Black Bean Chili with Chocolate

OK, Ladies and Gentlemen... Here is the newest chili we (and I mean Brecken) put together.

Brecken grabbed this bad boy off the internet and made a few changes to make it awesome.

Here is the dirt.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

*2 tablespoons olive oil
*1 large white onion, peeled and chopped
*1 tbsp minced garlic
*12 oz carrots, peeled and chopped
*12 oz stalks celery, chopped
*4 jalapenos minced
*12 cups black beans, with liquid
*12 cups of fire roasted tomatoes
*1/4 cup tablespoons chili powder
*3 teaspoon cumin
*2 teaspoon cinnamon
*1/4 cup cocoa powder
*2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil over a medium flame in a large soup pot. Add onions and sauté for 1-2 minutes, then add garlic and sauté for another minute.
2. Add carrots, celery, and hot chile to the pot along with the beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon. Stir well, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and mix in the cocoa powder and optional grated chocolate. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary, before serving.
4. Serve as is, or topped with garnishes such as shredded cheddar cheese, minced green onions, minced cilantro, diced avocado, fresh salsa, and/or sour cream.

The original recipe called for a little dark chocolate too, but it wasn't added to ours.
*2 tablespoons 60-70% dark chocolate, preferably organic and fair-trade, grated- optional


Let us know what you think.  We will do this one again!

The Soup Collaboration

Time for some soup.  I promised something like this for a few weeks now.... it is time to deliver.

Brecken and I made a tasty little number today.  It was a Sweet Potato "Bisque."   Technically, it was a cream soup, but bisque sounds cooler.  Brecken is the type of cook that likes to find a recipe, try it and then make some changes.  I'm the kind of guy who likes to toss of bunch of junk into a pot and keep adding stuff until it tastes right.  Together, we made a damn good soup.  This recipe is vegan, quite yummy and wicked easy.


Brecken is the little vegetarian angel on your left shoulder and I'm the bacon eating devil on the right.  Keep in mind this was a restaurant quantity recipe, but it should be easy to scale down to a smaller size.  You can always make a big batch and freeze what you don't eat. 

Ingredients:

5 pounds of sweet potatoes
6 cups of fire roasted tomatoes
2 TBSP veggie base
32 cups water
1 cup of canned corn
1/2 TBSP of oregano
1/2 TBSP of Pepper
1 TBSP of salt
32 oz box of Rice Dream Soy Milk


Skin and wash the sweet potatoes.  Dice into 1" cubes.  We deep fried the potatoes simply for speed, but you can microwave or bake until tender.  You can even just dice these guys up and put them right into the stock pot.

Get a large stock pot and place it over a medium heat.

Add all of the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to a slow boil.  If you didn't pre-cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave or oven then you will need to boil everything until the spuds are soft.

After everything has softened up, it is time to blend this hot mess into a creamy delicious soup.  We have the pleasure of working with a giant immersion blender, so we used that.  If you don't have one, you can spoon out the chunks and toss them into any old food processor and rip them up until smooth. 

That is it.  This would be a great crock pot recipe too.  Just toss everything in the crock and head off to work.  When you get home it will be ready to blend and eat.  Your house will smell great too.

I would highly recommend buying an immersion blender if you don't have one.  They are very cheap and can be used for just about anything from hot sauce ;) to smoothies.  It is, with out a doubt, the most used piece of equipment in the Matador kitchen. 

This soup was very easy and it will be very easy to customize.  We simply wanted to make something vegan, but not spicy. You can add millions of things to this basic recipe to make it more fun. 


Personally, I tossed some bacon on my bowl..... loved it.  I also made a cheese Quesadilla.  It was like eating a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup.  Nice fall flavors.  Warming, delicious and nutritious.


Let us know if you try it.  Tell us what you added or changed so we can try it too. I'm sure Brecken and I will be getting together for more fun recipes in the future.  If you have something you want to share, let us know and we will put our spin on it.  Either way, keep your eyes open for our next adventure. 

Cheers
Brecken and Paul

June 12th

One of our Facebook posters keeps mentioning that we should get some spicy baked tofu on the menu.  Well, that sounds like something I should try, so I did.  I found this recipe on the interweb.  They have the internet on computers now. 

Spicy Baked Tofu

Ingredients:

• 1 14-ounce package Organic Extra Firm Tofu, pressed, drained and sliced into 12 1/2″-pieces
• 3 tablespoons Thai Kitchen Spicy Thai Chili Sauce Marinade
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1″ piece ginger root, grated

Instructions:

 

Toss everything (except the tofu) into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

 

press tofu to remove extra moisture (standard technique there)

slice tofu block into 12 equal pieces

in a small flat bottom bowl, marinade the tofu (in the sauce you set aside) the for at least an hour.

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

bake tofu for 60 minutes, turning tofu over every 20 minutes

I followed the recipe almost exactly. I couldn't find the Thai Kitchen brand sauce so I substituted that with "House of Tsang" brand Szechuan Spicy Stir-Fry Sauce.

After pressing and cutting the tofu, I simply put it back into the original container so it could marinade

I made sure to get the sauce in-between the slices so it coated evenly.  

I cooked up some rice and steamed up a pile of veggies to put under the spicy tofu.

I actually made a second batch of the marinade and drizzled it over the top of the plate.  This little lunch was very easy to make. It did take a over an hour, but most of that time was waiting for it to bake.  Actual work time was probably less that 10 minutes.  

That marinade/sauce was flat out awesome.  It was so good that I licked the bowl clean.  Even the meat eaters in your life would enjoy this meal.  It did have a little spice, but my kiddos ate it with no problem.  

