Black Bean Chili with Vegetables

I usually take a few moments on New Year’s Day to, if not review the whole year, to at least review the last few weeks. Last year, I reviewed my “blissful” Christmas season. This New Year’s day, I am reflecting on 2012 as a whole.

My family went through some major changes in 2012, but we are blessed. I will always miss my father, but I had a close relationship with him, and I will always treasure the weekly lunches we shared in the last few years. I am also very proud of my daughter who did well her first semester in college.

While this year’s Christmas season was not quite as blissful as last year, I did love having my daughter home from college, and we did spend some time with friends and family over good food!

Now, I’m busy trying to get rid of all the sweets lingering in the house, and my meal planning is getting seriously healthy!

This black bean chili recipe is another holdover from our vegan Lent, and we all love it. It is full of vegetables, and has a rich flavor and an almost meaty texture. The chili is delicious topped with some avocado and cilantro, or if you aren’t vegan, top it with a little cheese and sour cream.  

Black Bean Chili with Vegetables
Printable Recipe
Adapted from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped, small dice
1 green bell pepper, seeded, chopped, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, chopped, small dice
1 pound zucchini, chopped, medium dice
1 cup frozen or fresh corn, defrosted if frozen
2 cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
dash of freshly ground black pepper
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 15 ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons agave nectar
Juice from one lime

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the onions and bell peppers, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 4 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, cayenne and black pepper, and cook stirring constantly until the spices are fragrant. Mix in the carrots, zucchini and corn. Add the vegetable broth. The vegetables should be mostly submerged.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered, until the carrots are tender and the zucchini is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, black beans and cilantro. Cover and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Mix in the agave and lime juice. Add more salt to taste if needed, and serve.

Black Bean and Corn Tacos

As you know, back in February, my family gave up meat and dairy during Lent. And, for the most part, we did well. Okay, I’m not counting the trip my daughter and I took to Montana for a college visit. We had a difficult time staying vegan (we could manage vegetarian, but vegan was hard).

It felt good going without meat and dairy. I had more energy and I lost weight! My family rose to the vegan challenge. We tried new food, ate more fruits and vegetable and opened ourselves up to a new way of eating, and I’m glad we did it!

We did not remain vegan after Lent, but going without meat and dairy for six weeks allowed us to lose our cravings for meat. We are still eating vegetarian 60 to 75 percent of the time.  We have had a harder time giving up dairy.

Black Bean and Corn Tacos are one of the holdouts from our vegan days, and my family loves them. You can serve these tacos with typical taco toppings, or you can keep them vegan by serving them with thinly sliced cabbage, cilantro, sliced avocado and a wedge of lime. Try these tacos next time you want a meatless meal.  

Black Bean and Corn Tacos
Printable Recipe
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced (2/3 cup)
4 garlic cloves, diced
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup vegetable broth
2 14 ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
Juice from one lime

Corn or flour tortillas
thinly sliced cabbage
chopped cilantro
sliced avocado
sliced jalapenos

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large skillet. Add the onion, and cook until softened. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute, and then add the chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne pepper and kosher salt and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, broth, black beans and corn and cook until thickened 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the limejuice and serve in tortillas with assorted toppings.

Black Bean and Grilled Corn Salsa

Have I mentioned I love Mexican food?  I’m pretty sure I have, and while Black Bean and Grilled Corn Salsa probably doesn’t qualify as traditional Mexican food, it does have the south of the boarder flavors I love.  I know there are many people out there who don’t enjoy cilantro, but I love the spicy flavor of cilantro.  It tastes like spring to me, and I needed a bit of spring today after our last couple of weeks of rain.  We had bright sunshine outside today, and I had springtime on a tortilla chip.

This salsa is easy to put together, but it has a complex flavor that your cilantro loving friends are going to love. I’ve made Black Bean and Grilled Corn Salsa for years, and I never have any leftovers.

Dinner en Mi Casa

I love cooking in the winter. I love the braises, the roasts and the pasta. But, I am getting a little tired of winter. I know, I really shouldn’t complain. Winter in northern California is mild, and we desperately need the rain that’s been falling for the last couple of weeks, but I did want to feel a glimmer of summer. So, what should I serve for a dinner party in the middle of February to make it feel like summer? Why, a Mexican fiesta of course!

