Vegan Chili (composed of Veracruz Sauce, Tomato sauce, and toppings together)

How to read this recipe:

– Look at all ingredients for Veracruz Sauce, Tomato Sauce, and prepare them all as dictated before starting.

– Ensure that you have 1 large stock pot, a blender or a hand-blender, and one sauce pan.

– Follow the order as written.

– If you need more salt, add more miso, soy sauce, or salt before serving.

Veracruz Sauce

Needs: Stovetop burner

8 Roma tomatoes (optional) sliced in half with cores removed

2 Red Bell peppers – Deseed and cut into large halves

2-3 Jalapenos – Deseed if you don’t want this too be too spicy

1 large yellow onion (or 2 small ones) – Cut in half

Instructions

– On your stove top burners, place the jalapenos, tomatoes (optional), onions, and red bell peppers over the flame.

– Place until relatively charred and blistered then rotate. Repeat until there is decent blistering over each ingredient.

– Reserve the veggies on the side

– Gentle note: Please open your windows and allow the air ventilation to prevent your home from becoming too smoky.

Tomato Sauce
Needs: One large stock pot for chili, one sautee pan for garlic

– 1 large can of crushed tomatoes/whole peeled tomatoes/diced tomatoes

– 1 spoonful of tomato puree

– 6 – 8 cloves of garlic crushed and minced

– 3 – 5 tablespoons of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom but not drown ingredients in 2 pots)

3 – 5 large spoonfuls of miso paste

2-3 Bay leaves

Instructions: Stockpot

– Pour some of the olive oil into a stockpot.

– Pour in the reserved ingredients from the Veracruz sauce into your stockpot.

– Add a spoonful of tomato puree

– Cook for 5 – 10 minutes on high heat. Mix the veggies

– Add the large can of tomatoes. Then place a lid on top of the stockpot.

– When it starts to bubble, mix and lower to medium heat

– Add your 3-5 spoonfuls of miso (Remember, if you want more salt, you can always add more miso later)

– Set aside your pot off the burner onto a stable platform. Place a mitten to prevent the hot pot from damaging your surface. Please be careful with your pot.

Instructions: Sautee pan (Do this while waiting for those 5 – 10 minutes)

– Add some olive oil into a pan and place on medium heat

– Add your garlic

– Wait until the garlic is browned (1-3 minutes

– Pour the olive oil and browned garlic into the stock pot

Blend the soup
Instructions:

Needs: hand blender or blender

– When the sauce is HOT, move the entire pot onto a stable surface.

– Use a hand blender to blend the ingredients in the pot (you can pour the ingredients into a blender too). Please hold onto the handle of the stock pot to prevent the pot from flying out

– Return the pot to the stovetop and heat on medium heat.

– Add your bay leaves.

Toppings:

– 1-2 small cans of black beans (washed with cold water until it runs clear)

– 1-2 small cans of pinto beans (washed and dried)
–
Optional: 4 Diced dried tofu (dou gan) blocks

Instructions:

– Add all ingredients into Pot One. Then place on medium high heat. When bubbly, reduce to low to medium-low.

– Stir and scrape the bottom to prevent burning.

– Cook and reduce for about 30 minutes to 1 ½ hours.

– Taste repeatedly to see if the salt levels are correct. If it needs more
– salt, add salt or miso. If it needs less salt, add a touch of water.

– Serve

Sustainable Summer Recipes

Did you know that the choices that you make in the kitchen can help you be more eco friendly? Some foods use up more water and energy to produce and some foods are obtained through unsustainable means. Fret not! Ex-chef and Program Advisor Jordan has ways to help YOU make environmentally conscious choices with summer’s best ingredients! So try these summer recipes without guilt to impress your friends and fellow environmentalists! Let’s get cooking!

Corn Salsa

2 pounds of diced tomatoes

1/2 a red onion, diced

1 jalapeno de-seeded and membranes removed

1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

Salt

Juice from 1 lime

1 – 2 corn cobs or 1 cup of frozen corn

Instructions:

-Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil the corn cobs for about 10 minutes. Remove the cobs from the pot with tongs and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cob. Reserve in a bowl. If using frozen corn instead of fresh corn, simply microwave a bowl with frozen corn for 2-3 minutes. Reserve for later

– EITHER blend the tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, lime juice in a blender for a few seconds and place in a bowl OR finely chop the tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno, and cilantro and place the ingredients in a bowl

– add corn, cilantro, and lime juice to the salsa mixture. Then add salt to your desired taste.

The salsa can be served cold with chips or heated up and served as a flavorful tomato sauce over pasta.

Pan Fried Summer Squash

2 pounds of any of the following squash: crookneck, scallop, straightneck, or zucchini (feel free to mix and match!).

2-4 table spoons of peanut oil or olive oil (depends on the size of your pan)

Salt

Instructions:

– Use a sharp knife to cube the squash. Cutting at a bias into 2 inch “diamonds” can create better grill marks due to more surface area touching a pan or a grill.

-Turn on your kitchen fan or open a window and heat a pan to medium-high and add oil until the surface of your pan is completely covered. Wait for about 30 seconds or until the oil starts to shimmer.

– Make sure that the squash is not wet and add your squash and be careful of oil splatter. Move around the pan until so that the squash is touching the pan on not stacked on top of each other. Then leave on the pan for 4 minutes WITHOUT MOVING. Look for golden grill marks.

– After 4 minutes, rotate the squash so that the un-cooked surface is now touching the pan. Cook for 2 more minutes. Smaller pieces will take less time to cook and larger pieces will require more time, so adjust cooking times accordingly

– Salt to taste and serve!

This dish is perfect with salads, bread, and charcutterie!

Summer Pickles

1 cup hot water

1/2 cup rice-wine vinegar

6 tbsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp coarse kosher salt

1 table spoon of lemon or orange zest

2 cups of any combination of the following ingredients chopped into bite-sized pieces: shallots, green beans, cucumbers, beets, watermelon rinds. Make sure that the ingredients can fit in your jar.

Instructions:

– In a pot, bring water to a boil in a pot and blanch the shallots and green beans for 1 minute. Do not blanch cucumbers if using. OPTIONAL: chill the ingredients in an ice bath after blanching for improved texture.

– In a clean jar, pack in the shallots, green beans, and cucumbers.

– Pour the rice-wine vinegar, hot water, salt, sugar, and lemon/orange zest into the jar of pickles. Cover the vegetables entirely with this brine

– Place a lid on the jar and refrigerate. Wait for 4 days before serving.

These pickles should last for at least 6 weeks in the refrigerator!

Stay tuned for more environmentally recipes in near future!