This is my absolute favorite recipe for chili.  It’s so filling, so healthy, and I promise you won’t miss the meat!

Portobello mushrooms, cashews (sounds strange, but they’re great in this!) and amazing spices make this chili stand out.  The beans and cashews add protein, iron and zinc.  It’s a complete meal all by itself, but it’s great with cornbread (whole -wheat cornbread recipe below) or some brown rice.  It’s perfect for a cold night — especially a cold super bowl Sunday night!  Have fun!

Portobello Mushroom Vegetarian Chili

Preheat the oven to 375.  Place the chili peppers in the oven for 10 minutes, until skins begin to blacken and blister.  Once cooled, cut them in half, remove seeds and veins, and dice.

Spray a large pot with nonstick cooking spray.  Add onion, carrot, peppers and garlic to the pot.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat about 7 minutes until all vegetables have softened.  Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook an additional 5-7 minutes until vegetables are soft and beginning to brown.

Add the chili powder, curry, tumeric, cumin, paprika and cayenne.  Coat all of the vegetables with the spices and stir to combine.

Add in the crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock and cashews.  Stir well.  Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the chili to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and allow chili to simmer 40 minutes.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with nonfat sour cream/yogurt, sliced avocado, fresh parsley, and cornbread.

Whole Wheat Cornbread

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray an 8×8″ baking dish with nonstick spray.

Combine all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.  Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is golden brown.

Well, I guess I took about a month-long blogging hiatus.  It wasn’t intentional, but I guess I’ve been getting adjusted to living somewhere new, cooking in a different kitchen, and of course…working.  But now that a month has passed, and Superbowl Sunday is around the corner, I decided it was time to get “back in the game” before the big game!

Honestly, I don’t really watch football, but I’ve always loved Superbowl Sunday because of the commercials, the half-time show, and the Superbowl parties!  Great excuse to get together with friends and eat good food!  One of my favorites for Superbowl Sunday is spinach-artichoke dip.  Actually, it’s one of my favorites, period.  But it’s usually so unhealthy.  Did you know that one serving usually has about 300 calories and 20 grams of fat?! Crazy crazy.  Here’s my lightened up version — and it uses — gasp!  Tofu.

Yup, tofu is the secret ingredient here.  I love using tofu in unexpected ways — like in desserts where it’s pureed and then sweetened.  Here, it’s pureed and then made delicious with a little lowfat cream cheese and parmesan cheese.  Not only does it add the creamy texture without any actual cream or mayo, but it also adds a ton of protein!  This is definitely one of my favorites, and I think it’s perfect for game day.

Healthier Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Spray the bottom of a pan with cooking spray, add the onion, sprinkle with salt, and cook until softened (about 5 minutes).  Add the garlic and continue to cook about 2 minutes.  Add in the spinach and artichoke hearts and cook until heated through and ingredients are combined.

Place the tofu in the bowl of a food processor with 1/4 cup of almond milk, and process until smooth.  Add in the cream cheese and 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese and continue to process until well combined.  Combine tofu mixture with spinach mixture in a large bowl and stir to combine well.  Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne.

Transfer the mixture to a small baking dish, and top with the remaining parmesan cheese.  Place in the oven and broil for 10 minutes, or until top is brown and dip is hot and bubbly.  Serve warm with tortilla chips, pita chips, carrots or celery.

Seriously though, there’s something so satisfying about eating something that’s both incredibly beautiful and delicious.

Speaking of beautiful, check out these artistic Parisian window displays!

One of my favorite places we ate at was Toraya – a Japanese tea house/French patisserie.  The green tea hot chocolate was amazing (think of a chocolate green tea latte), and the macarons (soy, green tea, black sesame and red bean flavored) were so delicious.  French-Japanese is such an interesting fusion!  I really like the combination of comfort food and clean flavors.

I also loved looking around all of the specialty food stores.  They were all so beautiful (and expensive).  My favorite was probably Hediard.  They had amazing displays of chocolates, fruit pates and wines…but oddly enough I thought their produce display was the most interesting.  It was so colorful, and I couldn’t identify a bunch of the fruits/vegetables.  Definitely inspired me to be more adventurous in 2010!

I know I have been MIA for a while but life got kinda crazy for a while–between starting a new job right and dealing with all the craziness that comes with the holidays, I didn’t have that much time to blog. But life, has hopefully settled down once again and I should be back to regularly blogging.

To end 2009 with a bang, I decided my last blog entry of the year should end with some spice–zippy shrimp tacos! These shrimp tacos have just the right amount of heat to light up all the taste buds in your mouth.