I didn't really intend to lean towards an Asian flair, but since the spicy tofu was suggested by a Maty fan, I gave it a run.  I'm really glad I did.  

I'm going to tuck the Asian sauce recipe into my go to bag.  

This recipe is very easy and very good. 

More to come next time. I have a black bean and quinoa enchilada recipe that I can't wait to try.

June 11th

Sorry for the lack of blog activity the last few days.  I have just been too busy to cook anything fun.  Luckily, it is really easy for me to grab a veggie burrito at Maty. 

I have always loved a good salad.  Here is my lunch from the other day. 


One big fat salad.

Snow peas, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, red onion, a few grinds of black pepper, and some Smart Bacon.  I fried up the bacon and tossed it in a little bit of this...

I also added a little drizzle of Blue Cheese Dressing.  It was amazing.  One great thing about having all of these veggies around is that I can make an amazing salad in no time.  That Smart Bacon really topped it off.  I was actually hunting through the bowl trying to find the fake bacon bits. 

Great mental note to myself here.... Use the meat sub (Smart Bacon) as an accent to a dish and don't try to make it the main ingredient.



Now for a real recipe.  Carrot and Beet burgers.

I got this recipe from Emily.  She is a Matador customer, and a flat out fantastic person.

Here is her recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 cup sunflower seeds

2 cups peeled grated beets (1-2 medium beets)

2 cups grated carrots (about 4 carrots)

1/2 cup minced onion (about 1 medium onion)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (or cilantro)

1/2 cup flour

2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Butter or oil for greasing the baking sheet.

Directions

1. Cook the brown rice.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a baking sheet spray cooking oil.

3. Place a small, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and stir them on the dry skillet just until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely to avoid burning them. Immediately remove from heat and transfer the toasted seeds to a dish to cool.

 4. Return the skillet to the heat. Add the sunflower seeds and stir them on the dry skillet just until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely to avoid burning them. Immediately transfer them to the dish with the sesame seeds.

Use a Cuisinart! Do the beets and carrots first then transfer to a bowl and bleed with the soy sauce. drain liquid after a while then add a little additional soy sauce and then add oil.  Meanwhile, rinse Cuisinart and do garlic, then onion, then cilantro (or parsley) and then transfer to drained carrot/beets.  

5. Combine the beets, carrots, and onion in a large bowl. Stir in the toasted sunflower and sesame seeds, eggs, rice, cheddar cheese, oil, flour, parsley, soy sauce or tamari, and garlic. Add cayenne and mix until thoroughly combined. (add flour one tablespoon at a time). 

 

6. Using your hands, shape the mixture into 12 patties and arrange them in rows on the baking sheet.

7. Bake the patties until brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Flip at 20 and let cook 5 more minutes on the other side. 

Makes 12 patties.

I followed her recipe exactly.  Well, almost.  I did four times the amount of cayenne powder.  I wanted a little more pop.  I can't help it. I need the heat. I used cilantro instead of parsley.  Lastly, I used a Cheddar/Jack blend for the cheese.  I don't think any of my substitutes would make a difference in the over all recipe.

I topped it off with some Creamy Swiss Cheese.  A side of vegetarian baked beans and dinner was served.

I had a little bit of trouble cooking the patties, but nothing I couldn't handle.  I ended up with 9 burgers instead of 12 so I had to cook them a little bit longer.  It wasn't a big deal, but that was the only snag I came across.  Better portions next time and it isn't a problem.

The final result was great.  While making this, my mind was racing with new ideas.  This recipe is wide open for twists and turns.  You can just about add anything your heart desires to this base recipe.  Just like the Sloppy Joes from last week, you can take this recipe and play.  That is exactly what I was hoping for.  Recipes I could just use what I had on hand and goof off.

Diced Jalapenos
Quinoa
smart bacon bits (must be amazing)
BBQ sauce
Emily suggested topping it with avocado and pepper jack cheese or fresh mozzarella.

You could just about do any burger idea on these.  Mushroom Swiss, Smothered Green Chili,  Bacon Cheese burger, fried egg, or whatever.  Hit your favorite burger place and steal some ideas.  My favorite burger place is Stuft.  I just pulled up their online menu and the list of ideas is endless.

Make it vegan by skipping the egg and cheese.  Maybe toss in some cashew cheese instead of the egg to help bind it. 

It would be very easy to make it gluten free. I always use corn flour instead of wheat flour anyway.  It gives everything a new layer of flavor.  Skip the soy sauce and go for tamari, kill the bun and BINGO! You have  gluten free dinner.

So, not only is this recipe a good meal, it is also a great starting place if you want to get a little crazy and try some new stuff. I'm not a big fan of beets.  They always seem to have a little to much of an "earthy" taste them.  I was a little hesitant to try it but Emily really sold me on it.  I wasn't disappointed. 

You should make sure you have some latex or vinyl gloves on hand before you make this.  Working with beets stains your skin.  It looked like I butchered a herd of farm animals when I was done. 

The delivery driver from Ft Collins Brewery (Justin) is starting his own hot sauce business.  He has a Beet and Jalapeno hot sauce that he let us try.  It was really good.  We have a bottle of it behind the line at Matador.  If you want to give it a try, let us know.  We would love to share.  With any luck, he will be in full production very soon.  I will make sure to promote his business on our Facebook page when he is up and running.  

One funny side note.... The Matador softball team played against the Stuft softball team tonight.  It was a really fun game and even better because we won.  Sorry, Stuft. 

I have a hot enchilada recipe in my back pocket that I will cook next.  Stay tuned.

