"notChili" & Cornbread, Lentil Rissoles, Indian style Cauli-Potato Casserole, Cremini & Butternut Soup

Vegetable "notChili"
We all know that real chili is nothing more than beans, beef, tomato, onion, spices -- and chilies and other capsaicin peppers in particular.  No corn, no celery, no nada -- except beans, beef,  tomato, onion, and chilies.

That's why this is "notChili".  Beans and onion and tomatoes, peppers and spices -- YES.  Beef, NO.   Instead of beef I used nice big cubes of butternut squash.

There's no real recipe for chili.  Just a list of ingredients and your taste buds.

Since I wasn't making a competition chili, I elected to use up some cans from my pantry -- Roteltm Chili Fixins' for part of the spice. Bushestm Southwestern Pinto Beans,  and Hunt'stm Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes.  To that I added fresh diced tomatoes, red bell peppers, and onions.  Plus cumin, smoked paprika, sweet paprika and taco seasoning to taste -- add a little taste, add a little more, taste again, repeat until it's jussst spicy enough.

Like any real chili, I let the magic mixture simmer low and slow while I made and baked  the cornbread, below.   Served it up in big bowls, garnished with some shredded cheese.  Yuuuummm!  The perfect meal for the long cold spell we've been going through here in usually tropical South Florida.

Cornbread
Gotta have hot cornbread with chili, even notChili!  This is simple.  Even if you're not a baker you can make delicious cornbread.

1 cup Yellow Cornmeal, not corn flour
1 cup AP Flour
2 Tbsp Sugar (I don't care for sweet cornbread but you need a bit of sugar here)
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Milk or Half & Half if you want it a bit richer
1 large Egg
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

Preheat the oven to 425ºF and coat a 9-inch pie plate, cast iron skillet, or 8x8 casserole dish with non-stick spray (or butter for more flavor).

In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and oil.

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir just until everything is moist. Don't over stir, a few lumps are OK.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top and edges are golden brown. 

Slice into wedges and serve:

Lentil-Walnut Rissoles
Another in my continuing exploration of of plant-based patties.  This time featuring the ubiquitous lentil.   These are really, really good.  Sally's second favorite after my Black Bean rissoles.  I like these equally well, especially the texture which is more 'meaty' that the total puree  of my bean burger.

1 cup dry Lentils
1 Egg, beaten
½ cup Walnuts, chopped fine
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 cup rolled Oats  (quick cooking if you have them, just not steel cut or slow cook types)
¼ cup Vegetable broth (or water plus veggie base)
1 cup fine chopped Carrots
1 cup diced Onion
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook the lentils until nearly mushy. I used my rice cooker.

In a sauce pan combine the broth, carrots, onion and garlic. Simmer until the carrots are tender – 5-8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and Worchestershire sauce.

Remove from the heat and fold in all the other ingredients. Mash to combine everything. Let the mixture rest for 10-15 minutes to allow the oats to soak up liquid.

Test the mixture to see if it will make patties or fall apart. You may need to add more oats if things are too wet.

Form into 2/3 cup patties, pat them out to 1/2" or 3/4" thick, and fry in a hot skillet 6-8 minutes per side until nicely browned.  

Makes 7-8 rissoles:

Indian-spiced Cauliflower & Potato Casserole
This one came from Forks Over Knives.  I was a bit leery to use the recipe as is -- FOK has a reputation of messing up some aspect of almost every recipe.  But this one's only fauly is that as written, it makes a ton of casserole.  We easily got 10 servings out of this.  If you don't need that much, cut the recipe in half.  

Very tasty!  This one's a keeper, that's for sure!  The "Indian" spice blend is pleasant, not hot by any stretch, just a tiny bit warm.  

1 cup dry Brown Rice
1 lb. Yukon Gold Potatoes, cut into ¾-inch pieces
4 cups small Cauliflower florets
½ cup thin-sliced Carrot
1 can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can Tomato sauce
1 can Fire-roasted Diced Tomatoes, undrained
½ cup or more Frozen Peas

Spice Blend
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp turmeric
⅛ to ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
⅛ tsp ground cinnamon

In a LARGE pot, bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Add the rice, bring back to a boil and reduce the heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the potatoes and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Add the carrots and peas and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked ingredients plus everything else, including the spice blend. Toss to combine.

Spread the mixture in a 3 quart baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 25-35 minutes at 375F.

Rest for 10 minutes then serve garnished with cilantro or your favorite shredded cheese.

Cremini & Butternut Soup
What?!  Mushrooms and squash together?  Heck yeah!  m Check this out:

1 medium-large Butternut Squash
8 oz Cremini or Portobello Mushrooms (same thing)
4-6 cups Veggie or Mushroom Broth (or water + base)
1 medium Onion, diced
3-4 cloves Garlic. minced
1 tsp each Thyme & Sage  
1/8 tsp fresh grated Nutmeg
1/4 cup Cream of Half & Half
Bistotm Vegetable Gravy mix -- to thicken the soup
Optional -- Parmesan or other cheese to garnish

Cut the squash into the ball and neck.  Peel the neck, coarse grate it and simmer in a cup of broth until mushy (or just nuke it in the microwave for 10 minutes).  Puree in your food processor and reserve.

In your soup kettle, saute the onion and garlic until translucent.    Add the pureed squash  neck, the remaining broth, herbs and spices, and simmer.  

Peel the ball end of the squash, and seed it.  Slice into 1/2" thick rings and chop into 1/2" cubes.  Par cook the cubes until just tender.  Add the cubes to the rest of the soup along with the cream.  Continue barely simmering.  Add a couple tablespoons of the gravy mix to thicken the soup as desired.   Serve with a nice crusty bread.