Black Bean Chili: Perfect For A Chilly Day!

The weather is slowly getting more cold and frosty.  These days, all I want to do is curl up in front of the fireplace like a cat, and read a good book while sipping extra-chocolatey hot chocolate.  But there is a better way to stay warm.  Last night, my family ate some delicious black bean chili and therefore we stayed nice and warm.  My mom found this recipe on the Internet a few years ago, and since then, it has remained one of our family-favorites.  Even my brother, who doesn’t like many dishes with vegetables, loved the chili.  This dish is very colorful and healthy.  Also, it doesn’t have any beef or any other meat!  Here is the recipe…

Black Bean Chili

This is the Black Bean Chili..

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbs canola oil
• 1 onion
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 serrano pepper
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 6 roma tomatoes
• 1 cup corn
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Chop the bell peppers, serrano, onions, and dice the tomatoes.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Sautee the onion, bell peppers, serrano, mushrooms, tomatoes, and corn for 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. 
3. Add the pepper, cumin, and chili powder.
4. After that, add the beans, chicken broth, and salt.
5. After it comes to a boil, simmer for 20 minutes on low.
6. Mash the soup with the back of a large spoon, to thicken.
7. Serve hot with cornbread or rice.

This dish is very healthy, and extremely comforting on a cold, snowy day.  It has many vegetables, and after you chop them up, the preparation time is pretty low.  Each serving has a whopping 10 grams of fiber and a very small amount of fat.  If you want it to be an even healthier dish, omit the cornbread and rice.  It tastes wonderful plain.  As usual, you won’t miss any meat because there are mushrooms.  Even the most picky eaters will love this dish.  I am so excited to have chili leftovers for lunch today!

Phenomenal Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine

Hello!  First of all, I wanted to let you guys know that today (December 4th) is International Hug Day!  So be sure to deliver a big hug to someone you care about.  Sorry, that was way off topic.  Oh, well!   

Today, I’m going to share with you another recipe: Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine.  It is a delicious pasta dish that gives you a big serving of vegetables and tons of fiber: 8 grams per serving!  It will quickly fill you up, and you will love it.  Last night, I ate it, and I was barely hungry for breakfast!  Anyway, here is the recipe for Phenomenal Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine. 

This is a picture of the finished product…

Serves 6-8

 

Ingredients:

• 13.25 oz. whole grain fettuccine
• 16 oz. chopped frozen spinach, thawed
• 1 lemon
• 8 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 4 tbs butter
• 1/2 cup shredded/grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup half-and-half
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic

1. Grate 1/2 tsp lemon zest and squeeze 3 tsp lemon juice.
2. Cut butter into pieces.
3. In a blender or food processor, whir the spinach, garlic, lemon zest and juice, half-and-half, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper until smooth.
4. Saute sliced mushrooms in oil for about 7 minutes.
5. Heat a large pot of water.
6. When the water comes to a boil, add the fettuccine.
7. Cook until the pasta is done.
8. Drain the pasta in a colander and put it back in the pot.
9. Stir in the spinach mixture, the mushrooms, and the cheese.
10. Toss until the pasta is coated.
11. Enjoy!

This pasta is a very good meal. It takes a very short time to make it, at the most 30 minutes.   As I said, it has a lot of fiber and it gives you at least a serving of veggies.  The original recipe had ham in it, but we substituted it with mushrooms to make it healthier.  With them, you won’t miss the meat.  You can also add green tobasco sauce if you want a little spice.  This pasta tastes wonderful.  I’m sure that you’ll love this dish!

Delicious Dal

In your diet, it is important to get beans and legumes.  They are filling and really good for you.  We Indians have a great way of getting this type of food many times a week.  We make a dish called dal, which is usually eaten with rice, or just plain.  It is made out of a type of lentil.  After cooking it, it has a soupy consistency, and it is wonderful.  A great thing about it is that there are many, many different types of dals, so you could eat it almost every day of the week and not get bored of it.  So today, I will be sharing with you Masoor Dal, a wonderfully flavorful dish.

Delicious Masoor Dal

This is what your meal should look like...

Serves 4-6

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red split lentils (masoor dal)
• 4 1/3 cups water
• 2 thin slices of unpeeled ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1/2 onion
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash lentils thoroughly.
2. Obtain a large pot.
3. Pour lentils and water into the pot.
4. Heat on stove.
5. When it comes to a boil, scoop off any weird material that emerges to the top.
6. Add the ginger and turmeric.
7. Stir the dal.
8. Cover the pot leaving it slightly open.
9. Cook on low heat for 1 1/2 hours or until the lentils aren’t hard anymore.
10. In the last 30 minutes, stir every few minutes so it doesn’t get burnt.
11. Add salt (about 1 tsp.)
12. Find the ginger with a spoon and take it out of the pot.
13. Obtain another frying pan.
14. Heat the vegetable oil on a medium flame.
15. When the oil is hot, add the cumin and onions.
16. Once they are fried, add the coriander and cayenne, and stir it up.
17. Pour the onion mixture into the dal. 
18. Stir the dal.
19. Right before serving the dal, add the fresh coriander.
20. Enjoy!