June 7th (only a few days left)

I'm quickly running out of time.  On one hand, I'm excited to get some meat back in my diet. On the other hand, I'm bummed.  I still have the need to keep playing with veggie foods and I hope I don't get away from cooking in this direction too fast.  The pork has a stronger pull than the veggies have.....

I watch way too much Food Network, and there are a few guys I would consider as "go to" guys.  My top three are Alton Brown, Tyler Florence and Bobby Flay.  I love how Alton Brown makes it a food lesson.  It is all about the how and why.  Even when he is talking about something you don't care about, you learn something about food that you can use later.  Tyler Florence is fired up about everything and he gets me excited to try new stuff.  Bobby Flay is the king of the grill and peppers, and those are two of my favorite things.  I mention these guys because I have tried many of their recipes in the past and I think their stuff matches my taste the best. 

I prefer to look towards a professional chef when I look for new recipes.  I have tried a ton of things on "home cook" style sharing websites and they are really hit or miss.  Nothing against a home cook/chef, but if your going to take a stab in the dark on a new recipe then you should look to someone who has a million dollar network behind them. Having said that, I have the good fortune to know some people that should probably have their own network.....

Onward towards kale!

A few days ago, I mentioned that I purchased some kale but didn't get a chance to try it yet.  Jill posted a salad recipe that I really wanted to try, but didn't get a chance to do yet.  I can hopefully get make it tomorrow.  I need to grab some ingredients so I can do it right.  Here is what she posted (if you don't read the blog comments)

I love kale, it's my new thing. I've a kale salad I LOVE..
In a small bowl whisk 1TBS. olive oil, 1Tbs. Dijon mustard and 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar.Season with course salt/pepper.  In another bowl, combine 3 cups mixed shredded kale and red cabbage, 1 peeled and julienned carrot,1/4 c. fresh parsley leaves. 2 Tbs. diced red onion and 2 Tbs. each sunflower, pumpkin, and hemp seeds. 3. Season with coarse salt and pepper, drizzle with dressing and toss to eat! YUM....I use 2-3 different kinds of kale in this. It's delish..

It sounds great and she is a rock star, so I know it will be great.  I will make it tomorrow.


Now for the recipe I did get to try.  Bobby Flay had the first one I looked at, so I ran with it.  This is his sauteed kale recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds young kale, stems and leaves coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft, but not colored. Raise heat to high, add the stock and kale and toss to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar.

I went heavy on the pepper and topped it off with a touch of Parmesan cheese.  It was fantastic. 

It was a big batch and I killed it all (by myself).  It would make a great side dish to any meal and I would highly recommend it. 

More to come tomorrow.  Cheers

Tuesday June 5th

I started off the day stealing this recipe

http://bicyclingvegan.blogspot.com/2012/06/tempeh-joes.html

Sloppy Joes, vegetarian style.

I followed her recipe fairly closely.  By the way, she is a Matador regular and someone I have been plastering with questions every time I see her.  She has been a vegan for years. Her blog is packed with hundreds of ideas and recipes.  I have read tons of her stuff, and snagged lots of ideas.  If your a veggie head, you should subscribe to her blog.

Anyhow, here is her recipe for Vegan Joes

1 block tempeh (use gluten-free tempeh for gluten-free joes)
Olive oil
At least 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 can diced tomato
1/2-1 can tomato paste
up to 1 c water
4 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder (or 1/4 c onion diced)
1 t salt
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
Optional: pepper


The substitutes I used....
Fire roasted tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes
granulated garlic instead of powder (I think it has more pop)
8 oz (1 cup) of diced red onion instead of onion powder
cayenne pepper instead of chili powder (I also doubled it so I could get some heat)

Since I used fresh red onion instead of powder, I started by cooking that first.  The onion was slowly sauteed until it was a dark golden brown then I followed her directions.

I toasted my bun and added a sprinkle of extra sharp cheddar cheese.

This little guy was was the result.

My mom cranked out some great Sloppy Joes when I was growing up, but I will be honest, I have grown to hate the idea of a Sloppy Joes.  Maybe school lunches made me hate them or perhaps the years of horrible Manwich commercials have scarred me for life.  I just can't understand why images of kids with crap smeared all over their faces would be a good marketing campaign.  For some dumb reason, the idiots in the marketing department at Manwich think that makes people hungry for their red, sugar filled crap.

Seriously, the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup, the forth ingredient is corn syrup and then a little later down the list... they even add sugar.  Their newest marketing campaign says its healthy because there is "a full serving of vegetables in every can."  I think that stupid little can of garbage represents all that is wrong with America. 

Putting all of my dislike for Manwich aside..... I enjoyed the Veggie Joes.  If I was going to do the recipe again, I would try to add a little more tempeh.  Probably two blocks instead of one.  However, when I look at her blog pictures it seems like her batch has a lot more tempeh than mine did.  I probably picked up a smaller "block" than she had.

There was nothing wrong with that lunch.  I would happily try it again.


See you next time, Cheers

June 4th update

Three weeks down, only one week to go.  There is no way I can get enough cooking in over the next 7 days to satisfy my original plan.  I won't continue my all vegetarian diet past my 30 days, but I will keep cooking vegetarian stuff.  I don't mind it for myself, but I don't want to be a bother to the people around me.  I just haven't tried enough stuff to satisfy my desire for learning.


I spent most of Sunday helping people move into a new home.  Doughnuts for breakfast, cheese pizza for lunch and fast food bean burrito for dinner.  Horrible diet, but at least I ate less than I normally would have.

Onward to Monday.  I was trying to go all veggie, no meat subs today.

