Recipe: Sweet Potato Chili With Polenta

Chocolate-Covered Katie's yummy-looking version

Warning! I have served this dish twice to my boys, and both times they gobbled it up!

(The following is a riff on "Chocolate-Covered Katie"'s recipe and Rose Reisman's from her vegetarian cookbook which seems to be out of print.)

Chili
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-2 med. zucchini, diced
- 2-3 sweet potatoes, cubed
- half a fennel (anise) bulb, finely chopped

- 1-2 cans kidney beans
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- appx. 1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups stock, chicken or veggie

- 1 tbs chili powder, or to taste
- 1 tbs ground cumin, or to taste (myself, I usually use a lot)
- salt, if desired

1. To prep the fennel, cut the bulb in half lengthwise and remove the feathery fronds. Then, remove the solid core of the bulb, cutting an upside-down "V"and prying it out. Thinly slice the de-cored half bulb, and finely chop.

2. Prep the other veggies.

3. Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are soft. Chili often tastes even better when the flavours marry a bit --so make a big batch and eat it more than once!

Polenta
Chili over polenta was a big hit, but I have also served it over brown rice. (Toast is a great alternative when time is short.)

- 3 cups stock, chicken or veggie
- 1 cup polenta
- salt, if desired

1. Bring stock to a boil. Add polenta, and simmer gently for appx. 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes before serving.

What's your favourite vegetarian chili recipe?

Recipe Link: Pumpkin Pancakes

AllRecipes.com

At ball hockey after school today, a friend brought out some leftover pumpkin pancakes for snacks for the younger siblings watching on the sidelines. Obviously, these were room-temperature and un-dressed (i.e. plain). The kids gobbled them up!

What! Something yummy that contains a vegetable, and that my kids love to eat?! And it can work as breakfast, lunch, dinner or anything in between?!? I'm in!!

I found a recipe from All Recipes here. Thanks, "Ladybug"!

Recipe Link: Tofu Nuggets

Looking for an alternative to the over-processed chicken nugget? I just found this recipe for Tofu Nuggets and thought I'd share the link.  It looks pretty easy. My guys actually don't go for chicken nuggets, but I think I'll give this a try! Let me know how you find it!

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/cooking-ideas/10-flavor-packed-tofu-recipes-weight-loss?page=5

Veggie Mama: Salmon Cakes and Spinach Dumplings

A lot of us are trying to add more meat-free cooking to our family meal roster. But sometimes "going veg" with kids seems like the domestic equivalent of firing a volley across the nose of a hostile opponent: conflict is sure to result.

We ourselves are a "non-religious" vegetarian household, meaning that we cook vegetarian but we will eat meat if it's offered to us. One time when I mentioned we were having tofu for dinner, a friend commented with admiration, "Wow! How do you get your boys to eat tofu?" To which I replied, "I never said that my guys were going to eat it. Just that I was serving it for dinner!" Ha, ha.

But in serving my men-folk lentils and rice, beans of all types and, yes, tofu, day in and day out, I've learned that:
1. I have a 50-50 chance of my almost-five-year-old turning up his nose at pretty much anything I put in front of him (unless it's pizza or spaghetti) so I just need to have a thick skin;

2. repeat exposure changes attitudes (i.e. the first time I serve something new, often no one likes it; but by the third or fourth time, there are converts);

3. it doesn't have to be a big deal. There are so many ways to go veg that meals don't have to look "weird" or be obviously vegetarian.

I'll continue to share recipe ideas that have been a hit with my crew, but here are two to get us started:

http://parentscanada.com/food/quick-and-easy-dinners/crispy-salmon-sweet-potato-cakes.aspx

Everyone really liked the Crispy Salmon Sweet Potato Cakes that I found in Parents Canada magazine in the March/April 2011 issue. (I should note that in addition to being a "lacto-ovo" vegetarian --meaning I love my dairy!-- I also cook fish. Not really vegetarian, but there it is.) You can get the recipe on-line here. They're also pretty low-fat.

If you don't feel like making patties, my mom made this recipe as a loaf. She boiled the sweet potatoes along with potatoes for another meal, then mashed all the ingredients together, including the breadcrumbs. Baked, and voila! Super tasty. (And it's also great as a cold sandwich filling.)

Another favourite was the Steamed Spinach Dumplings recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly book Vegie Food: Low-Fat & Delicious. (Yes, the Australian Women's Weekly --apparently they have the good recipe books, or so said the woman at the cooking paraphernalia shop where I bought this. And it seems they also spell "veggie" without the second "g.") The book is available on Amazon.

In short --and so as to not infringe on copyright-- you make balls from spinach, ricotta, egg, flour and seasoning and then steam them. 

I served these dumplings with a tomato sauce over pasta. Though my pre-schooler declined, my two toddlers inhaled them. In fact, the dumplings were so good that even my non-vegetarian in-laws asked for the recipe!

I give two thumbs up for this entire cookbook. If you feel like your vegetarian repertoire is in a bit of a slump, Vegie Food gives some really fresh ideas.

Anyone else have vegetarian recipe hits to share?