needless to say, the chili was fucking amazing.

My method of making the chili was a very lengthy process because I used dried kidney beans, so the soaking and cooking process took around 10 hours in my slow cooker. I also used tomatoes I harvested in my garden, so the blanching, peeling and dicing process took a while. Of course, you can always use a can of diced tomatoes and beans
What makes this chili so "fucking amazing" is the charred pepper coulis, which is the pureed or strained flesh of the peppers. What makes it special is how I char the peppers prior to blending which naturally enhances  that sweet, smoky and spicy flavor. This is then added to the chili and mingles with the existing flavors of the dried spices n' herbs. Delicious!

   

F---ing Amazing Vegan Chili 

2 Jalapeno peppers, charred or Chipotle peppers in oil
1 red sweet pepper, dice half and char other half
1 yellow sweet pepper, dice half and char other half (optional)
1 green sweet pepper, dice half and char other half (optional)

Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
half a white onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 packages Yves veggie ground*

1 tsp dried marjoram 
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
 4 stalks of celery, diced (optional)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups kidney beans with juice

Cilantro and sour cream to garnish (optional)

*You can also used coarsely crushed raw walnuts, whole raw cashews or crumbled extra firm tofu.

Remove the charred skin off the peppers and slice the flesh away to remove seeds (be careful when handling jalapenos). Place in a food processor or blender and blitz until a puree is formed. Set aside.

In a pot, heat olive oil and add in onions. Season with a bit of salt and sweat the onions until almost soft. Add in the garlic and cook until aromatic. Add in the diced peppers, remaining ingredients and the pepper puree. Simmer on low heat for around 10 minutes. If it is too thick, add 1/4 of water. If it is too runny, let simmer, uncovered until desired thickness. Season to taste.
Serve on fries, on a hot dog, or as is with garlic bread or tortilla chips.
I placed my chili in the slow cooker to keep warm so I could eat it the next day for lunch!

Beef Sausages for the rest of the family (I had Yves Veggie dogs)

 

Cream of Broccoli Soup

While I made the Rabbit and Mung Bean Congee for the family, I quickly made a creamy and vibrant broccoli soup for myself, using a recipe I adapted from Gordon Ramsay but turning it into a cream-of soup. So good. I flippin love Broccoli.

 

Rabbit and Mung Bean Congee (Viet Dish)

Before I was a vegetarian, approx. three years ago, I was in Vietnam one summer and my cousin and I dropped by a local congee/rice porridge street vendor and ordered some rabbit and mung bean congee. Since I had been a fan of gamey meats, the rabbit was right up my alley. The restaurant served piping hot congee topped with mung beans, minced rabbit meat, scallions and a vegetable that I cannot find here nor know what it is called. It is similar taro stems, an ingredient used to make the delicious Vietnamese Spicy and Sour Soup. Since I did not have that particular ingredient, I omitted it in my version of the dish.
The rabbit was purchased at a Chinese supermarket, frozen and creepy looking as heck. Thawed and unpackaged, it looked even worst hahaha! This was my first time ever cooking with rabbit so it was a little nervous but the thing was dead, so whatever hahaha. (God I am a bad vegetarian...)
Instead of mincing the meat like the street vendor did, I chopped the bunny up and seasoned it slightly before adding it to a pot of water to create a Bugs Bunny stock. I had toasted some rice in my conventional oven before adding it to the boiling pot to slowly cook and break down.
Mung beans are amazing and these little green pellets were given as a gift to me on my last trip to Vietnam. Mung beans are so versatile as an ingredient. They are used to make savory and sweet dishes as well as bean sprouts, providing a good source of fiber and protein.  I placed 1 1/2 cup into my slow cooker the night before so that they would be nice and tender the next day. As soon as the rice cooked down and the soup was getting thicker because of the starch, I drained the cooked mung beans and added them to the pot.
Served piping hot with sliced scallions and fresh ground black pepper.

Silly Rabbit...

Mung Beans (photo from the web)

 

Vegetarian Shepard's Pie

 

Yves' Original Veggie Ground is one of my favorite vegetarian protein alternatives. I use it in everything that calls for ground beef and it works.
I used this deliciousness in a yummy vegetarian Shepard's Pie, loaded with some simple vegetables and topped with Parmesan mashed potatoes. The recipe I included below can easily be made vegan with a few adjustments. Mmm, mmm, good!

Potato Topping
3 large russet potatoes or creamer potatoes, peeled, cleaned and cut into chunks
2 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter or olive oil
2 egg yolks (can be excluded for vegans, just add around 2 more tbsps of milk)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
5 tbsp milk or unsweetened diary-free milk (soy, almond, oat, etc.)

Place potato chunks into a pot and fill with enough water to submerge potatoes. Add in salt. Cook uncovered on high heat until potatoes are cooked and can be easily mashed against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Drain and reserve potato water if you would like to use it instead of veggie broth for the filling.
Mash while still hot until smooth, and stir in the remaining ingredients.

Mince Filling
1 tbsp olive oil
half an onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 packages of Yves Original Veggie Ground*
1/2 can of corn, drained**
2 carrots, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas

1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup veggie broth or reserved potato water
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add in garlic and onion, cooking until aromatic. Add in the veggie ground and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring to break up the chunks. Add in the veggies and stir to incorporate.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the soy sauce, cornstarch and veggie broth until combined. Stir into the mince filling and simmer on medium heat until it thickens slightly. Stir in thyme, rosemary and season to with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius.
In a casserole dish, press mince filling into the bottom of the dish and gently scoop and spread the potatoes on top. Sprinkle with 5 tbsp of Parmesan cheese (or bread crumbs) and fork the topping in criss-cross patterns.
Bake until topping turns golden brown and crispy.


*For anyone who do not have Yves or vegetarian ground where you live, 4 cups of crumbled extra firm tofu can be used as a substitute. Since tofu is bland, make sure to pat the tofu dry and season lightly after you crumble it (1 tsp paprika powder, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp water).

**For convenience, the vegetables in the filling can be substituted for frozen or canned mixed vegetables.

Quick and Easy Noodle Soup

My favorite type of comfort food is noodle soup, especially when it is freezing cold and I just got home with a frazzled brain due to an exam. This egg noodle soup that I whipped up used instant noodles that I found in my pantry, discarding the soup base packaging and cooking up my own soup stock using water, sesame oil, mushroom granules, salt, pepper, mushrooms and broccoli (or whatever vegetable you have in your fridge like carrots, bok choy, cauliflower, etc. or if need be, veggie stock). I found some frozen veggie bbq pork and I defrosted that to use as a toppingg, along with an egg, leek and fried onions.
All this took me 10 minutes. It`s my kind of fast, healthy, comfort food. No msg!