I hit the local grocery store and picked up just about every vegetable I could find.  I planned on making a giant stir fry to pile on a bed of rice.  Rice is always great, and I have cooked a ton of it.  We have a little 6 cup rice cooker that we use all of the time.  I love just tossing junk in there and trying new stuff.  Besides, when a rice recipe doesn't work, you can just add hot sauce and get something edible.  You can never loose with rice. 

Tonight's rice was a little asian/mexican fusion.  1 1/2 cup rice, 3 cups water, 1 tbsp ancho paste, pinch of salt, about 5 grinds of pepper, 1 tbsp of veggie base and 2 tbsp of soy sauce.  Hit the button and bingo.

My stir fry wasn't really a stir fry.  I used a wok, but I prefer to steam my veggies rather than fry them. 

1 red onion
1 red pepper
1 shallot
5 cloves of garlic
1 yellow pepper
1 little bag of snow peas
1 bunch of broccoli
2 tbsp of ground ginger
1 zucchini
2 heads of baby bok choy

I fired up the wok with a little olive oil.  When it was smoking hot, I added the onion, red & yellow peppers, shallot and garlic.  I cooked them until they were golden brown and delicious.  Well more than most stir fry recipes would call for, but I wanted the onions to mellow and sweeten so the kids would grub them.  After about 10 minutes, I added the peas, broccoli, zucchini and ginger.  At this point, I put in about a cup of teriyaki sauce and dropped the lid on.  This is where I was looking to steam the veggies.  A few more minutes and I tossed in the bok choy to finish.  I move the veggies up the side and just let the teriyaki reduce and steam the veggies.  Lovin it.

Of course I put a little Sriracha sauce on there.

I think every bit of food in the world exists so you can put sauce on it.  I love teriyaki, but I hate how everything has high fructose corn syrup in it.  I decided to make my own.

I clicked on Tyler Florence's first recipe and went with it.

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• Juice of 2 oranges
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced
• 1/2 cup scallion, chopped
• 2 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

I skipped the sesame oil because I didn't have any, and I didn't want to buy it.  It had some good flavor, but I think it would work better as a marinade.  I will continue my quest for a great teriyaki sauce, and keep you posted

I made some chicken in another pan for my kids to add to their dinners.  I really wanted to try it..... It looked and smelled amazing.  My wife tried to play it down and said it was just OK.  She is a liar.

I cut some chicken breasts into cubes and just let it braise is a stock of soy sauce, garlic, pepper, and a Carolina BBQ sauce I made a few days ago.  My mouth is watering just thinking about that sauce.  The kids ripped it to shreds and my wife didn't say much during dinner because her mouth was full.

We all left the table happy.


I picked up a pile of kale but I didn't think it would work with the rest of the dinner so I will give that a run tomorrow.


More to come next time....

June the twooth

I'm still very disappointed in the amount of new recipes I have been able to try over the last week or so.  Work has been crazy busy this week.

Writing that makes me think that all I'm doing is making excuses.  Eating unhealthy food is very easy.  Never enough time to do it right so most people take the easy way out and eat junk.  My junk intake has been much lower during this quest, but by healthy eating standards, it is still lower than I would like.

Vegetarians sure do need to be committed to pull it off.  Not only for themselves, but if you live or hang out with people that aren't vegetarians then they need to help you out.  We snagged a pizza from Mama Roni's today.  Normally we would have just grabbed a pepperoni and ripped it to shreds. Today, we had to make it a veggie.... It was still the best pizza in town (in my humble opinion), but I felt bad that the meat eaters had to go out of their way for me.

I really dig Mama Roni's Pizza.  In all honesty, I know the owners, I think they are great people and I like their pies.  Back in the franchise taco days, we were interested in doing some delivery.  I needed some advise and I didn't know where to turn.  I decided to call my favorite pizza place and ask for help.  That's right, I did love the food before I knew them.  They invited me to come down and check out their operations.  They had no clue who I was or what I was doing, but they still offered to help me out.  In the middle of a crazy day, they sat down with me and answered every question I had.  They didn't need to give me the time of day, and  I wouldn't have been offended if they told me to shove it.  That is what you call good people.  Funny how the little things make a huge impact.  I didn't intend to use this blog as a platform for advertising, and that wasn't the intent of my story. Today just reminded me of a few things... I work with some really good people that go out of their way to help a guy out.  I also have the good fortune to be in the same business with some really good people that go out of their way to help a guy out.

Back to the food.

I was chatting with a customer about superfoods today.  Those foods that are just flat out so good for you that you should eat them every chance you get.  The top ten on most lists are

yogurt
eggs
nuts
kiwi
quinoa
beans (black are best)
salmon
broccoli
sweet potatoes
berries

Take salmon off the list and you have a veggie paradise.  Everything on that list also tastes great so they are all a slam dunk.  Some other lists have great foods I think should be included too.  I would toss these into a master list of amazing foods.

avocado (but you already knew that)
hot peppers (duh)
barley ;)
horseradish
cabbage
spinach (or dark leafy greens)
onions (red, white, yellow, shallots, and garlic)
spices like cinnamon, pepper, oregano, ginger and mustard
nuts
chocolate (the darker the better)

Sure, your personal tastes could kick one or two things off that list, but the vast majority of great foods taste great too.  A few years ago, my wife and I decided that every time we go to the store we will always just grab some random fruit or veggie while we are there. Want it or not, we just made better food available.  Fun times are had with fruit.

Bottom line, eat all of those any chance you get.


More to come next time.


Cheers

May 30th and 31st

I'm more than half way done with my 30 day run on a vegetarian diet.  I haven't had a chance to do anything great in the kitchen.  My last two days have really just been filled with whatever food I can grab.  Unless something really changes, I won't have any chance of getting what I want out of this.  Even though my 30 day veggie quest will run out, I will keep working on vegetarian food after I'm done.  I have just been too busy to give this as much time as I want to give.  

