lenten chili with guacamole

Leave a comment March 27, 2015 nourishinggrace

This lenten vegetarian chili with guacamole is an easy weeknight favorite and if you end up with leftovers – it tastes even better the day after!

Chili can spark great debates about how it should be eaten. Whether you like yours on it’s own or with rice, is up to you. During Lent, we always serve our chili over brown rice. The reason is a little nutrition combined with traditional know how that amounts to a complete protein on your plate.

There are twenty different amino acids that can form a protein, nine of these amino acids, our body can’t produce on its own. In order to be considered “complete,” a protein must contain all nine of these essential amino acids in roughly equal amounts. For this reason, these nine amino acids are considered essential amino acids —we need them in food form because our body can not synthesize these from other available amino acids. Since proteins are the building blocks of the body this becomes a consideration during long periods of fasting.

The majority of plants and grains do not contain complete proteins; however, meat, dairy, seafood and eggs do. During long meatless and dairy-less periods it is possible to obtain the necessary protein for our diets through the combining of certain foods. Traditional and ethnic fasting recipes tend to combine legumes and grains in some fashion.

While it is not necessary to consume complete proteins at every meal, over the course of a day or days it makes a difference. The following food combinations yield a complete complement of amino acids.

Grains (rice, corn, wheat, barley, etc.) and legumes (peas, beans, lentils)
Seeds (Sesame or sunflower) and legumes
Hummus and pita
lentils and rice

These are good examples of combining foods such that all 9 of the essential amino acids are present.

Aside from proper combining of foods, the following are good plant sources of complete protein to include in your diet.

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Quinoa

Buckwheat

Soy (tempeh, sprouted tofu and miso)

Hempseed

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Chia

Soy

Rice and Beans

Now, for the chili.

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lenten chili with guacamole

Ingredients

2 cups of any combination of the following beans : red kidney beans, white kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans

1 onion red or yellow, diced

2 carrots diced.

5 cloves minced garlic

1/4 – 1/2 cup chili powder (we use Penzey’s regular). Use your judgement here, different chili strengths for different palates.

Salt and pepper to taste

2 chopped red peppers

1 carrot, chopped small

2- 14 oz cans diced organic tomatoes

3 cups water

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The night before, place beans in a bowl and fill to cover with water. Leave until you are ready to make chili.

To make the chili, rinse beans and place in large pot with water to cover. Turn the heat to high to bring to boil and reduce to medium. Skim any foam that accumulates. Cook for an hour. When the beans are done drain. You may reserve some of the cooking liquid.

When the beans are almost done (they will begin to soften), saute the onion, red pepper, carrots and chili powder with 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. Saute for three minutes, until the chili powder becomes fragrant.

Add remaining ingredients.

Cook over low simmer, with loose lid on the pot, for approximately 45 minutes. Check on the consistency, you may cook longer if you like a thicker chili.

Serve over brown rice topped with a hearty scoop of guacamole (2 avocados, 1/2 clove garlic, bunch cilantro chopped, 2 tablespoons red onion chopped, juice of one lime – mash it all together).

yummy.

panang curry Lenten soup

Leave a comment March 13, 2015 nourishinggrace

A very good tip for the fast, that we discovered some years back, is to make meals that were meant to be vegetarian or vegan in the first place. We wanted to embrace the fast with joy, as we are taught… but each fake hamburger, or look a-like taco made us just wish we were eating meat.

My first visit to an Orthodox monastery was five or six years ago and it was during Great Lent. The food on their table was simple and great. The meals also seemed very traditional – recipes that were meant to be Lenten. I had my four year old daughter with me. She loved everything they served! So the next year, we decided to eat fasting foods that were never intended to contain meat in the first place – a lot are asian or middle eastern or Ethiopian inspired. We didn’t want fake cheese or burgers or other imitations. We wanted real food.

Finding recipes that are meat free to begin with has made a joyful difference at our table.

I hope you will like this delicious Thai coconut panang curry soup. It is made from simple ingredients – and the vegetables can be rotated to what is in season in your area, or to include any specific varieties that you especially enjoy.

This is the way we like it, if it is too sour, just reduce the amount of lime.

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Ingredients

2 cans coconut milk – Native Forest is a great brand
1/4 red onion diced
1/4 cup lime juice
Thai red curry paste – to taste
one container firm organic tofu (very important to get organic. Trader Joes has a fermented organic tofu)
1 cup green beans, ends cut of and sliced into bite sized portions
1 cup chopped portabello or other mushroom you like
1 cup baby bok choy, chopped (about 4 small baby bok chops)
2 inches ginger root peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 cups vegetable broth, plus a little extra to deglaze pan.

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Preparation

Open tofu package and cut into small squares. Lay these flat on a thick layer of paper towels. Cover with another thick layer of paper towels. You can leave it like this, or place a cutting board on top of them. This is to drain the excess water away. Otherwise it just gets soggy.

Prepare all of your remaining ingredients and have them by the stove. This is the step that dramatically changed the results of our cooking. Having the mis en place staged so that you can concentrate on cooking rather than cutting and watching the stove at the same time reduces the possibility that your dinner will burn.

If you have a wok, then this is a good recipe for it. If not, a large frying pan – well seasoned cast iron or non stick is good.

Over medium heat, add toasted sesame oil and coat the pan. Add the tofu and cook until the sides are brown, About five minutes. Remove from pan and lay on paper towels so that it can drain.

In a soup pot, pour coconut milk, vegetable broth, sliced ginger and lime juice. Let simmer while you cook the vegetables.

