Leafy Vegetarian Chili

When I first begin to transitions to a whole foods life style, I used to try to substitute any meat type recipe with spinach or broccoli.  From rice to pasta if one of the ingredient consisted of meats  I would throw in spinach instead. It worked great for a while but I still lacked the daily amount of iron needed. So I decided I needed to switch things up  and add natural iron- rich  foods to my meals. The easiest food that came to mind after dark leafy greens were beans . I probably said it before on this blog but I really dislike beans.  So it was pretty hard for me to go along with the idea of making a meal around beans when i pretty much grew up eating around the beans on my plate , but with some research I decided to do vegetarian chili.  Its so easy and simple to make that i make it about every other week with a different special ingredient each time. This week was spinach and kale , check out the recipe below:

Leafy  Vegetarian Chili

• 1 can of No Salt Added Organic Black Beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can of  No Salt Added Organic Kidney Beans drained and rinsed
•  2 cans of No Salt Added  Organic diced tomatoes
• 1/2 a bag of  Organic Frozen Corn
• 1/2 a bag of Organic Frozen or Fresh Spinach
• 1/2 a bag of Organic Frozen or Fresh Kale
•  Organic Spicy Chili powder seasoning
• 1/2 of an onion
• 2 cloves of  garlic
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Dice the onions and garlic and put in a  hot pan with a little bit of olive oil, when softened add the beans and corn. Stir-fry the beans, corn and onions and garlic till they appear tender, than add the diced tomatoes and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add the Spicy Chilli powder packet and stir evenly through the pot and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Mix in the spinach, kale and red pepper flakes and stir,  simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve alone or with tortilla chip, over rice or sprinkled with cheese.

FYI : Adding a small can of  tomato sauce will make this chili more of a soup type chili , you can also add vegetable broth for a richer taste if you don’t mind the sodium.

Happy Cooking!

Home-made Gourmet Pizza

I’ve blogged about my love for Whole Foods Pizza and also Papa Johns veggie pizza  at one point since I started this blog, but lately they weren’t  the same. In the past weeks my family and I have tried different pizzas from various local pizza shops and they all seemed to be lackluster and blasé.  So my sister and I decided to make our own pizza for a change, and boy was it amazing! The pizza was so easy to make , yet tasted  gourmet and cost nearly half the amount it would cost delivered. I took a short cut and used a pre-package Whole Foods wheat pizza crust that comes with 2 medium to large size crusts. The taste was very similar to Whole Foods pizza crust served at their pizza station and not sour doughy like most pre-made crusts.  The ingredients added where pretty simple and basic, but we added a few simple ingredients that made the pizza taste fancier than your ordinary cheese pizza. We topped the pizza with sliced provolone cheese  in addition to the shredded mozzarella , as well as fresh spinach. We than sprinkle dried basil, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder sparingly over the pizza and voilà : Homemade Gourmet Pizza! One bite out of this, and you’ll wonder why you never made your own pizza.

Happy Baking!

 

 

Rustic Spinach Pie

Very often I get into these food obsession, where I practically find any or every way to consume a specific  food into my daily diet.. My last food obsession was coconut, I tried about every coconut flavored  food out there from coconut cake, macaroons, ice cream and gelato. I’m pretty sure I could have carry this obsession through the end of the year, but I eventually had to give it a break. So in come my latest food  obsession : Spinach ! I’ve always liked spinach but lately I catch myself  eating it in every meal from my green smoothies, sandwiches to lasagna. Spinach is high in vitamins and mineral so I always feel like I’m doing something good for my body every time i eat it. Except of course when I eat it drenched in  cheese (like this recipe for instance). Either way, raw, boiled, cooked, baked I love spinach! So why not make a pie out of it?

I really wanted  to make this pie easy as possible , because I hate recipes that have a million and one ingredients. Its just not realistic for me or my fridge. So I decided to cut corners and bought a frozen pie crust to make my life easier along with frozen spinach and shredded cheese. The ingredients I used were really simple and basic,the prep was barely 15 minutes and didn’t require any cooking. I’ve seen recipes where onions and such are cooked prior to baking but my logic is why cook something over the stove if its going to be baking for a long period of time. If you’re like me and really hate dicing up onions and peppers but want it in your pie, buy a frozen seasoning mix that come with diced onions  and bell pepper and throw that in with the spinach. I also seen recipes where egg is added to give you that picture perfect slice of pie ,but I hate eggs and I was afraid that the pie would end up tasting like a spinach omelette. So I scrapped the eggs and prayed for the best.  Nonetheless the pie came out great!  Check out the recipe below:

Rustic Spinach Pie

• 2 bags of frozen spinach
• 1 container of ricotta cheese
• 1 bag of shredded six cheese
• 2  9″ inch pie crusts (frozen or homemade)
• red pepper flakes(optional)
• 1/2 cup of water (can be substituted with milk)
• 1/2 stick of melted butter (optional)

In a large bowl mix the ricotta and shredded cheese with half a cup of water. Stir until  the cheese become liquify enough to mix in the spinach,  add more water to your liking. Gradually mix the spinach in along with some pepper flakes until everything is coated with the cheese mixture. Butter your pan and place the pie crust in your pie pan. Fill the pie crust with your spinach filling and spread it evenly through the pan. Sprinkle additional red pepper flakes and shredded cheese on top to your liking.  Take the second pie crust and slice them thin and decorate the pie. Take the melted butter and brush the top of the pie crust, drizzle the rest over the pie(optional). Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.

P.S. : Warm marinara or an herb tomato sauce drizzled on top of the pie when plating  or on the side, takes this pie to a whole other level especially for the non-spinach lovers . Happy Baking!