I don't really have any great food experiences over the last few days, but I did want to share some recipes.  Before I hit some recipes, let me give you a quick run down of what I ate.

Breakfast was simply some egg and potato burritos at Matador.  I flat out love the Maple Jalapeno hot sauce.  Vegetarian or not, that stuff rocks.  I'm sorry to pimp out our stuff, but that sauce is great.  I just can't get enough of it.  I really like the breakfast sausage TVP from Harmony Foods.  You can get it at Vitamin Cottage, Sunflower and Whole Foods.  There may be some other stores in the Fort, but I know these guys have it.  If you want a breakfast meat sub, then that is the winner.

I made a few enchiladas over the last few days.  I'm a huge fan of an avocado and cheese enchilada.  A customer recommended that to me a while back, and I'm glad I tried it.  The standard cheese and onion enchilada works just fine too, but I find myself looking for more.  Rice & cheese, beans & cheese and even a grilled veggie & cheese enchilada rank higher than just cheese & onions.

Avocado and sweet potatoes have been my best friends over the last few days.  In the back of my mind, I know they are great foods that are really good for me, so I eat the crap out of them.  I'm sorry to mention Matador food again, but since we have so many sauces, I can have something totally different every day.

I'm loving summer.  This is fresh fruit season and I can just grab great fruit everywhere.

Now for some recipes.  I'm not going to give out any Maty recipes here, but I will toss out some great stuff I have tried.  After all, I have a business to run here.  If I told you all of our secrets, there would be no need for you to give us your money.  ;)

This is an enchilada sauce from Alton Brown.  That dude is a  food king.

• 2 dried chipotle chiles, stems and seeds removed, diced
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted cumin seeds, freshly ground
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 3 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

I always have a can of chipotle in adobo.  I sub out the dried chiles for a few of those.  Just toss everything in a blender, give it a spin, then off to a sauce pan.  Let it simmer for 10 minutes.  Bingo.

Make your own soft corn tortillas.

You can buy this little guy at just about any kitchen store on the planet. It is under $20. 

1 cup of corn flour (masa harina)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

You simply can't get any easier than that.  Fresh, simple, and no additives or preservative.  It is also a ton of fun for the kids.


My favorite guacamole

• 3 avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced ( I like a red onion)
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

 Just toss everything into a bowl and mash the crap out of it.  I love to zest the lime and add that to the mix.  There isn't anything wrong with tossing a jalapeno or habanero into the recipe. 


I will toss out some more recipes soon.  Give these a try and let me know what you think.

May 28th and 29th

Well, I'm just a little past the half way point.  It is looking like I'm running out of time.  I have way too many ideas and things I want to try before my veggie quest is done.

I don't feel any different, I don't think there are any changes in me mentally or physically.  Some of the guys at Matador think I'm a little cranky because I can't eat pork.  Meh.... It's not really a challenge any longer.

My "weekend" had a little too much yard work and not quite enough cooking.  The yard is looking great, so I'm not complaining.  Anyhow, for lunches, I took the easy way out.  Tofurkey sandwiches.

This little fellow is a grilled cheese tofurkey mess of love.  I started off by frying up the tofurkey slices in some olive oil.  A little butter on the bread then I built the masterpiece.  Bread, Swiss cheese, tofurkey, pickles, American cheese, tofurkey, Swiss Cheese, tofurkey, American cheese, bread.  Layer upon layer of love.  A side of potato salad and a few extra pickles and I was a happy camper.

I gobbled up a spicy "chicken" boca burger for lunch today.

I fried it on a flat top in a touch of olive oil, a tasty slice of melted Swiss cheese and some more of Grandma's pickles.  It was great.  A side of BBQ chips and some potato salad made things complete.

Sorry there wasn't anything more exciting on the menu this weekend.  My plan was to try out all of the 'store bought' stuff right away then try and work some magic to jazz it up.  I was hoping that once I had a good feel for what was available then I could get the creative juices flowing.  This little veggie plan may take more time than I thought.  I don't really plan on staying vegetarian for more than my 30 days, but I think I may need to keep trying new stuff once my tour of veggie land is over.

 More to come tomorrow.

13 days in the books (May 27th update)

It is BBQ time!

Burgers were on the menu today.  I made a TVP patty using some Bush's Baked Beans, onion powder, garlic and some salt & pepper.  I pan fried both sides of the patty in olive oil to give it some texture.  Then I pulled it out of the pan mashed it all into a big ball.  That redistributed the crispy texture all through the patty.  I smashed it back flat and cooked it the rest of the way on the grill with burgers for the rest of the family. 

I topped it off with Swiss cheese and a big pile of mushrooms.

I also added a few tomato slices, some red onion and a touch of mustard.  That was a damn fine burger. 

Vegetarian style baked beans are better than the regular ones.... I don't see any need for that giant chunk of fat in there anyway.  It doesn't add any flavor.  I never just eat straight beans out of the can.  I always jazz them up.  Usually, I add about a tablespoon of brown sugar, a tablespoon of hot sauce (or two), salt, pepper and garlic.  Everyone always wrecks the beans when I cook them that way.  My mom likes to add a touch of A1 steak sauce to the pan. 

I always mess with store bought stuff.  Canned corn, bakes beans, green beans, BBQ  sauce, peas, or whatever.  It doesn't matter what it is, I add something.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  You can buy the cheap store brand stuff and make it taste great with just a few pinches of this or that.  

