Chili made from Eggplants in our Garden

 

We are harvesting a lot of eggplants from our garden at the end of summer.  Since we can't really eat them raw, (or at least I don't want to eat them raw!),  I've been perusing all of my recipe books for easy dinners with eggplant.  I came across this really good one in Appetite for Reduction by Isa Moskowitz and it was a hit...at least for my husband who went back for two additional servings!

Aside from the intial chopping of veggies, it really comes together without much effort :)  



Lentil and Eggplant Chili Mole
Makes 6 Servings
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil (I used veg broth)
1 small onion, cut into medium dice
1 red bell pepper, cut into medium dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp mild chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup dried green lentils, washed
4 cups vegetable broth
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 pds eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 tsp agave nectar or pure maple syrup
Cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Preheat a 4-quart pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and bell pepper in the oil until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute, using nonstick cooking spray or a splash of water if it's sticking. Mix in the chili powder, cumin coriander, oregano, cinnamon, and salt.  Add 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth and the cocoa powder, and cook for about 1 more minute while stirring to dissolve the cocoa.

Add the lentils, remaining vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, and eggplant. Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a boil, keeping a close eye on it. Once it's boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender and the eggplant is soft.  Mix in the agave. Taste for salt and seasoning.

Let the chili sit for 10 minutes or so for maximum flavor. Serve garnished with cilantro, if you like.

Berry Buckwheat Muffins

So part of our raw food kick has been using more raw buckwheat, which is Gluten Free!  And as you might have guessed, this recipe is not "raw" because I don't have a dehydrator.  To tell you the truth, I'm not all that certain I really want one.  I'm convinced that owning one of those contraptions creates a sort of obsession with raw food.  Yes you can make raw pancakes, raw breads, raw muffins, crackers, wraps, etc.  But you have to use a lot of nuts, seeds, and oils in most of those recipes, making them high in fat and not all that healthy.  And when you consume anything dehydrated, your body has to rehydrate those foods for digestion.

Of course, I'll make things raw when I can but as long as I'm using organic whole food ingredients in my recipes, I have no problem at all with cooked food!

These Blueberry Buckwheat Muffins are from "Get It Ripe" by Jae Steele.

Berry Buckwheat Muffins
Ingredients 1 3/4

1 3/4 cups whole raw buckwheat
2 cups filtered room temperature water
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup organic Unsweetened Soy Milk or Almond Milk
1/3 cup flax seeeds
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 organic lemon (2 tsp lightly packed)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp anise seeds, ground (optional)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups frozen (not thawed) mixed berries

Rinse buckwheat, then combine it in a bowl with the room temperature filtered water and soak overnight (or combine with the just-boiled water and soak for 1 hour)

Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare a muffin tray with paper liners.  You'll need 16 cups instead of 12.

Pour soaked buckwheat (along with any unabsorbed water) into food processor or blender, add the syrup, milk, flax seeds, oil, lemon juice, zest, anise and salt, and give it a whirl for about 1 minute, until the buckwheat kernels are blended down.  Add the baking powder and soda, and blend again for 10 seconds to combine.

Pour the batter into a large bowl and fold in the blueberries with a silicone spatula.

Portion batter into muffin cups, filling them to the top, and bake for 25 minutes, until the tops are domed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Stores in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or in fridge for up to a week.
 

Live Chocolate Mousse

I just realized it's been a whole month since I last posted on my blog!  I'm a baaaad food blogger.  Well, the biggest two things happening in my life are my kids starting public school after homeschooling them for three years AND holy crap, I'm turning 40 this month!  I think those are good excuses.  So to make up for it I am posting a dessert recipe today!  A Gluten Free Vegan Raw Chocolate Mousse!

I've made a simplified version of this recipe so many times with just avocado, cocoa powder, and agave nectar and my kids would always eat it, but they never "loved" it.   Well now that I've figured out how to make it thicker and chocolatier by adding raw almond butter to the mix they can't get enough of it :)  Oh yeah, and my husband loves it too.  And it goes great in a lunchbox for school or work as a super healthy dessert.

I adapted this recipe from the March 2010 edition of Vegetarian Times.  If you are not a subscriber and would like to be, please go and subscribe now at Amazon.com where they have the lowest subscriber rates.

Live Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients
3 Haas Avocados
1/4 cup plus 3 tbs. Maple Syrup
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs. Raw Cocoa Powder (or just unsweetened if you don't have raw)
3 tbs. raw almond butter
1 tsp lemon juice
Pinch ground cinnamon

Toss it all in your Vitamix, Magic Bullet or whatever high speed blender and blend until smooth. 

Raw Collard Wraps

I'm back to putting more recipes on the blog since friends on my Facebook page are drooling over my food photos and asking for recipes :) And ahem, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks ;-/

This one takes some time to prep and assemble but it's so worth it!  And you will have enough leftover hummus and nut cheese to keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days so when you want a quick lunch, you just have to assemble-which is the quick part!

The Zuchini Hummus and Nut Cheese in this recipe are from Raw Food Chef, Amber Crawley's book Practically Raw.  I love love love this book!  It is a MUST buy for anyone new to raw food that doesn't have a dehydrator and doesn't care to go 100% raw.

Ingredients
One bundle of Organic Collards
6 carrots peeled and chopped
1-2 cucumbers
1 large or 1 1/2 medium zuchini peeled and chopped (2 1/2 to 3 cups)
1/2 cup tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin (soaked for 2-4 hours and drained)
1 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 tsp probiotic (optional)
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt

First wash and dry the collards. Look closely at the leafs because sometimes bugs form their homes on them :) Now cut the stem off of the end, but don't cut into the leaf to remove all of it. Instead of cutting into the leaf to remove the thick part of the stem you will thin the stem out with a knife by folding the collard in half gently so as not to tear the collard and then take your knife and thin away!

Next, put your carrots in the food processor using the "shred" blade. Wash the cucumbers and depending on how many wraps you are making you will want to chop 1 cucumber for every 3 wraps. You can either slice it thin with a mandoline or give them a medium dice.  Set these aside and start making the nut cheese and hummus!

To make the hummus you will put the zuchini, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, agave, sea salt and cumin into the food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a glass storage container and refrigerate.

Rinse out your food processor cause we're going to use it again for the Nut Cheese!  And in the process we are going to make Cashew Milk!  Bonus!  Throw your cashews and water into the food processor. and blend until smooth. Strain off the pulp with a fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag. Squeeze the bag or push down on the pulp in the strainer with a big spoon until you have most of the water out.  Pour the "milk" into a glass jar and put in the refrigerator.

Now in a bowl you can mix the probiotic powder, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and salt with the leftover cashew pulp.  Place in refrigerator while you are assembling....

Lay a collard leaf out on a plate.  Spread your hummus down the center of the leaf over the stem.  Now put a handful of shredded carrot and handful of chopped cucumber on the top part of the leaf where you will start rolling.  Put some cashew cheese on top.  Fold the left and right sides in toward the center and start rolling the collard toward you. Cut in half , right across the stem, and enjoy!  Or make more!