Vegetarian Chili

This chili is very spicy, so you definitely need the yogurt! If you don't like spice, you can reduce the amount of chiles/sauce, or remove it altogether.

1 small butternut squash
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 15oz. can chickpeas, drained
1 26oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
2 tablespoons adobo sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

Serve With:
plain Greek yogurt


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and dice the butternut squash. Spread the pieces out on a baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Roast until tender and cooked through.
2. In a deep, large saucepan, saute the onion, shallots and green pepper in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, until they begin to caramelize.
3. Add the squash, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup of water, oregano, chipotle chiles, and chipotle sauce. Season with salt and pepper and simmer chili until cooked through. Add a little more water if it becomes too thick.
4. To serve, spoon chili into a bowl and top with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Original recipe here

Chickpea Vegetable Soup With Parmesan and Rosemary

It's almost the end of soup season! I bought ingredients for this soup and then the weather went up to 70 degrees....madness. This soup is really delicious though - even when it's cold, so it's not a bad choice even with the wonky weather. I made a few changes to the original recipe based on what I had/found at the grocery store - this might have actually been better with dried chickpeas, but Market Basket failed me!

1 whole clove
1/2 onion, sliced root to stem so it stays intact, peeled
1 28 ounce can chickpeas
1 teaspoon (approximately) rosemary
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 dried bay leaves
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 small Parmesan rind
1 cup diced tomatoes, canned or fresh
2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Insert the clove into the onion. Put the onion in a large pot with the chickpeas, rosemary, garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, salt and cheese rind. Add 5 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about an hour.

Add the tomatoes, carrots, and pepper, cover loosely, and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes longer.

Original recipe here

Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Wheatberry Salad

I made this a month or so ago, when I was trying to find some new recipes with wheatberries. I really enjoy wheatberries, but it can be hard to find good recipes for them! This isn't my favorite recipe and I may not make it again - but it was definitely good to try. I'm not a huge fan of red onions, and this had a bit too much red onion in it, which was minorly overwhelming.

I remember I didn't follow the ingredient list very well - I used a whole can of chickpeas, a whole red onion, and a whole butternut squash (no idea how much it weighed) - so this may have been better if I had stayed true to the recipe. I don't like to throw food away, and if I had used 1/4 cup of the red onion, I probably wouldn't have found another use for it. I do this often and it's usually a non-issue, but, I can't cheat all the time and get away with it! :) I also tend to not measure spices if there are many different spices to measure and add - I can be pretty lazy sometimes!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Wheatberry Salad

1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound squash (peeled, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces)
1 cup wheatberries (cook as directed)
1 cup chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup red onion (chopped)
2 tablespoons cilantro
1/4 cup tahini, lemon and yogurt dressing

1. Toss the squash in the oil, salt and pepper to coat.
2. Bake in a single layer in a preheated 400F oven for 30 minutes flipping once in the middle.
3. Mix the squash, chickpeas, red onion and cilantro and top with the dressing.

Tahini, Lemon and Yogurt Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup cup Greek yogurt (or regular plain yogurt)
1 clove garlic (grated)
salt and pepper to taste
* olive oil or water

1. Mix everything and add olive oil or water to get it to the desired consistency.


Original recipe here