The mushrooms were just good old button shrooms.  I cooked them in a broth of soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, a touch of honey and pepper.  Normally I just cook them down until they are tender.  Today, I guess my timing was off and I didn't cook them fully.  Sometimes mistakes turn out to be winning ideas.  I loved the texture with a little bit of snap to them. 

More grilling on the menu tomorrow. 

May 26 (day 12)

I'm not having any problems staying vegetarian, but every once in a while, I feel my hand reach out for some meat....

I had a tasty Matador breakfast burrito this morning.  I really like the Harmony Valley Foods TVP sausage.  With some of our maple jalapeno hot sauce, I almost forget it is vegetarian.  However, the smell of bacon drives me nuts.  It was torture walking past the hot table today. 

A little potato and bean taco for lunch.  Nothing fancy.

For dinner, my lovely wife picked up a pizza.  Thai Pie hold the chicken.  Not too shabby. 

All in all, nothing too exciting on my menu today.  I did get a chance to have some great conversations with some of my favorite customers today.  Great food talk and I learned lots of good stuff.  I gotta say that chatting with the Cruz Clan on Friday night was great too, but they are always great. That is why I love the restaurant business......  The peeps.

I have to go off on a little rant here, but follow with me for a second.  It drives me nuts when people say they "don't want any guacamole because they don't want the fat."  The first few times I heard customers say that, I tried to explain why they were wrong.  I could tell people didn't want to hear it.  Fat has a bad name and people aren't willing to listen to a pro-fat argument. I have given up trying to explain this years ago, but now that we are all here talking about food I think it is time to give it another run. 

Avocados do have lots of fat, but it is good fat.  Not all fats are created equal.  Plant fats, like those found in avocados, are the holy grail of fats.  To make things simple, basically, there are two types of fat, saturated and unsaturated.  Saturated fats come from animals, unsaturated comes from plants.  Yea, there are exceptions and science can run you in circles here, but to keep it simple lets just follow this.  Saturated fat raises your cholesterol.  Unsaturated fat lowers your cholesterol.   Animal fat bad, plant fat good.

When in comes to cholesterol, there are two types of that too.  LDL (low-density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol and HDL (high-density lipoprotein) or good cholesterol.  Avocado had a pile of unsaturated fat and boosts your good (HDL) cholesterol.  Long story short, eat an avocado and you will lower your cholesterol. When you lower your cholesterol, you get to live longer. Those ugly little pear shaped buggers are really good for you.  They taste great and they soak up cholesterol.  Think of it as a hangover cure for a meat bender.

Bottom line, just remember... eat an avocado, live longer.   If you don't like the taste of avocado, then cover it up.  Make it swim in ranch. The ranch/guac mix may be the best duo in the food world.  Even if you cover up the taste of the avocado, you are still getting the benefits of the green goddess. 

My advise, add avocado to everything.

Here is a link to my second favorite guacamole recipe.  (Matador is the best)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/guacamole-recipe/index.html

 I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.  Be safe, remember our vets, share good food.  Cheers

 

May 25th (Day 11)

I had a fun food day today.  I didn't really learn anything new, but I did get a chance to practice what I should have been doing all along.

For breakfast, I took the Harmony Valley Foods Sausage Product and tossed it into a taco.  I pan fried it with some soybean oil and a cooks best friends.... salt and pepper.

It was fantastic. I promise that I'm not doing this to promote our Matador products, but that Maple Jalapeno hot sauce is friggin amazing.  My taco was made with the sausage TVP, potato, a dribble of refried beans, cheese, lettuce, a drizzle of ranch and a double dose of Maple Jalapeno hot sauce.  That may have been the best thing I have had so far.  It doesn't matter what I would have had for the rest of the day, I was perfectly happy.

For a late lunch, I whipped up a burrito with some more TVP.  This time, I grilled it up on the flat top with a generous portion of BBQ sauce.  Finally, the texture I have been looking for.  Something I should have known since the beginning.  The sugar in the BBQ sauce made a nice crispy texture on the ground beef substitute.  The TVP I used was just a plain, unseasoned product from Harmony Valley Foods. 

TVP + Salt & pepper + BBQ sauce = Love. 

I tossed that BBQ meat sub into a trampoline sized tortilla.  Spanish rice, potatoes, pinto beans, cheese, pico de gallo, habanero sauce, a bit of sour cream, and one jalapeno slice.  At the last second, I decided to throw it on a plate and drench it with green chili. (yes, the Matador green chili is vegetarian)  That, my friends, was culinary enlightenment. 

I could have had eaten a rotten shoe for dinner and still have had a great food day.  


Friday, at Matad.  busy, so I didn't really have any dinner.  After we closed, the last thing I wanted to do was think about food, so my late night snack was my favorite filler of all time.... celery and carrots.  Raw, dirty and crunchy. 

Day 10... 1/3rd of the way done.

I didn't get as much cooking time as I wanted today.  It's hard to play when customers keep wanting food. That is a fantastic problem to have and there is no way I'm complaining about customers, but I can't wait for my weekend so I can cook for a few days.

Our Sysco Foods rep dropped off a sweet little treat today (Thanks G).  A big ol' bag of TVP was waiting for me when I got to work today.  This particular product was produced by Custom Blending. They are located just a bit north of Fossil Ridge HS.  They produce the Harmony Valley line of goodies.  You can get more dirt on their website.

http://www.harmonyvalleyfoods.com/

Anyhow, the restaurant product they make is a plain TVP.  I took that TVP and cooked it just like we cook our ground beef in the restaurant.  I flat out love our ground beef.  Ground beef taco meat isn't very sexy, but a hard shell taco changes my day every single time I grub one down.  I guess my expectations were a little bit too high.  The big lesson of the day is simple.  A meat substitute needs far more flavor than regular meat.  While cooking, I kept tasting and adding our dry rub until I was happy with the flavor.  I was never really happy with the texture, but that just leads to the next lesson of the day.

