Chili & Cornbread

What??!! It's the last two weeks in May?! I blinked and where did the month go? I've been enjoying the cool mornings we've been having; not looking forward to the scorching summer I know is quickly approaching. 

I found these chili and cornbread recipes in Vegan Diner. Lots of yummy looking recipes I need to try out of here. 

2 cans of beans; I used a can of tri-bean (kidney, pinto, and black) and a can of pinto. 

The chili recipe calls for dark cocoa powder. I had some black cocoa (it smells like oreo cookies.) The "meat" is some TVP granules. The chili only simmers for 15 minutes. I didn't think that it had enough time to develop the flavors. It was not the best chili I have made but it will do. 

~ Quick and Hearty Chili ~

The cornbread recipe has whole corn and sliced green onions in it. I've made cornbread with green chilis but never green onions. I also bought some chipotle powder; I'm not too fond of chipotle peppers which I've tried before but I think I can handle the powder. The cornbread was a little "wet" for me and I didn't really care for the green onions in it either. 

 ~ Chipotle Scallion Double Cornbread ~

Chili & Cornbread 

I garnished the chili with some chopped cilantro and topped my cornbread with Earth Balance margarine and some BeeFree Honee. 

Hungry Jill Casserole

I really wanted to try this recipe from Cookin' Crunk because I loved the "Hungry Jack" version growing up. If you don't know what that is - ground beef, pork n' beans, cheese, and canned biscuits! There are a few steps before you can actually put this casserole in the oven. 

 Recipe for Ground TSP Beef. (I call it TVP-texturized vegetable protein) 

This makes a savory beef substitute rehydrating the TVP with water, soy sauce (Bragg's), vegan Worcestershire, and onion powder. I might make some and keep in the freezer. 

 I then made her recipe for Memphis-Style Barbecue Sauce. 

A tasty tangy, sweet flavor. 

 The next step is to make the biscuits for the topping and then combine the TVP, Great Northern beans, BBQ sauce and some other seasonings and top it with the cut biscuits and some Daiya cheddar. Finally, it cooks for 30 minutes! I made the barbeque sauce and Ground TSP Beef in the morning so it didn't take too long to put together for supper. 

~ Hungry Jill Casserole ~

A hearty casserole which the hubby loved. 

I still miss the original "hungry jack" version though. :(

White Bean & Collard Soup and Cornbread

I had a bunch of collard greens I needed to use and I'm always looking for new ways to cook them. I love collard greens! I found this soup recipe in Cookin' Crunk. She also suggested serving the Jalapeno-Corn Buttermilk Cornbread with it. 

I used my cast-iron skillet to bake the cornbread. It has chopped pickled jalapenos and corn in the batter. You make a "buttermilk" with soymilk and cider vinegar.  

 ~ Jalapeno-Corn Buttermilk Cornbread ~

Nice and crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. 

Topped my cornbread with some Earth Balance margarine and my favorite Bee Free Honee! I was so excited to see the honee in my local Sprouts. I don't have to order it online anymore. It has the consistency and taste of bee honey. It tastes better than using agave as a honey replacement.

~ White Bean and Collard Soup ~ 

This soup used dried Great Northern beans. I never cook with dried beans so this took a little preparation. I just put my beans on to soak in the morning and they were ready to cook in the afternoon. She didn't specify, but I waited to add the canned tomatoes and salt after the beans were cooked. I've read that the beans won't get done with the acid and salt in them. They turned out perfect. I like the addition of ginger, red pepper flakes and a little nutmeg for the seasonings. You cook the collard greens separately and then add them in to the cooked beans. Yum! I froze the leftover soup and cornbread for a quick supper later. 

Polenta Casserole ~ pg. 138

VegCookbookClub July recipes from eat, drink & be vegan by Dreena Burton:

Another easy-to-make casserole. I've never used polenta before so I bought a tube to try this recipe. It calls for grated polenta so I chilled the tube in the refrigerator so it would be easier to grate. I like recipes where I can use the whole can of whatever and this called for 2 1/2 C cooked beans and 1 C tomato sauce. I got daring and used 2 whole cans of beans (1 15 oz. can tri-blend of kidney, black and pinto and 1 15 oz. can of cannellini) and 1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce. Hey, it worked out just fine! Instead of the fresh thyme I used 1/2 tsp. dried. The casserole tasted kind of like chili and cornbread. The polenta could have been a little crispier on top; next time I'll broil it a few minutes.

