Spicy Bean Hot Pot

It's not chili... it's not soup... what is it? Spicy Bean Hot Pot!

This recipe comes from a cookbook my mom gave me several years ago called 30 Minute Vegetarian Recipes. All the recipes, while maybe taking a little longer than 30 minutes, are really very easy and don't require complex ingredients. This bean dish is surprisingly good, and has it's own unique taste. It's that type of favorite dish that I often don't remember to make, and then one day I make it, and think, "Why don't I eat this more often?"

I've pretty much stuck to the recipe in the book, but increased the amounts and changed the serving suggestions.

Ingredients:

1 medium or large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T canola oil
1 T ground cumin
1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup tomato paste
several tablespoons of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, to taste
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white (cannelini) beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
grated cheddar cheese for serving

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Saute the onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Stir in the cumin and saute another 1-2 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and hot pepper sauce. Stir well and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the beans. Add a little bit of water if necessary, but not much. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
4. Season with salt, pepper, and additional hot pepper sauce to taste.
5. Serve with grated cheddar cheese. I like to have baked potatoes or fresh bread on the side.

Here is the cookbook -- I don't know why it's sideways.

Shepherds' Pie

On a cold, rainy night, of the sort we've had here in the Pacific Northwest recently, it's very nice to have a simple meal cooked in the oven. I first made a vegetarian shepherds' pie just over three years ago, but we liked it so much that I made it several times more before we left for Thailand. Though my original recipe -- a modification from The Joy of Cooking -- is currently buried in storage, I put together an attempt this evening. It turned out quite nicely.

Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes
1 T canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced, with leaves
3/4 cup fresh or frozen thawed green peas
equivalent of 1 lb. meat, in meat substitute form (I prefer White Wave traditional flavor seitan, but have also used Gimme Lean beef style), chopped or crumbled
1/2 to 1 cup vegetable broth
1 T fresh or dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
butter or margarine

1. Boil or bake the potatoes until soft. Remove skins and mash, with a little milk and butter if you like, or just plain is fine too.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Saute the onions and carrots until the onions are softened.
3. Stir in the meat substitute. If necessary, brown it. (I usually brown Gimme Lean products, but not seitan.)
4. Stir in the celery, rosemary, thyme, and vegetable broth. Continue cooking until broth is absorbed.
5. Stir in the peas. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
6. Spread the mixture in a 9x9 pan. Cover with the mashed potatoes. Dot with butter or margarine.
7. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes, uncovered.

On Eating Soy

Soy is a bit of a controversial food. For several years, it was promoted as a superfood. More recently, some have raised concerns about its estrogen-ic qualities, and there was some speculation that it could mess with the hormones of a pregnant woman or her unborn child.

I was very hesitant to eat much soy during the first part of this pregnancy, so I avoided it for the most part. At my 19-week appointment, though, my OB (who I like very much) said that while she understood my concerns, she feels that soy is just fine to eat, and that you'd have to eat very large quantities of it to even come close to its purported estrogen-ic properties. So since then, while still being moderate, I've enjoyed its use more frequently. It is a very nice way to get protein.