Vegan 3 Bean Chili - Texas Style

Straight from the Lone Star State, this chili recipe is exactly what you'd expect from a place that perfected the Chili Cook-off. Full of flavor, satisfying, and with just a bit of spicy heat to fight the Autumn chill. 

This dish pair perfectly with my Texas Cornbread Recipe. 

Ingredients:

1 can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes

2 tablespoons of natural Peanut Butter

1 tablespoon of minced Garlic

1 teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper

1/2 teaspoon of Chili Powder

1/2 teaspoon of Red Pepper Flakes

1/2 teaspoon of smoked Paprika

1/2 teaspoon of Basil

1/2 teaspoon of Oregano

1 can of organic Black Beans

1 can of organic Great Northern White Beans

1 can of organic Kidney Beans

1 cup of Sweet Yellow Corn, frozen

1 cup of Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half

Additional: 1 large Avocado & a pan of Texas Cornbread

Directions:

You make this recipe opposite of most recipes by starting with the seasoning and then adding the main ingredients last. (Hint: prepare your cornbread before you start the chili so it can bake while you make the chili. -wink-)

Empty all the beans from the cans, rinse them thoroughly and let them drain while you begin the sauce. 

In a large saucepan over medium heat, add in the canned tomatoes (undrained, juice and all) and the peanut butter. Work them together with a wooden spoon or spatula, a paste should form. Next add all the spices and work them into the tomato/peanut butter paste. As the mixture warms it will grow easier to stir.

Now add all the beans, the frozen corn (still frozen) and the cherry tomatoes cut in half. Heat over of low-medium temperature until the cherry tomatoes are soft and tender. Stirring frequently to make sure all the flavors mingle deliciously. 

Dice the avocado. Serve the chili over a piece of golden, sweet cornbread and sprinkle with fresh chunks of avocado. Enjoy!

This recipe is:

-Vegan

-Gluten Free

Best Cornbread Ever - A Happy Accident

A dear friend needed cheering up. They're a big fan of my Vegan 3 Bean Chili, so I decided to make a kettle full. You can't have good Texas Chili without good Texas Cornbread.

Cornbread is deceptively hard to do well. It's considered a poor man's bread and recipes for it are often quite simple. This leads those new to making it believe it'll be an easy do. However, the trick to cornbread is cooking it so it doesn't get hard and crumbly. While baking, cornbread can go from being just under-done to over-done in minutes.

I'm a Texas darling. I've made cornbread for almost 20 years. I do it quite well, though not perfectly. I've always had Red Hendricks' cornbread in my head as the gold standard of good cornbread. Hers came from the oven fluffy and flaky and it melted on your tongue. And until this week, I never made anything close to it.

Yesterday afternoon, I was busy in my kitchen baking cheer. The Autumn weather had me nostalgic for the smell of home baked bread, I decided to make a small loaf while I started a pot of slow-cook chili.

As it goes in the usual process of baking homemade bread, I set my oven to 200*F, wrapped the dough in a wet towel and set it to rise in the oven. Meanwhile I prepared my cornbread recipe, poured it in the pan and let it sit while the bread dough finished rising. Good cornbread batter should always sit for about 15mins in the pan before you bake it. The ingredients combine beautifully and it does it's own version of rising which is just time for the baking soda to react.

The old rule of thumb to Texas Cornbread and Texas BBQ is to cook it low and slow. My intention on removing the wheat bread dough from the oven was to turn the heat up to 300*F, where the cornbread would bake for 30 mins. Instead I completely forgot and put the cornbread batter in immediately and never adjusted the temp from 200*F.

Twenty minutes into baking, while I'm chopping onions and fighting my watery onion eyes, my brain rings a bell that I've forgotten to raise the temp. In a panic I check the cornbread to find the coloring is good and it's rising slowly. I raised the oven temp to the right temp (300*F) and crossed my fingers that I hadn't ruined it completely.

Another twenty minutes later, I pulled a lovely loaf of soft, golden Texas Cornbread from the oven. I allowed it to cool and sampled my handwork.

Red Hendrick would be so proud of me. (wink) The cornbread was perfect...light, fluffy, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. 