I served the Polenta Casserole with a fresh green salad and Sauteed Chard from Crazy Sexy Kitchen.

Hot Tamale Pie~pg. 92

VegCookbookClub February recipes from Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau:

Ooh, I'm so excited! I just got the Betty Goes Vegan cookbook in the mail today! It's a great big cookbook just like the original Betty Crocker cookbook. I want to cook out of that one next month!

YELLOW

~simmering the bean mixture~

I just noticed that the recipe called for 1 Tbsp lemon juice but the directions didn't say where to use it! Oh well, it turned out okay. A little mild for my taste but I added lots of chopped cilantro on top and some hot sauce. Also, this made a huge 9x13 pan. That's alot of leftovers me and hubby have to eat! I've found a few other mistakes in the recipes. Has anyone else had that problem? I need to see if they printed an errata for them. I probably won't make this one again. Sarah Kramer's cookbook 'La Dolce Vegan' has a better recipe for this type of casserole. I did serve it with my all-time favorite 'Massaged Kale Salad' from Colleen's 'Vegan Daily Companion'; love that recipe!

Eeny Meeny Chili Beany on Toast~pg. 42

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I don't think I would want to eat this for breakfast! I used a can of mixed beans-garbanzo, pinto and kidney. Instead of toast I served it over halved, toasted Cumin Rice Flour Dinner Muffins (pg. 277) because I thought the cumin and chili powder went well together.

I've still got a few more March recipes to crank out-but I'm almost there; then on to April!

Tofu Chimichangas & Homemade Salsa

I have been wanting to make these forever and finally decided today was the day! This recipe is from The Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer & Tanya Barnard. The filling is a mixture of marinated tofu and refried beans. After baking the chimichangas I topped them with a little canned enchilada sauce and some homemade salsa. I served some chopped romaine lettuce and lime wedges on the side. Mmm! Mmm!Good! Now I just need some tequila!!

Dick's Salsa
2 cans 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, slightly drained
1 can 4 oz. green chilis
4-6 chopped green onions (to taste)
1/4-1/2 C. chopped cilantro (I like alot of cilantro!)
1/4 tsp. onion powder (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or to taste)
salt & pepper (to taste)
couple Tbsp. of white vinegar
couple Tbsp. of vegetable oil
    Combine all ingredients and serve chilled.

As you can see, this salsa can be made to your taste! I worked with Dick about 20 years ago and our company would have customer and employee dinners. Dick would make a roaster full of this salsa! The only change I made was to use fresh cilantro instead of dried. Dick is no longer with us; so thank you Dick, wherever you are!!

Wolffie's Fiesta Macaroni Bean Salad~pg. 73;Creamy Fiesta Dressing~pg. 91

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I have made this salad several times and taken it to parties. I always get asked for the recipe. Of course I never can wait to chill the salad before I have to eat it! I had some black beans left over so I threw those in with the kidney beans.

I just got back from the gym (first time in 3 months after a back injury) and I thought I could use a healthy helping of some carbs. I ate my macaroni salad on top of some baby spinach; need to get the greens in!

Wolffie's Magnificent Baked Bean Chip Dip~pg 59

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I decided to save the Baked Bean Dip and use it on soft tacos for supper. It has a smoky, barbequed flavor thanks to the liquid smoke and fake bacon bits.

Fixin's for the soft tacos!

 tomatoes, cilantro (yum), green onions, romaine lettuce and Daiya cheddar style shreds

oh, and can't forget the Pace Picante.

Baked Bean soft tacos and homemade Spanish Rice

Someday I'll sit down and write out the recipe for the Spanish Rice. My sister originally gave me the recipe and I adapted it from there. It's a little of this, a little of that...!