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| Bad lighting but delicious chili |
Vegetable Chili
Chili:
3 tomatoes
1 green pepper
1/2 of a purple onion
4 large cloves of garlic
1 cup of shiitake mushrooms (remove the stems)
3 stalks of celery
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon of oregano
2 teaspoons of hot red pepper powder (I used cayenne pepper powder)
Topping:
1 cup raw unsalted walnuts
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
a good pinch of sea salt
Dice all of the chili vegetables (except for the garlic - mince that) and put them in a bowl. Add the seasoning and mix it all together. Take half of the mixture and put it in a food processor or a blender. Blend it all up until it's smooth. Pour the blended mixture and the chopped stuff into a pot, stir and turn the burner on to medium low.
While the chili is warming, put the walnuts into the food processor or blender. Blend until until they're mostly chopped. Toss in the seasoning and olive oil. Blend just a bit more so that the walnuts are coated with the seasoning.
Check the chili and make sure it's hot enough. Dish the chili, then add a large spoonful of the walnut topping.
Sushi
Ingredients:
nori seaweed sheets (I used roasted)
1/2 cup julienne red bell pepper
1/2 cup julienne purple cabbage
pickled ginger
Avocado filling:
1 avocado
2 large garlic cloves - minced
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder
Brown rice filling:
1 cup of raw brown rice
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon of ginger powder
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 large garlic cloves - minced
Start by mixing all of the brown rice filling ingredients in a pot on the stove. Turn the burner on hot. When it starts boiling, turn the pot down to low, or medium low, just low enough so that the water is simmering and put a lid on it. It should be done in about 50 minutes. When the rice is done, let it sit for about 10 minutes to cool.
In the meantime, julienne the veggies, and find your sushi mat (if you don't have one, you can still make this recipe but you'll have to be gentle with the rolling).
Grab the avocado filling ingredients and start by mushing the avocado in a bowl. Mush it until it's creamy, then add the minced garlic and the cayenne pepper powder. You can add a pinch of sea salt if you'd like, but I don't think it really needs it. Stir it in nice and evenly.
Once the rice is cool, start by grabbing one nori sheet. Scoop rice into the center of the sheet and spread it out to either side of it, leaving the top and bottom bare (if this isn't making sense, I recommend googling "how to make your own sushi" there are a billion photos out there). Anyway, lay out the veggies in a row in the center, from side to side, and spread the avocado mix on top of that. Sprinkle the pickled ginger along the avocado. Then, start at the bottom (where there should be no rice), and start rolling toward the top, you will roll over the center, and keep rolling until you get to the top where, again there shouldn't be any rice. Get the very end of the nori a little wet, you can lick the entire end of the sheet, or get your finger wet from the faucet, then roll completely. The nori will bind to the other nori during the rolling process. Grab a very sharp knife (I chose a serrated bread knife), and cut your roll into little sushies. You're done! Yum!
Optional: I grabbed wasabi powder, soy sauce, and created a spicy mixture for dipping. It was a huge hit! Both Danny and Jenny said it was delicious. At least, they did when they were done blowing their noses :)
Pretty fun to be two-for-two on the recipes!
Sorry if the sushi instructions are confusing. It's so hard to explain. Anyway, if you're going to try it out, maybe check out some goggle images so that it all makes sense.
Enjoy!
