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Chili is awesome. It’s easy. It’s everything you need in one bowl. It keeps you warm on long, cold winter nights. Some chili recipes place too much emphasis on the heat, but they become unbalance and just burn your tongue, but don’t really feed your soul. The trick is to use a bass note to balance the high notes of the intense spices. The typical bass note is chocolate, but here, I’ve used an oatmeal stout. Yummy.

Ingredients

• 1/4 C olive oil
  2 medium red onions, diced
  6 cloves garlic, minced
  2 T cumin seeds
  3 T coriander seeds
  1 box Boca Ground Burger
  1-3 jalapeño peppers, minced
  1 C oatmeal stout
  2 large cans diced tomatoes
  2 cans black beans, rinsed and strained
  2 T paprika
  2 T ground cumin
  2 T ground coriander
  2-3 T salt (to taste)
  1-3 t cayenne pepper (to taste)
  rice or chips (optional)
  cheddar cheese (optional)
  sour cream (optional)

Directions

In a stock pot, saute the onions in olive oil over high heat. When transparent, add the garlic, jalapeños, and cumin and coriander seeds. Let them all pop around for about two minutes, stirring continuously. Add the Boca Ground Burger and cook for another 5 minutes.

Then add the beer and watch it foam all up (this is the fun part). When the foam subsides, add the tomatoes and beans. You’re going to need it too cook down for a few hours, to help the flavors meld. The best is to cook it and the let it set over night.

The trick is to get the measurements of the spices right. You really can’t mess up much but the salt and cayenne pepper. Too little and you’ve just got tomato sauce. Too much and then you’ve got a spicy, salty mess. I suggest adding the spices gradually, like a teaspoon at a time till you get it to the flavor you like. And getting to the right flavor happens in one shake of the salt shaker. One moment it’s not quite right, and the next it’s great chili.

Serve with rice, corn chips, cheddar cheese, sour cream or anything else you like.

Yields: 12 servings

This yummy korma only takes about 30 minutes to make. The ground cashews in the sauce add a sweet and nutty flavor which is very good. Either fish out the cardamom pods before serving or watch out for them - they are potent if you accidentally bite into one!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup lightly salted cashews
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 5 green cardamom pods
• 2 summer squash, cut into half-moons
• 1 1/2 cups cut green beans
• 1 large tomato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
• Salt, to taste

Directions

In a blender grind 1/2 cup of the cashews. Don’t blend for too long or you will get cashew butter instead of ground cashews.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cardamom pods and fry, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until golden.

Add ground cashews, squash, green beans, tomato, and garlic. Mix well and cook. After 4 minutes stir in 1/2 cup of water, cover and turn down to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender, 15-20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the garam masala and mix well. Then add the vinegar and yogurt. Season with salt.

Serve over hot rice garnished with the extra whole cashews.

Yield: 4 servings

I love wing sauce so I was happy to find a new use for it! I ended up baking these, however, I think next time I’ll pan fry them to create a nice crust.

Ingredients

• 1 lb extra firm tofu — drained and pressed
• 3/4 cup Frank’s red hot sauce
• 1 cup panko or bread crumbs
• 1/8 cup flax seed meal
• 8 Ritz crackers
• 1 tablespoon roasted garlic powder (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Directions

Cut the pressed tofu block into bite sized cubes, place in a bowl, and cover with the hot sauce. Let marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour (you can leave it overnight).

In a blender, mix together the panko, crackers and flax seed meal. Season to taste with the garlic powder, salt and cayenne pepper.

Remove tofu cubes from the hot sauce and place in the breading mixture, coating all sides evenly.

Place the breaded cubes on a sprayed sheet pan and cook in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for 18-20 minutes, or until crispy. Alternatively, pan fry over medium heat until each side is crisp. Serve drizzled with extra hot sauce.

Yield: 4 servings

Pesto is great to make ahead of time and freeze. Then you can whip up a dish like this in minutes. Cooking garlic and white wine instantly make your house smell like a gourmet restaurant.

Toasted pine nuts can be a bit costly, so you can do it yourself with raw nuts. That way you get the lovely smell of roasted pine nuts, which smells surprisingly like popcorn.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh basil
• 1/4 C toasted pine nuts
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed or minced (or more, to taste)
• 1/4 C EVOO
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese (pre-grated is fine, but doing it yourself it better)
• 1/2 C white white
• 2 C cooked short pasta
• 1/2 C grape tomatoes, quartered

Directions

To make the pesto, put the basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste in a blender. Whip it up. Seriously, it’s that easy. To make the pine nuts, you can either toast them in a toaster oven or in a pan on the stove. Either way, keep your eye on them turning them frequently. You’ll likely burn your first batch, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it. Once made, you can throw the pesto in the freezer and take it out whenever you need a quick pasta dish.

For the pasta, saute a few cloves of garlic in olive oil. Add the white wine and some more salt to taste. Allow the white wine to reduce by half. Then add the cooked pasta and pesto and allow to warm. Right before serving mix in the grape tomatoes. Serve with a little more Parmesan cheese and some freshly grated pepper.

This is my very favorite lentil recipe. The French lentils are nice because they keep their shape and have a bit of a peppery taste. The butter swirled in at the end finishes the dish off nicely so don’t skip it!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups French green lentils, sorted and rinsed
• salt and freshly milled pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 large carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 celery rib, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 garlic clove, mashed or pressed
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 2/3 cup dry red wine
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons chopped parsley or tarragon

Directions

Put the lentils in a saucepan with 3 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a lively simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but still hold a little texture, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste, cook for 1 minute more, and then add the wine. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the liquid is syrupy and the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the mustard and add the cooked lentils along with their broth. Simmer until the sauce is mostly reduced, then stir in the butter and season with pepper. Serve with a flourish of chopped parsley.

Yield: 4-6 servings as a main dish; 8-10 servings as a side dish