Add mushrooms to wok/frying pan. Cook over medium heat. If you are using a wok, move to the side and add the bok choy and green beans. You’ll want the mushrooms well done, the bok choy and beans still a little crispy. If it gets dry or if the veggies start to stick, add in some of the vegetable broth.

With a strainer remove ginger from the broth. Sample and add salt to taste.

Add one heaping teaspoon of panang curry paste and taste. I purposely have not added a measurement for the curry, because frankly different brands vary widely in their flavor. Make this tasty for you. We actually add the curry straight to the soup bowls, the younger ones don’t want as much so they just get a hint of it.

plating the vegetables and tofu

Now you can add all of the vegetables and tofu into the broth, or begin to plate the vegetables into the bowls separately – like we do – and add the broth on top of it.

Claudia and Kates soup

We plate the veggies and tofu separately into the bowls because, in my family, we have three girls, some of who like mushrooms and onions and some who don’t. The one who doesn’t like them, really really doesn’t like them. So the mushrooms and onions go to the bowls in the measure of how well each one will enjoy it. Though we have a general rule in our house that you have to try everything, I have to admit that as a girl, I did not like mushrooms… not at all.

And during the Fast, well, it just seems better to have mercy and give them what they will like, so that they too will embrace the Fast with joy.

Erika’s Soup

lenten winter curry squash soup

Leave a comment March 7, 2015 nourishinggrace

This lenten curry squash soup is born out of several squashes from our CSA box that have just been sitting on the kitchen counter. You really can use any winter squash variety. We used a sugar pumpkin, butternut and acorn squash – so this is more of a triple squash soup.

Use whatever winter squash you have on hand, or that you can find in the market. Kabocha squash would be great in this spiced squash soup too.

A note about the curry paste. We used to buy our curry paste from the local Thai market (oriental grocery stores have awesome spices). Sadly, our local Thai market closed. So for now I am using the Taste of Thai brand. It is not as spicy and flavorful as the brand in the Thai Grocery, but is still good.

The base of this soup is the vegetable.mineral.broth. That is why there is no salt in the final recipe. If you are not fasting, chicken stock will work nicely here too.

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Ingredients:

4-5 pounds winter squash : kabocha, acorn, butternut, pumpkin
1 medium onion chopped
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons red curry (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut squashes in half and spoon out seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet and place in oven. Bake for one hour or until tender. Remove from oven and spoon out squash meat into separate bowl.

Sautee onion over medium heat. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and cooked squash. Add spices and coconut milk. Using an immersion blender, mix the soup until it is entirely pureed. Check the consistency, add more broth if it is too thick.

Garnish with cilantro, avocado or parsley.

Enjoy.

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Alternatively, you can make this a sage and thyme based soup. Omit the coconut milk, use an extra cup of vegetable broth and add to the sautéing onions one tablespoon of fresh sage and thyme.

There are so many variations to this soup, play with the ingredients and find what you like best.

minestrone soup

Leave a comment March 1, 2015 nourishinggrace

This is another great Lenten recipe, relatively simple and easy to prepare. Everyone likes it, and in a family of five, that’s a good thing! This is such a simple soup, most of it’s flavors derived from the spices. Usually we make a big batch of northern beans ahead of time and take out what we need during the week.

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Vegetable Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 zucchini squash, cut small
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh basil
1 cup cooked great northern beans
1 red pepper seeded and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
6-1/2 cups water or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Place onion in large stewpot and sautee until translucent – about 10 minutes over low heat. Add carrots, red pepper, celery and let simmer until soft.

Add water, tomatoes and water, salt and pepper. Let simmer for about 30 – 45 minutes. If you have a pot with a light loose fitting lid, this will be more on the 30 minute range, because steam will escape. With a heavier dutch oven, you can let it cook a little longer.

Plate. Serve. Enjoy.

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The picture below is the leftover version of our soup. We added some brown rice to it, and made it a heartier stew.

As usual, ample sirachi sauce is on hand at all times.

mushroom leek soup

Leave a comment February 25, 2015 nourishinggrace

During Great Lent we eat almost 40 days of soup. Mostly, this is because it’s simpler to prepare our foods in this way.

This mushroom leek soup is one of my favorites – a hearty mushroom soup, made with just a few ingredients. This is easy and nourishing and has many variations.

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Mushroom Leek Soup

serves two as a main course, with a nice big salad!

Ingredients

10 ounces of your favorite mushrooms (we just get the assorted pack with shiitake, cremini and portabello

2 leeks sliced thin, green and white parts

4 cloves garlic, minced

6-1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Optional items:

1 strip kombu / seaweed

brown rice noodles

dash of toasted sesame oil

soy sauce or sirachi hot sauce to taste

you can use any combination of herbs that you prefer, like sage, bay leaf, oregano

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Preparation :

In a pot over medium low heat, add sliced leeks, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Chop mushrooms and place in soup pot. Let the leeks and mushrooms sweat for about 10 minutes. This will draw the water and flavors out of them.

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Add garlic and water. Place lid on pot and let simmer for 30-45 minutes. This really depends on how tight the lid on your pot fits and whether a lot of steam escapes.

5 minutes before ready to eat, add two nests (they come bunched together and it looks like nests) of rice noodles to the mushroom leek soup. You can take it off the heat and place the lid on, or continue to simmer. They will cook either way.

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The final consistency I like is more on the stew side.

You can add any of the optional items or enjoy it as is.

Enjoy.