Eager to determine if this happy accident was the cause of my delicious creation, I put in another pan of batter. I repeated the same process exactly. The cornbread came out perfectly again.

Below is the recipe I've used for years to make cornbread from scratch. I encourage you to try it, along with my Vegan 3 Bean Chili for the perfect cold-weather meal.

Ingredients:

1 cup of stone ground, whole grain yellow Corn Meal (white varieties also work well)
1 cup of unbleached wheat flour (*You can substitute Gluten-Free Flour with Xantham Gum)
1 cup of Sugar in the Raw (or brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon of Sea Salt
1 cup of Almond or Soy Milk (any milk will do)
1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 large brown Eggs

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 200*F. Grease your baking pan. 

Mix all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Stir them with a fork with make sure they're well combined. Dent a deep well in the middle of the mixture to pour in the wet ingredients for mixing.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and oil. Pour them into the well in the dry ingredient bowl. Using the same fork, work the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, keeping attention to the sides and bottom of bowl, until everything is well mixed. 

I prefer to bake my cornbread in a Bundt pan, but you use which ever well-greased pan works best for you. While popular, I would recommend you not make cornbread in a muffin pan. It dries out quickly when baked that way. Pour the batter into the pan and let is set undisturbed for at least 15mins. No need to time it, an approximation works and there's no penalty for letting it set longer.

Place the pan on the center oven rack. Let it bake for 20 mins. Turn the pan in the oven, and raise the temp to 300*F for another 20 mins. The top of the cornbread should be golden brown and slightly tacky to the touch. A toothpick should slide out clear. Let the cornbread cool for 15 minutes before serving. This allows the moisture (steam) to settle in the bread and seal it's moist texture.

Enjoy!

This recipe is:
-Vegetarian
-Gluten-Free

Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

Hearty. Simple. Delicious. 

The weather is slowly turning colder and the hearty warmth of homemade soup is perfect way to chase away the Autumn chill. This simple recipe will fill your kitchen with the amazing smell you remember from childhood. Reach into the back of your cupboard and pull out that old soup kettle. It's time to make something wonderful.

This recipe makes a sizable quantity. The broth is divine and can be used in many wonderful ways. I recommend saving the extra broth and freezing. (Hint: Use extra broth from this recipe to replace the water next time you prepare rice. You'll end up with a savory, herb rice your guests will rave about.)

Ingredients for Stock:

16 cups (1gl) of Water*

2 medium White or Golden Potatoes, skinned and diced as small as possible

3 tablespoons of dried Parsley

3 tablespoons of Sea Salt

2 tablespoons of minced Garlic

2 teaspoons of Ground Black Pepper

2 teaspoons of dried Basil

2 teaspoons of dried Rosemary

1 teaspoon of dried Thyme

1 teaspoon of dried Cilantro

1 teaspoon of dried Chive

1 stick of real Butter or 1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

Vegetables & Noodles:

-You can use which ever vegetables appeal most to you. Below is a list of vegetables I really enjoy, but you can add or subtract as you desire. Try and keep the onions as they provide true weight to the broth and, alongside the potatoes, they provide the creamy texture loved in soups.

- This is a soup recipe and you have a lot of vegetables to chop. Please do not stress about the chopping size or uniformity of your veggie pieces. Big hearty bites appeal to the eye and they work better for lending their flavor to the overall taste of the soup.

4 large or 6 medium Onions, chopped into hearty chunks
8-10 Carrots chopped into 1'' pieces
6 Celery stalks, cut in half length-wise and chopped into 1/2'' pieces
6 Green Onions, chop into 1/2'' pieces all the way up into the greenery
 Other Delicious Add-Ins: 1 Parsnip, chopped into 1'' pieces and/or 1 Leek, chopped into 1'' pieces

1 package of Whole Wheat Egg Noodles or Whole Wheat Gluten Free Noodles.

Directions:

Start your stock before you do anything else.

Many of the soups we know today use dehydrated corn starch or potato starch to create the creaminess we love in soup. Under the Eden Tree we don't use artificial add-ins like these, because we know that nature provides enough of that coveted starch naturally in vegetables. We don't have to use a replacement. The two potatoes you are skinning and dicing very small will eventually boil down until they almost disappear. Nature's own soup thickener -wink- done the old-fashioned way.