It might look like there are many steps, but this is an easy recipe.  However, it takes about 2 hours, so plan accordingly.  This dish is very healthy.  It has tons of protein and fiber, so it will fill you up quickly.  It also has less fat than other dals.  If you can’t find all these ingredients, you should look in a nearby Indian store.  You are sure to find them there.  Unlike the other recipes I have been sharing with you, this one wasn’t our own creation.  I should probably give credit to the recipe book I got it from: Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking.  If you want more dishes like this, you should look in this book.  But my mom did make some changes to the original recipe.  Anyway, I really hope that you’ll enjoy the delicious Masoor Dal!

Scrumptious Tandoori Chicken

In case you haven’t noticed, I love Indian food.  I come from an Indian family, and we are constantly having delicious, home-cooked Indian meals, or going out to eat at an Indian restaurant.  This is my favorite type of food.  I love it even more than Mexican food!  There are so many creamy dals, wonderful desserts, and much, much more.  Indian food is so awesome, and most of it is healthy, too!  That’s why I’m about to share a great chicken recipe with you.  It doesn’t take a long time to do the actual cooking, and you will definitely find it delicious.  So here is my dad’s recipe for Tandoori Chicken…..

 

This is my dad’s amazing dish!

Serves 6

 

Ingredients:

 

• 2 lbs chicken
• 16 oz plain non-fat yogurt
• 4 tbs Rajah Tandoori Masala
• 1 tps salt
• 2 tbs oil
• cilantro, lemon, green chillies, and cucumber slices to garnish

Directions:

1.  Obtain a large dish.
2. In it, mix the yogurt, masala, salt, and oil.
3. Cut the chicken into 2 inch pieces.
4. Add the pieces into the dish and thoroughly cover them with the marinating sauce that you just made.
5. Refrigerate for 8-12 hours (this is very important.)
6. Grill the chicken on a medium flame for a total of 30 minutes, and turn them over from time to time.
7. Serve warm with cucumber slices, lemon, cilantro, and chopped green chillies (if you’re brave enough!)

I’m sure that you will love this chicken recipe.  You can usually find tandoori masala where ever you do your grocery shopping, but if not, it is also in any Indian store.  The smaller the pieces are, the more flavorful and tender they will be.  I recommend doing all the preparations in the evening and refrigerating the chicken overnight.  This dish is both healthy and scrumptious.  I hope that you enjoy my dad’s chicken, and you realize how awesome Indian food is (if you haven’t already! 🙂

 

Superb Spaghetti With Veggies

Today, I will be giving you another recipe.  Just like the mixed berry smoothie, this is one of my mom’s amazing creations.  It is very good for you.  One serving has 12 grams of fiber, and you also get at least two servings of vegetables, one in the sauce, and one from the actual veggie toppings.  It takes a very short time to make, and, as you can probably can already tell from the title of this post and the picture, it’s superb!  Here is the recipe…..

This is what the spaghetti looks like.

 

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 16 oz whole grain spaghetti
• 1 tbs butter
• Newman’s Own Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
• 2 zucchinis
• 1 red bell pepper
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• ½ tsp dried basil leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbs oil
• parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Boil 4-6 quarts of water.
2. After it comes to a boil, add the salt and pasta.
3. Cook for 7 minutes.
4. Drain with a colander.
5. Add the butter.
6. For the sauce, heat the oil in the pan.
7. Saute the mushroom slices in the oil for 5 minutes.
8. Add the zucchini and bell pepper, and saute it for 1 minute.
9. Add the garlic, and saute that for 1 more minute.
10. Add salt, pepper, the sauce, and the oregano and basil.
11. Let that simmer for 10 minutes.
12. Put the sauce on the pasta, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top, and serve while it’s warm.

This pasta is one of my favorite dinners.  It is filling, and the vegetables taste wonderful in it.  The zucchini becomes nice and firm, and the mushrooms add an interesting texture similar to meat, so you won’t miss it.  The sauce is very colorful.  You might think you are in an actual Italian restaurant!  I hope you enjoy our spaghetti!

Mom’s Amazing Mixed Berry Smoothie!

Hello, everybody!  Today I’m going to post a wonderful recipe.  It is a delicious smoothie that my mom makes often.  Fruit smoothies are very good for you.  They are pretty filling, so you can have one for breakfast.  So here is my mom’s recipe for the best smoothie ever…..

This is a picture of the delicious drink.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb frozen mixed berries
• 1 1/2 ripe banana
• 2 cups fat free yogurt
• 5 teaspoons sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Chop the banana
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a blender.
3. Blend the mixture until smooth.
4. To make the drink less thick, add water.
5. Pour a serving into a glass.
6. Top with fresh berries.
7. Enjoy!

This smoothie is amazing.  It has a wonderful texture and awesome color.  It tastes just like the fruits that made it and the banana makes it nice and creamy.  It is perfect on a hot summer day.  It makes me feel pleasantly refreshed and happy.  I often drink it after playing tennis or jogging.  I love this drink and I’m sure you will, too!