Three-bean Seitan Chili

As many of you know, a few month ago I participated in the Whole Foods plant-based diet challenge. I loved the way I felt, the energy I had and the weight I lost but since Corey wasn’t really on board for it, we slowly went back to eating a lot of animal products. I missed the screening of the documentary Forks Over Knives when they showed it for our challenge but had since heard so many great things about that when it popped up on Netflix I was excited to get a second chance and begged Corey to watch it with me (he politely obliged). I don’t want to spoil it but I’ll just tell you it was so compelling Corey looked at me and said “I want to start having most of our meals be vegan from now on.” HOLY CHEESE BEANS AND RICE!!! I wish we had watched it sooner. Not only is the information unbelievably compelling, it is a well done documentary. It is not biased, just simply showing results from studies done on the American diet, and it is appalling. Please watch it if you can, I guarantee you will change the way you eat.

(Source)

In other news, it was my b-day last week! People are so nice on your b-day, it’s quite refreshing. I capitalized on the day as much as I could, stretching it out over two weeks. Corey did not disappoint either. He sent these gorgeous flowers to my office….

And we went out to one of our fave restaurants, Province, with some of our friends – sorry no pic, we were busy eating 🙂 Annnnnd he got me this delicious cake…

…although there was some kind of misunderstanding that my name ‘Jessica’ was to be shorted to ‘Jess’ and the cake decorator heard ‘Jeff’. So I got a ‘Happy B-day Jeff’ cake! haha Corey was not happy but it made for a great story. We finished off the festivities with a Sox game, front row right behind home plate – I must confess though, I’m not really a baseball fan but I am a fan of free food and drinks 🙂

So in keeping with our new plant-based lifestyle, I decided to try a classic three-bean chili with a little vegan twist by adding some ground seitan. I had the opportunity to try some of Grimmway Farms fresh carrots and I knew this would be the perfect recipe for them! Fresh ingredients really do go a long way and these did not disappoint.

Ingredients:

•  1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
•  1/2 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 oz. package of vegan seitan finely diced (I used Upton’s Naturals, so far my favorite brand of seitan and the closest texture to meat. Obviously you can substitute meat for this or leave it out all together)
•  1 15 oz. can tomato sauce and 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 4 medium sized carrots, diced (I used Grimmway Farms carrots which were delish!)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Lightly brown the seitan in a separate pan.

2. Saute bell peppers and carrots for about 10 minutes then add the onions and continue cooking until the onions become a translucent gold color.

3. Add garlic and jalapenos and cook 1-2 minutes.

4. Combine lightly browned seitan and remaining ingredients into pot.  Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Vegetable Lasagna Rolls (Vegetarian)

I love this recipe because it looks complicated but it’s so easy to make. Come back Monday for a review and giveaway opportunity for the low carb pasta I used in this recipe! Have a great weekend! 🙂

Ingredients

• Onions, thinly sliced
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1/2 medium eggplant, cut into small pieces
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 box of Dreamfields lasagna noodles
• ricotta cheese
• Mozzarella cheese
• 3 cups of your choice of tomato sauce
• Olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or a heaping handful of fresh basil)
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• Optional: sauteed spinach
• Tomato sauce – you can use your own or use the recipe below

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Start cooking pasta noodles according to directions on box. When you drain and rinse be sure to add some oil so they don’t stick together.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the onions, garlic, basil and some S&P. Saute until tender (about 10 minutes or until browned) then add carrots, eggplant, and peppers and saute another 10-15 minutes. Add spinach if using cook for another 5 minutes or so. (I didn’t add spinach but I wish I had)

4. Add cheese and stir until thoroughly mixed.

5. Coat baking dish with non-stick spray and spread a cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish. Take one lasagna sheet and add a sizable dollop of the veggie/cheese mixture, then roll up into a roll. My dollop was about 1/2 cup, give or take. Place the roll seem-side down in the baking dish on top of the tomato sauce. Repeat until baking dish is full then add remaining tomato sauce on top of rolls.

5. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for about an hour. Remove the foil and continue baking until browned and bubbling, about 10-15 minutes. Remove and let sit for a few minutes, then serve. You can add some parmesan cheese on top if desired….which I desired!

Homemade Tomato Sauce

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup of low sodium chicken or veggie broth (you can also use water if you don’t have broth)
• 2 tablespoon of fresh chopped basil
• 1 tablespoon of oregano

Directions

Heat oil in  a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots, garlic and salt and saute for about a minute. Add tomatoes and broth (or water). Bring to a simmer, then decrease heat to low and simmer stirring frequently until it reaches desired consistency. I like mine a bit thinker so out of lack of patience I increased the heat to a gentle boil to thicken it up a bit. Finally, add basil and oregano, stir and remove from heat.