Put your water into the kettle and heat it on a medium-high setting. Add the diced potatoes and every bit of the herbs and spices (and any extras that sound good to you). You want to bring the stock to a gentle boil before adding all the chopped veggies. Stir the soup from time to time to mingle all the delicious ingredients. The soup can gently boil away while you begin chopping your veggies.

Please don't add the veggies one at a time as you finish chopping them. Wait until all your veggies are chopped and ready to go, then put them all in at once. Reduce the heat to medium-low and bring it again to a gentle boil. Remember to stir the soup every few minutes to keep the veggies moving around and the flavors mingling. 

When you can easily stick a fork through one of the carrot pieces, you can add the whole bag of whole wheat noodles. Continue to boil the soup over a low heat setting until the noodles are fully cooked.

Serve and Enjoy!

This recipe is amazing when served with warm, fresh bread. And even more delicious the next day as leftovers!

This recipe is:
- Low-Fat
- Vegetarian/Vegan
- Gluten-Free

Raisin Walnut Cake with Orange Honey Glaze

Happy Autumn! 

This is hands-down my favorite time of year. The sights and sounds of the season fill my soul. The harvest is in, and the abundant assortment of fruits, vegetables, and nuts is the perfect canvas for the whole-food palette. 

Since dessert is everyone's part of dinner, I began this season's recipe list with a simple Southern delight straight from the farm. This sweet-salty treat will have your guest begging for another slice. Enjoy it with your favorite cup of coffee or afternoon tea.

Ingredients for Raisin Walnut Cake:
1 cup of finely ground Cornmeal (I recommend Bob's Mill.)
1 cup of unbleached Wheat Flour
1 cup of Sugar in the Raw
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon of Sea Salt (more for sprinkling)
2 large Brown Eggs
1 cup of Olive Oil, extra virgin
1 cup of Almond Milk
2 tablespoons of real Butter, melted
Additions:
1/2 teaspoon of grated Orange peel
1/2 cup of Raisins
1/4 cup of Walnut Pieces (you can crush whole walnuts for pieces)
Whole Walnuts for garnishment


Ingredients for Orange Honey Glaze:

1/2 cup of water
1 Orange, squeezed
1/4 cup of Honey
1cup of Sugar in the Raw

Directions:
Preheat the oven for 325* F. If your oven runs hot, then I'd suggest you use 300*F. When cooking anything made with cornmeal, cooking low and slow is the key. I recommend using a spring-form pan for this recipe.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate small mixing bowl, beat eggs thoroughly and then all remaining wet ingredients. Make a deep indention in the dry ingredient mix. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the center of the dry ingredients. Using a metal fork, or a hand whisk, completely work the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, being careful to scrape the sides of the bowl.

Once the cake batter is fully mixed, add the grated orange peel and fold in. Pour about a layer of batter into your non-stick baking pan. (Hint: I prefer to use mini single-serve cake pans to make individual corn cakes. The same affect can be had by using a cupcake pans without using the liners.) Sprinkle the batter with the raisins and walnut pieces. Cover the walnuts and raisins with another layer batter and sprinkle again. Finally cover it with a 3rd layer of batter.

Bake until the cornmeal batter is thoroughly cooked. This will vary depending on the size of the pan you use. A toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean and the top should be a bright golden color.

While the cake is baking prepare your Honey Orange Glaze. In a small saucepan, squeeze the juice of 1 orange. Add the honey, water, and sugar. Over medium-low heat, stir until a rich syrup forms. Make sure all the sugar is completely dissolved. 

This recipe is best served warm. Remove the cake from the pan and drizzle a healthy portion of the honey orange glaze over the top of the cake (if you make 1 large cake this will take about 1/2 the glaze). The cake will absorb most of the glaze. Lay whole walnuts on top the cake arranged in any way you find attractive. Sprinkle very lightly with sea salt, and drizzle more glaze atop the walnuts.

Serve with a hot cup of coffee or delicious tea.