Tag Archives: spicy

Loaded Thai Sweet Potatoes

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Julie • 10 Comments

It’s been an incredibly busy – but great – couple of weeks. Work has been insane (this is normal) and I have finally made room in my routine to incorporate almost daily workouts (this is not normal). Since my bike accident back in May, I’ve spiraled a bit. The torn ligaments in my back just nagged and nagged, often leaving me nearly in tears by the middle of a workday and with absolutely no energy to even go out for a walk by the end of it. On top of the injury, I’m allergic to all anti-inflammatory painkillers (Advil, etc.), so all the doctors could really tell me to do was ice it a lot and try to find time to lie around doing nothing until it felt better (have we met? My name is Julie and I am pathologically unable to lie around doing nothing).

I will regretfully admit to feeling a little bit sorry for myself, even while trying not to lose sight of the fact that it could have been a hundred times worse. I didn’t break anything, my head was blessedly undamaged (thanks, helmet!), and I am fortunate to have good health insurance through work that kept this from becoming a financial nightmare. But even cooking became a chore for those couple of months, as prolonged standing and twisting around in the kitchen would end up quite literally bringing me to my knees. I worked hard to keep my routine normal, to keep updating the blog, to tell people I was feeling 100% when I was nowhere close, but it took a toll.

… [click for recipe and more]

Filed Under: Main Dish, Side Dishes, Vegan

Vegetarian Five Bean Chili

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Julie • 4 Comments

Look, I like spring. Who doesn’t? New life in the air, the bitter chill of winter replaced by the still-crisp promise of coming warmth, the hardiest of crocuses fighting their way up through the solid remnants of the last frost…that’s all well and good, but here’s my problem:

IT’S NOT SPRING.

Today is the first of February, and I’ve just been informed by my usually dour but suddenly cheery local meteorologist that it’ll be 67 degrees today. Tell me that on the first of April? I’ll be ecstatic. But right now, I feel cheated of my winter. Where are my evenings huddled under blankets with mugs of spiced (and spiked, obviously) cider? Where are my hushed mornings laced with the whisper of falling snow? Most importantly, where is my chance to ceaselessly mock the panicked hordes buying the grocery stores out of toilet paper and bread? No, I’m not ready for spring yet, and I will kick, scream, stubbornly wear my winter coat, and make hearty comfort food until 11:59 on March 19th. So there, spring.

I’m sharing my favorite chili recipe on this particular day, a 67-degree February day, as an act of peaceful protest against this winter’s apparent desire to go out like a lamb without ever really roaring in. I will call it Occupy: Winter. When we get two feet of snow in three weeks, you’ll likely point me back to this post and laugh, but I’ll just be patting myself on the back for a successful campaign.

All bitterness about floundering winters aside, I can eat this chili in any weather (although you might want to ask me again halfway through a DC July). It has a ton of flavor, and is extraordinarily hearty for a vegetarian chili thanks to its two special ingredients – peanut butter and cocoa powder. No, before you ask, I did not have a glass of wine and accidentally shuffle my chili recipe with my peanut butter cup recipe – I know it sounds strange, but these two additions make this chili everything wonderful that it is. Although you can’t taste it, the peanut butter adds a rich flavor that tempers the heat, and the cocoa a subtle depth and beautiful color. Together with five different beans, you can taste winter in every bite, even when it’s 67 degrees. Something you can also taste? An incredibly easy one-pot meal that’s perfect for Super Bowl Sunday.

… [click for recipe and more]

Filed Under: Main Dish, Vegan