Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Quinoa Chili

I have been meaning to try this recipe for months but kept getting distracted making other things.  I thought it was a sign I needed to finally cook this when sweet potatoes were practically the only vegetable at the Farmer's Market last week.

I am by no means a vegetarian but for some reason I tend to love veggie chili and hate almost every meat chili I have ever had, so finding another delicious vegetarian chili to add to my cooking rotation is something I am constantly on the lookout for.   This one is absolutely being made again.  There are so many semi-unusual foods in this chili that really give it a different and delicious flavor.  Some bites are spicy, some sweet, others sort of smoky. Yum.

Other than dicing up some vegetables and opening a bunch of cans, there is very little work that goes into making this dish, just a bit of patience since it has to simmer for about 30 minutes once everything is in the pot.  I add a little extra hot sauce since I like my food spicy. This is a simple and exciting new recipe that I highly recommend.

So much chili!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, diced small
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. smoked chili Tabasco sauce (or any other hot sauce if you don't have this on hand)
• salt, to taste
• 1 can (15.5 oz) tomato sauce
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 cans (15.5 oz) black beans, drained
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock (chicken or beef can be used if you want that flavor)
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into small cubes

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot (I recommend a large pot, I had to move all my stuff into a bigger one half way through) over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, garlic, carrots and salt; saute for 5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent.
2. Add the tomato sauce.  Next add the black beans, broth, all spices, and quinoa.  Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium and add the sweet potatoes.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. 
3. Spoon in to bowls and enjoy!

Yummy.

Serves 4-6.

“Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.”         Julia Child

                                                                                                                                  

Earth Day Cupcakes

If you have gone on Pinterest at all in the the last month you have probably seen pictures of Earth Day Cupcakes. They look pretty impressive and are much less complicated than they seem.  In the original recipe  the cupcakes have the top cut off, a small heart cookie cutter is used to remove the middle of the cupcake, red frosting fills in the hole, and the top is put back on.  I don't have a small heart cookie cutter so I improvised and piped red buttercream frosting hearts on top of my cupcakes instead.

Earth Day Cupcakes

Here is the recipe.

For the cake:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• green and blue food coloring

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line or thoroughly grease a muffin pan.
2. Cream together the sugar and butter.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.  Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture, and mix well.  Stir in the milk until smooth.  
3. Separate batter into 2 equal parts.  Add green food coloring to one bowl and blue food coloring to the other.  Stir.
4. Alternating colors, drop spoonfuls of green and blue batter into muffin pan.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick can be removed cleanly.
6. Let cool thoroughly.

For the buttercream:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• red food coloring

1. Cream butter and sugar. 
2. Add vanilla and food coloring.  Mix well. Add more powdered sugar if runny.
3. Fill a piping bag with the buttercream.  Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

I love Earth Day!

These cupcakes turned out much better then I thought they would.  They are fluffy, sugary, and buttery all at the same time. Overall a very successful first recipe.

Happy Earth Day!

“Do we really have to destroy tomorrow in order to live today?”
- Gaylord Nelson

Food Fanatic

Ever since I was little I have loved working in the kitchen.  Trips to Grandma's house were always exciting times spent baking pies, cookies, cinnamon rolls, loaves of bread, and so many other treats.  Family holidays are some of my favorite times of year since I can spend the whole day in the kitchen with my mom, aunts, and sister preparing foods I never make otherwise.  

Throughout college I was that weird girl who was constantly trying out new recipes and bringing baked goods to meetings and class projects.  Instead of ordering pizza and eating ramen like most college students, I spent my nights making cupcakes from scratch and shredding chicken for enchiladas.  Many of my recipes are those my mom has cooked for me all my life, but I also love throwing a bunch of things together in a pot and seeing what happens.

Ever since Pinterest came into existence I have become even more obsessed with trying new recipes and experimenting with food.  My "I Love Cooking." board has over 500 recipes and I am constantly adding more.  This blog is where I will try these recipes, and any other ones I think sound delicious or intriguing.  I'll show the successes and the failures, and hopefully will find some new favorite recipes.