Shrimp Marinade

Mix all the ingredients together. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours (if possible) to marinade. Add the shrimp to a hot pan ans saute for 7-9 minutes until the shrimp are cooked through. Serve with warm tortillas, cheese, and the garnishes below!

Garnishes:

Corn Salsa

Combine all the ingredients together. Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to let the flavors marinate and then it is ready to serve.

Guacamole

Mash the avocado. Add in the lemon juice, salt and garlic. Mix all ingredients together until all ingredients are combined.

Spiced Sour Cream

Mix all the ingredients together and serve.

So, I’m moving to New York this week, and I’m just really not anywhere near ready.  I’ve been making lists of things that I need to pack or do, but as of yet, I haven’t actually packed or done anything.  I think I’m in some sort of denial.  So, instead of doing any of the things I actually needed to do tonight, I ended up baking a denial cake.  

This is totally coincidental, but my denial cake ended up being vegan.  I really wasn’t trying to imply anything there! Just trying to use up leftover pantry items, which didn’t include any eggs or other dairy.  My cake ended up being a vegan, dark chocolate cake made without any refined sugars and with just a bit of olive oil.  I used cake flour (which I normally don’t have on hand), but if you’d like to make this using regular all-purpose flour, you can just add in a bit of cornstarch (add 2 tbsp cornstarch to the bottom of a measuring cup, and then filling the rest of the cup with all purpose flour; this will yield one cup of cake flour).  I also glazed the top with a little vegan dark chocolate “ganache;” I think it made this cake special enough for the holidays.

Oh, and thankfully, this was so incredibly fast and easy to make.  Just one bowl and about a half hour start to finish, including the bake time!  I still have some time for packing :)

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Dark Chocolate (vegan) Ganache

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.

Add in all remaining ingredients and mix well until combined and thickened. 

Pour the batter into an 8″ cake pan that’s been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.   Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the center is set.

Allow the cake to cool completely and invert onto a plate.  Place the bittersweet chocolate and almond/soy milk in a bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir, and if necessary, microwave for additional 10 second intervals until the chocolate is smooth.  Don’t overheat the chocolate.  Place ganache in the center of the cake and using an offset spatula, spread the ganache over the top of the cake leaving a 1/2″ border.  Allow ganache to harden before slicing the cake.

Doughnuts are one of my biggest weaknesses.  They’re one of those foods that I hardly ever eat because I know that if I do eat them even occasionally, I’ll remember how much I love them, and will crave them even more.  I’ve heard of baked doughnuts before, but have never really thought much about them since honestly, the part of doughnuts that makes them irresistible to me  is the fact that they’re fried and crisp on the outside but light on the inside.  Nonetheless, given my attempt to make healthier Chanukah foods (and yes, jelly doughnuts are a Chanukah food), I decided to give it a try.

I opted for ricotta doughnuts because they just sound so good, and since I don’t have one of those jelly-injector things, I needed some way to make these interesting.  Basically, I ended up with these fantastic little things, that basically taste just like you’d imagine baked doughnuts would taste: not a whole lot like doughnuts!  They’re tasty though – airy and moist, not overly sweet, and perfect with coffee, tea, or jam.  They remind me a bit of tea cakes, which is impressive since those are generally made with butter/shortening.  Although these aren’t the decadent fried dessert that doughnuts are, they’re elegant, light and yummy.  

Best of all, they literally take 20 minutes to make.  I don’t think I’ve made anything simpler.  These would be great to whip up for last minute guests – how impressed would your friends be if you brought these out with coffee?!  They stay moist for a few days.

Baked Ricotta Doughnuts

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.  Add in remaining ingredients, and stir until ingredients are just well combined.  Dough will be very sticky.  Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Each doughnut should be about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough.  

Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and sift confectioner’s sugar of the tops of doughnuts.

Note: you could also create a quick glaze with the confectioners sugar – glazing the doughnuts and allowing the glaze to harden might give these a more doughnut-y feel.  Combine 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar with 1 tbsp water and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, mix until smooth and then dip doughnuts into glaze or brush them with the glaze.  Allow glaze to harden before serving.

I love cooking with sweet potatoes.  Not only are they delicious, but they contain fewer carbs than regular potatoes and are filled with vitamins A and C, iron, fiber and antioxidants.  Whenever I have a potato dish that I love, I always try a version using sweet potatoes as a fun alternative.  Obviously, making sweet potato latkes was a no-brainer.  

These latkes are very similar to the regular potato latkes and zucchini latkes that I posted on, but there’s something about the added vanilla bean that really makes these special.  The vanilla makes these potato pancakes rich and delicious, and enhances their sweet flavor.  They’re great on their own, and I loved eating them with non-fat plain yogurt and applesauce, just like the regular potato latkes.

