11/2 Hearty Vegetarian Chili

The one night we did dress up

Walking to a friend's apartment Saturday night was like walking in a snow globe -- a very wet snow globe. Leaving my Halloween costume behind and focusing on not getting frostbite walking, my friends and I were drenched by the time we got to our destination. Snow here in Boston is strange. In Denver, when it snows you get a nice dusting of snow on your clothes and hair, but you don't get soaked through like you do here. Despite having water gush out of my shoe every time I stepped, I was in a ridiculously good mood. Everything about that day was just fantastic! Crepe place for lunch, F1 racing in the afternoon, hot apple cider at a friend's apartment, and goofing around and chilling with everyone at another apartment until late.

I don't know exactly where this is in MA, but it's so beautiful! I couldn't find a good one on the Boston Globe's website of Boston

Part of my love for fall snow is it reminds me of being little. Every year it would snow on Halloween. Take a look at my photo album and you'll notice that all my costumes were based around being able to wear layers and snow boots. One year I tried to fight it and just wore my Tinkerbell costume out trick-or-treating. I ended up with red arms and destroyed slippers.Probably should have taken my mom's advice to wear boots and a coat even if it wasn't authentic Tinkerbell-ware. So this is my warning to anyone I see on a daily basis: if it is snowing out, there's a very high chance I will be in an annoyingly good mood. So, if snow makes you cranky, I'd stay away from me. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Silk makes Mint Chocolate Soy Milk!! It's going on my shopping list

Although the cold weather means no more shorts or skirts, it also means soups, baked goods, tea, coffee, peppermint, fuzzy blankets, hockey season, and spending more time inside with everyone. I've been working with a female athlete specialist (thanks to my knee) and have been looking more closely at my nutrient intake. Although nothing to worry about, I could benefit from a little more protein. Trying to figure out my protein options, I came across a bag of green lentils on sale. I put them in my shopping basket, bought them, brought them home, then realized I had absolutely no clue what to do with them.

After seeing that my friend made homemade cornbread and because it's officially sweater weather, I decided to finally tackle vegetarian chili. Having not grown up in a spice-loving household, I was nervous about making chili from scratch, especially vegetarian chili since there's no chicken broth to add flavor. My worries were for nothing: this chili is SO delicious! Although not "traditional chili taste" (which I think is largely due to using white beans instead of black or red kidney), it still has the hint of heat and depth of flavor that I look for in chili. This recipe is jam-packed with minerals and vitamins from the vegetables, protein from the beans and lentils, and flavor from the spices. The recipe that inspired mine used maple syrup to sweeten things up. I didn't feel like going out an buying syrup so I used honey instead and it turned out great! I'd love to hear if anyone tries it with maple syrup, or has a favorite chili recipe that uses maple syrup.

Lentil Chili
Inspired by Honest Fare's recipe

Ingredients:

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1 cup green lentils

1 can white beans

1 chopped zucchini

1 chopped yellow squash

½ large sweet green pepper, diced

1 chopped carrot

Olive oil

1 large clove diced garlic

1 ¾ tsp salt

Black pepper

½ tsp cinnamon powder

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 ½ chili powder

Dash cayenne pepper

2 T honey

What to do:

1. Bring 1 ½ cup water to a boil. Add in 1 cup washed green lentils. Cover and simmer for 20min.

2. While lentils are cooking, chop all vegetables

3. Remove lentils and place in small bowl

4. Sauté garlic, pepper, squash, and zucchini in 3 tablespoons of olive oil in very large pot over medium-high heat

5. Add beans, cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, and 1 tsp salt. Sauté uncovered until veggies are tender

6. Add whole can of tomatoes – along with their juice!! – carrots, and honey. Bring to a simmer and decrease heat to low. Stir in pinch of cayenne pepper and the rest of the salt. Cover and continue cooking on low until carrots are soft.

7. Partially uncover and continue cooking so chili thickens. There’s no real rule for how long to let the chili cook. Basically, the longer it cooks, the deeper the flavor. I let mine cook for 6 hours and it was amazing!

My friend and I ate our chili with Trader Joe's whole wheat tortillas that I crisped in the oven because I needed to use them up before they went bad, but I'm dying to try this with Post Punk's cornbread recipe -- be on the look for it in the coming month! I've been bringing this chili to work for lunch and, like a good chili should, it tastes better each day.

One more warning: Alli and I are a little obsessed with Christmas. Actually, a lot obsessed. On TV Saturday was ABC family's 25 Days of Christmas promotion. See where I'm going with this? Alli has already started listening to Christmas music. Although I haven't gone that far yet, I have started a bookmark for Christmas recipes. All I'm saying is you have about 3 weeks before we start going holiday-season crazy. You've been warned.

Our stockings freshman year

One of my favorite Jack Johnson songs. I heard this for the first time about two summers ago at Mile High Music Festival. Whenever I have the apartment to myself this and Etta James are my go-to music choices.

--Kelli