I gave a sample of the meat to a pair of our favorite customers (who vegetarian knowledge is amazing). They suggested I use a sauce rather than a dry rub to season the TVP.  That will be on the list for tomorrow.  I feel rather stupid on that one.... I should have been thinking that road the entire time.  Rather than use oil to cook texture onto the TVP, I should have been trying to use a sauce that I could caramelize onto the TVP.  Texture is still the missing link and I have been hesitant to use too much oil.  Actually, I'm an idiot for not trying to caramelize a sauce.... texture and flavor.  Two birds, one stone and no fat.  I should kick my own butt.  

Proof that I really needed to totally jump into this.  If I would have just tried a few things here and there I probably wouldn't have given anything enough thought to do it right.  I would have never had the customer/friend feedback along the way if I didn't go all in.

I sure am glad I decided to make this little adventure public so I could learn from everyone else who already knew what they were doing.

Just for kicks, I pressed a handful of the TVP into a little patty and dropped it into the deep fat fryer.  Bingo!

Everything is better when it is fried. 

I didn't get a chance to try the sausage TVP this morning and I can't wait until tomorrow so I can build a beautiful breakfast burrito. 

Man, I miss our chorizo.  My hat is off to Polidori Sausage of Denver.  They make the best sausage on the planet. 


More to come tomorrow.

May 23rd (Day 9 finished)

Nothing too spectacular today.  I fried up some veggie bacon.

It wasn't too shabby.  I think it would work great in an omelet.  Maybe on a sandwich.. A BLAT or some other such delicious idea.  Anyhow, I was going to toss it into a breakfast burrito but we got a little jammed up at Matador today so I didn't have time.

I ran by the new Cafe Rio for a late lunch today.  The Veggie Burrito was a big let down.  It was only rice and beans.  I'm not trying to review their food and I don't have any intention on bashing the fine folks over there.  I have had their meat offerings in the past and they do make some fine products, but I don't know why they would even bother putting a veggie burrito on the menu.

The more restaurants I visit, the more disappointed I am in their veggie offerings.  The  biggest reason I wanted to go vegetarian is so we could take Matador to the next level of veggie love.  Toss out veggie Meccas like Rainbow or Tasty Harmony and I don't think there are many options worth talking about.  Sure, you could track down a some pasta or a pizza.  Maybe even get lucky with some Mexican, but it is slim pickings out there.

I got lazy for dinner and didn't really feel like cooking.  I tossed together a Tofu Turkey sandwich.

It worked.  If I had been eating meat, I probably would have just done meat, cheese and mustard.  I made a better sandwich than I normally would have.  Tomatoes, red onions, pickles (grandma's) a touch of Miracle Whip and some mustard.  Yes, I said Miracle Whip.  It is quite possibly one of the greatest culinary inventions in the history of man.  That is not a point anyone can argue against.  Anyhow, toss a few carrots in there and a glass of water and that little meal wasn't only good, but good for me.

I have bigger plans for tomorrow.

May 22nd Update. 8 days down

No real food news to report over the last few days.  It was rather boring actually.  I didn't get much time to cook anything so I was really just stuck eating what I could.  Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days.

I'm still feeling fine, no changes in attitude, weight or energy.

I dropped into the Vitamin Cottage on South College today.  I got some new products to test out and had a few ideas.

First up, I picked up some TVP with a taco seasoning.  It was made by LightLife.  It wasn't bad, but it was still missing something.  It worked very well as a meat substitute, it just didn't have a very good flavor.  It reminded me of a bland fast food restaurant with "taco" in the name.  No offense to the LightLife guys.  That was by far the best meat substitute I have had so far.  My daughter loved it, and asked for seconds. Tomorrow, I'm going to hit the Sunflower Market to pick up some plain TPV.  I know I can make a great taco seasoning to toss in there that will blow that stuff out of the water.  After I give this a test run, I will make some to put on the line at Matador.  Everyone can come in and give it a try.  Who knows, maybe soon you can buy a Matador TVP taco filling that you can make at home.... Now I'm getting excited.  I finally have something I can work with. 

I also picked up some sausage and bacon substitutes that I will try in some breakfast burritos tomorrow morning.

I still have yet to find an edible veggie dog.  I have tried a few now, and been very disappointed.

Day 7 (May 20th)

The end of Sunday, and the end of one full week. Not too shabby.  I don't feel any different, but then again I'm usually pushing the envelope of fantastic.  No other physical or mental changes that I have noticed.  I don't think a vegetarian diet is all that easy, but if you are committed, it quickly becomes second nature.  You can grab a meat free option in just about any old place. 

Onward towards dinner....

Tonight, I made some Portobello Mushroom burgers.  I went a few different directions.  One patty just plain (salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil), the second was glazed with BBQ sauce and the third was Buffalo wing style.  The sandwich I created was a double with the BBQ mushroom and the Buffalo Wing style mushroom.  Plain white bun, red onion slices, tomato, pickle and a touch of ketchup and mustard.  It was a KFJ (knife and fork job) for sure.  I tried pick it up and eat it like a normal burger, but it fell apart. 

