Squash and beans

It was supposed to be white beans and kale and squash. It turned into black beans, swiss chard, rice, and squash. I do that sometimes....

2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-3 lb butternut squash, peeled seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups canned vegetable broth
1 bunch swiss chard, thick stems trimmed and leaves cut crosswise into 2 inch strips
1 tablespoon dried rubbed sage
1 (15 ounce) can white beans
1 can black beans
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1 cup brown rice
salt & fresh ground pepper


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the crock pot (I highly suggest sauteeing the onions and garlic first... Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 5 to 6 hours.

Lentils and turnips

I won't go so far as to call my lentils dal. I don't think I do a good dal. But I did make some lentils in the crockpot. I got the recipe from about.com (go figure) and made a few alterations.

Curried Lentils and Turnips

1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
2 cup lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup brown rice
1 17-ounce package chopped turnip greens with turnips
5 cups vegetable broth
salt to taste

Put brown rice in crockpot with broth and turn on high for about an hour. Prep everything else. Add everything else to crockpot and make sure there's enough broth to cover all ingredients. Cover and cook on high for about 4 hours. If you have longer, you can cook on low for about 8 hours.

More from last week

For the rest of the week took some Wild Rice Soup I'd had in the freezer forever and heated that up. Suprisingly, it was wonderful still. Very creamy, like it's intended to be.

Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
6 T. margerine
2 medium onions (stew cut)
8 strips vegan bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
6 c. veggie broth
3 c. water
1+ c. carrots (stew cut)
2+ c. red potatoes, unpeeled (stew cut)
1 1/2 c. uncooked wild rice (not the quick cook kind)
5 T. flour
1 c. non-dairy milk
1/2 - 3/4 c. nutritional yeast

Directions
1. Melt butter in large soup pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add bacon pieces and onions; saute until onions are cooked and bacon starts to brown.
2. Add broth, water, carrots, potatoes, and rice. Cover and cook on medium until rice is chewy and done (about 40-45 minutes).
3. Combine flour and non-dairy milk in a tightly sealed jar and shake well; add to soup. (If this is too thick at this point, add a bit more water.)
4. Add nutritional yeast.
5. Enjoy! Serves at least 6.

Stuffed, Baked Kabocha Pumpkin

Cut a hole in the top of a medium-large kabocha pumpkin/squash, like you were making a jack-o-lantern. Scoop out the insides and save the seeds for baking. Bake (with top back on) for 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Meanwhile, cook the stuffing.

2 cups water
2 cups veggie broth
seasoning: cinnamon, tumeric, pepper, coriander
1 cup quinoa
3/4 cup jasmine rice

Boil for about 15 minutes. Add more water so it's moist.

Also, cut up some veggies for the stuffing. I used local white eggplant, green zucchini, shitake mushrooms, and toasted pine nuts. I didn't, but I reccomend, stir-frying the eggplant and zucchini for a few minutes to brown them. I also reccomend, but didn't, seasoning the veggies before you mix them with the stuffing.

Mix everything together. Stuff the pumpkin and put the remaining stuffing in a casserole. Bake the stuffed pumpkin again for 45 minutes at 350. Add casserole to the oven with 15 minutes to go.

Cut open pumpkin in slices, like a watermelon and serve with lots of stuffing. Don't forget to peel the pieces!

Bake the seeds for about 20 minutes, turning every so often. Top with salt!

Quick Chilli

So I got back from Europe, where I spent a ginormous amount of money. So I'm trying my best to eat in as much as possible. I call it, the quick chilli, since it was a quick meal.

1 glass jar of Newman's Own tomato and garlic spagetti sauce
1 bag spinach
2 cans beans (kidney and chilli in my case)
1/2 packet of veggie crumbles (forgot the brand)
spices to season

1. Put the spagetti sauce and raw spinach in the blender and blend until well chopped and smooth.
2. Dump it into a pot and add beans and crumbles and spices.
3. Heat until warm.
4. Serve! I made some jasmine rice, but also served it over leftover pasta.