The Menu
Queso Fundido with Chorizo
Pork Tacos with assorted toppings
New Style Black Beans
Green Onion Slaw
Tres Leche (Milk Cake)
Sopapillas

Brian mixes a mean margarita, Tammy brought the Tres Leche cake and the sopapillas, and Paula, Sandy and Beth brought food and drinks for the kids. Thanks for the contributions!
I had made the Queso Fundido once before, and it is really delicious, but it does have a tendency to separate. The first time I made the dip, I had placed it in the fondue pot to keep it warm. But, the sterno ran out, so the dip did not get too hot. This time I warmed the dip, and put it in the fondue pot with a full can of sterno underneath it. I will not do this again. The dip became too hot, and separated into a stingy mass. The dip still tasted delicious, but the texture did not work well. I recommend you heat the dip, and heat the water under the fondue pot, then once you put the dip in the fondue pot, turn off the sterno. The dip should stay warm enough this way.

Queso Fundido with Chorizo
Adapted from Bon Appetit (7/07)

3 large poblano chiles
4 chorizo sausage links
3 cloves of garlic
12 green onions, chopped
1 ¼ cups chopped fresh cilantro
2 ½ cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 ½ cups grated whole milk mozzarella
1 ¼ tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup (or more) chicken broth
Tortilla Chips

Char the poblanos until blackened on all sides over a gas flame or under a broiler. Then enclose in a paper bag for 10 minutes. Peel, seed and coarsely chop the chiles.

Saute the sausage and garlic in a large skillet until browned, breaking the sausage into small pieces. Add the green onions and stir until wilted. Remove from the heat and mix in the cilantro and the poblanos.

In a bowl, toss both cheeses with the cornstarch. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in large pot, and add the cheese one cup at a time. Whisk after each addition until almost melted. Remove from heat and add the chorizo mixture. You can thin with more broth (¼ cup at a time) if the mixture is too thick. Pour the mixture into a serving bowl, and serve with tortilla chips. Serves 10.
My next trick was to mix in the winter cooking I love with my summer theme. The recipe for the pork tacos calls for braising the meat in a crock-pot, and the result was tender flavorful meat. I took the advise of the Food Network magazine and offered sliced radishes, cotija (a Mexican cheese salty like Feta, but without the sour flavor), sliced avocado, and limes. We would have had chopped mango if I had come home with a mango instead of a papaya, but no one seemed to mind. I also offered the Green Onion Slaw instead of plain sliced cabbage. I changed the Green Onion Slaw a bit by leaving out the sliced red onion this time. The green onions offered enough of an onion flavor. We piled the pork and all of these toppings onto warmed flour and corn tortillas.

Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos
I adapted this recipe from the Food Network Magazine.

3 whole dried California Chiles
3 whole dried New Mexico Chiles
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 to 3 chipotles in adobo sauce
½ medium white onion roughly chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
3 ¾ cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (untrimmed), cut into chunks
Freshly ground pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
Corn and Flour tortillas
Assorted Toppings (see above)

Microwave the chiles and garlic until soft and pliable, 2 to 3 minutes. Stem and seed the chiles and peel the garlic, and put them into a food processor or blender. Add the chipotles, onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, honey, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt and the oregano to the food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet, and add the chile sauce and fry until thick and fragrant about 8 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer until slightly thickened.

Cut the pork shoulder into large chunks, season all over with salt and pepper. Add the pork to the crock-pot, and add the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or until tender. After the pork has finished cooking discard the bay leaves and the cinnamon stick, and shred the pork with two forks. Serve the pork in the tortillas with the assorted toppings. Serves 6-8
One of the joys of getting together with this group of friends is everyone is a really good cook, and we all like to share our new recipes with each other. This is a real treat as the hostess. Tammy brought not one but two desserts for the evening. She really outdid herself. She brought a tres leches (milk cake) and sopapillas.

Tres Leches Cake
Tammy got the recipe from allrecipes.com, but she made some changes. She used Pillsbury Cake Flour and sifted it. She also used twice the amount of vanilla in both instances, and 1 pint of whipping cream.
Sopapillas
Both Tammy and Brian both remember sopapillas from their childhoods in Colorado and Oklahoma respectively. Sopapillas are a deep fried donut type pastry you serve with cinnamon and sugar, honey or nutella (although I think the Nutella might not be traditional). Tammy used allrecipes.com again for the sopapillas. She did recommend you roll the dough out thinner than the recipe calls for (about ¼ inch). She says they puff up better the thinner they are.