It was good.  Not great, but good.  I also made a side of red chili quinoa and some chipotle polenta.  I made the quinoa using some vegetable base, red chili paste, garlic, and a touch of salt & pepper.  It wasn't bad.  The kids didn't like it, but I finished off my share.  I have a few more ideas for quinoa and will give them a shot in the next few meals.  I purchased one of those tubes of precooked polenta that you can just heat and eat.  It was flavored with chipotle and cilantro.  I couldn't taste either the chipotle or cilantro.  Finding it lacking, I added some milk, butter, pepper & salt, and tried to just turn it into a pseudo mashed potato.  It was just fine.  The kids hated it, but the wife loved it.  I was a little disappointed in the ploenta but will try some different preparations next time around.  The biggest highlight of the meal was the little pile of pickles.  Grandma's recipe on those.  They make everything better.

Not a bad little dinner, but it was hard watching everyone else eat a real burger while I had the shrooms.  It gave me an idea for the future.  I would love to have a beef burger topped off with a grilled portobello and swiss cheese. 

That is all I have for now.  See you tomorrow.

Day 5 & 6 (May 18 & 19)

No real food news to report.  I had no problems staying vegetarian the last two days, but I'm very bored with the "veggie" offerings at restaurants.  I'm glad that everyone is having such a great time making fun of me for giving up meat.  Even if people are laughing at me, I'm glad people could have a laugh.  My pa really enjoyed giving me the business during our lunch the other day.  Tonight, I totally got burned... I started chatting up my veggie quest and a co-worker nailed me.  He dropped the old joke.... How do you spot a vegetarian at a party?  Don't worry, they will let you know all about it.  I'm guilty, but then again, I was looking to totally immerse myself in the veggie culture so I think we can call that step one.  Acceptance. 

 After R&M dropped off the veggie burger patties the other day, I really wanted to do some research on TVP (textured vegetable protein).  TVP was the main ingredient in the burger patties they gave me.  TVP is a common meat substitute that is loved by vegetarians, and a filler hated by beef lovers.  Back in the ancient history of that taco chain we had before Matador, the ground beef they sold us used TVP.  I don't know how much TVP was in the "Taco Chain" meat we had, but it was the second ingredient on the box.  My impression back then was that it was horrible filler they pumped into the box to save some cash.  I'm very biased when it comes to meat.  Meat should be meat.  Actually, I think that when you sell anything it should be nothing but 100% of the real deal.  Ask Taco Bell what they think about adding fillers to their meat. 

http://gizmodo.com/5742413/this-is-what-really-hides-in-taco-bells-beef

I don't know if that lawsuit claim is true, and I don't care, but Taco Bell has plenty of fillers.  The numbers never lie and there is no way anyone could produce a taco for $.89 that has 100% beef.  You always get what you pay for. The meat eating public is outraged that TVP is added to ground beef.  The vegetarian crowd uses TVP as a substitute.
 
What's the real deal?

Well, I'm not sure, There are dozens of pro vegetarian sites that claim the stuff is great.  There are dozens of other sites that claim there are health hazards associated with eating it.  I started this TVP research to find out the truth.  I quickly realized there is no truth.  It is almost as annoying as politics.  Pick a side, and who cares.  If you like it, use it.  If you don’t like it, stay away.  I could go on for days pointing out the pros and cons, but there is no winning or understanding the argument.  

I did find one interesting slant…. TVP is generally produced by big companies like DuPont.  Tofu and other “fresh” soy products are usually produced locally by smaller companies.  I’m all for jobs and people making money, but if I had a choice I would take the little local guys.  Besides, if you really wanted to get your hands dirty, you could make seitan or tempeh yourself.  Harmony Valley Foods (aka Custom Blending) is a great local producer of TVP products.  Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage both have a sausage mix and a hamburger mix.

My final thought…. Everything in fine in moderation.  If you can find a recipe as tasty as the patties R&M made for me, then use it.

Day 4 (May 17th)

Breakfast was a little breakfast bowl at Matador again.... tasty.  Same thing as yesterday.  I could happily eat a veggie bowl every morning.

Lunch was not great by any means.  I went over to Jersey Mike's.  The Veggie Sub was bread, lettuce, green peppers and then done "Mike's Way" (vinegar, oil, spices).  I think I see what vegetarians complain about at most restaurants.  It was a nice deli sandwich and to make it vegetarian, they just took out the meat.  I'm not saying that you have to have a meat substitute in there, but you have to have something in place of the meat.  I'm not trying to bash Jersey Mike's either.  I have had some very fine sandwiches over there.  At that location, the customer service has always been great and the joint is always clean.  I'm just going to add them to the list of restaurants that fails to have a good vegetarian option.

My goal here is never to bash a restaurant.  I will however keep going to different restaurants to see what veggie options they have.  I always find great inspiration when I eat out, when I dissect food in my mind I always get great ideas.  

Dinner was good.  I made some quinoa for the first time. 

I just made this up as I went. I didn't want to snag an internet recipe, I wanted to experiment.  I didn't really measure so I can't give you exact amounts, but here is what I think I did.

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1tsp veggie base
1/4 sweet corn
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp hot sauce (sriracha)
salt and pepper to taste.

I took one of those Tofurky Italian Sausages and tossed it on the grill.  Once it has a nice crispy outside, I sliced it and tossed in on a bed of my spicy quinoa.  Nice little meal. 


Big time bonus for dinner tonight.  Two fantastic people (R and M, I don't need to name any names) who stopped by for dinner brought in some veggie burgers.  The didn't tell me the exact recipe, just that it was TVP, black beans and secret spices.  Anyhow, I grilled that bad boy and put some creamy swiss cheese on top.  Home run.  I didn't have any burger buns at home, so I went commando.

I will do a new direction with the quinoa recipe next time I get a chance.  I won't be able to cook anything tomorrow. I have to run a quick road trip for a funeral.  Hopefully I can find something to eat that isn't in a Subway.

Special thanks to R & M for the burger.  You guys rock.