Sweet Potato and Vanilla Bean Latkes (makes about 24 latkes)

Preheat the oven to 425.

Place the shredded onion and potato in the center of a kitchen towel and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Combine the potato and onion in a bowl, slice the vanilla bean in half and using a paring knife, scrape the seeds into the bowl.  Add all remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and spray it with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a tablespoon, place spoonfulls of the potato mixture on the baking sheet, pressing down a bit to create potato pancakes (each baking sheet will fit about 8 pancakes).  Spray the tops of the pancakes lightly with cooking spray.

Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven, flip pancakes, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until pancakes are golden brown.

It’s officially holiday season!  Tonight is the first night of Chanukah, a holiday where you’re supposed to eat fried foods to commemorate the miracle of a small amount of oil burning for 8 nights.  Somehow, the traditional foods that evolved from this are potato latkes (i.e. potato pancakes) and jelly doughnuts.  That sounds pretty good, but Chanukah lasts 8 days, and although I’m a huge proponent of sticking to tradition, 8 days of fried potato and dough can really wreak havoc on your body.  So while I think eating the fried stuff sparingly is fine, if you’d like to lighten up some of your holiday dinners this week (and try some creative twists on traditional foods) then keep up with the blog.  Today’s post is traditional potato latkes and zucchini-lemon latkes, and I’ll be posting on sweet potato-vanilla bean latkes and healthier doughnuts later this weekend!

Tudy already made some delicious potato pancakes that she pan-fried with cooking spray.  I think this is a fantastic alternative to frying the pancakes in a pan full of oil.  Since I’m away from home for the holiday, I’m going to try to make my mom’s latkes (I grew up eating them – they’re delicious and obviously hold a special place in my heart!).  I made one batch fried the traditional way, and another batch baked in the oven, and let me tell you – the baked ones are amazing!!! Just as tasty as the fried latkes, but they use far less oil (I used a little less than 1 tsp. olive oil per 10 pancakes).  They take a bit more time to make, but are very easy and very much worth it!

The zucchini latkes are a lighter take on potato latkes.  Fewer carbs and no oil make them a great healthy alternative, and the lemon flavor makes them absolutely delicious!

Baked Traditional Potato Latkes (makes about 40 small latkes)

Preheat oven to 425.

Peel the potatoes.  Chop the onion and potatoes into about 1″ pieces and place in a blender/food processor.  Puree until just smooth.  In a bowl, combine the potatoes, salt, pepper and egg whites.  Slowly add in the flour, 2 tbsp. at a time, stirring the mixture until it thickens.  

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray and place the pan in the oven for 5 minutes to pre-heat.  Remove pan from the oven, and using a tablespoon, spoon out the potato mixture onto the baking sheet (one baking sheet should fit 10-12 tablespoon-sized pancakes).  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.  

Remove after 10 minutes, and using a pastry brush, brush each side of the potato pancakes with olive oil.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, remove, flip pancakes, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until latkes have turned light brown and crisp.  Serve immediately with applesauce, low-fat sour cream or plain non-fat yogurt.

Lemony Zucchini Latkes (makes about 24 latkes)

Combine the grated zucchini, onion and salt in a bowl.  Let stand for 30 minutes, place in the center of a kitchen towel, and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Place drained zucchini and onion in a bowl and combine with remaining ingredients.  Stir well. 

Spray a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil with non-stick cooking spray and place in the oven for 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven and spoon the zucchini mixture onto the sheet using a tablespoon.  

Each baking sheet should hold about 8 pancakes.  Lightly spray the tops of the zucchini pancakes with cooking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes, flip pancakes, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until latkes are golden brown all over.  Serve with non-fat yogurt/low-fat sour cream and/or applesauce.

One of my favorite meals growing up was my mom’s version of spagetti and meatballs. However, my mom’s version didn’t involve meatballs, it was all about the fabulous meat sauce she made. The secret to the sauce was the cinnamon she added: ) Well I basically took her meat sauce and made a few changes that made it much lower in fat without losing any of the flavor. I simply ommitted the butter and substituted ground turkey for the ground beef. I also boosted the vitamin content by adding some fresh sliced mushrooms to the sauce. If you don’t like mushrooms feel free to add your favorite vegetable, like peppers or corn!

Meat Sauce:

Heat olive oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot add the onion and mushrooms. Saute for 5 minutes. Then add garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Finally, add ground turkey and saute for 5-7 minutes until turkey is browned. Then add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes to let sauce thicken. Top with your favorite pasta and enjoy!