Warming bean chili with avocado and cilantro

I love how the different seasons throughout the year invites to enjoy different types of foods, both when it comes to specific veggies and fruits to use and how to cook them. Especially when you like me live in a part of the world where each season really is different from the one before, and the ones that is coming this is quite a “big” thing!

I’m embracing this fact when it comes to the food I’m cooking. I like to get creative with what ever we can get from the farmers (at least fairly) nearby, letting those veggies be the main ingredient and then maybe adding (like avocado in this recipe) some other things as an extra. Also, during winter a warming bowl of something hearty and yummy is a great idea. So, Lets get cooking!

Warming bean chili with avocado and cilantro

4-6 portions

Ingredients

150 gram soya mice (weight when dry) *

1 yellow onion

2 garlic cloves

1/2 celeriac (roughly 350 grams)

1 Tbsp whole cumin

2 tsp smoked paprika powder

1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper

6 dried organic apricots, chopped

2 packages (á 500 ml) crushed tomatoes

4 dl / 1.7 cups water

1 package (á 230 grams when drained) pre cooked black beans

1 package (á 230 grams when drained) pre cooked kidney beans

1 Tbsp cacao powder

150 grams Tuscan kale

1 Tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For serving

4-6 portions wild rice/black quinoa/sorghum/whole oats

2 avocados

fresh cilantro

How to

Soak the soya mince according to instructions on the packaging.

Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Scrub the celeriac thoroughly, cut i small pieces. Fry the onion and garlic in a pot until soft. Add the celeriac, spices and apricot and fry for another couple of minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, water and soya mince. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Drain and rinse the beans. Remove the tough steam from the kale (tips: keep them and use next time you’re making a creamy kale soup! Put them in the freezer until then) and cut the leaves in smaller pieces. Add cacao, beans and kale to the chili. Turn of the heat and let the chili sit for at least 15 minutes before serving. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with sliced avocado, fresh cilantro and your choice of cooked grain!

* I like to use organic dried soya mince as it’s made of 100% soy, as opposite to the frozen ones I’ve manage to find which always have contained other things then only soy (such as flavouring, stabilators, sugar etc - things I found to be unnecessary here and rather tend avoid)

Recipe for Coop Sverige. Photo by Magnus Carlsson.

Hearty curry stew with aubergine, pumpkin and kale

The great thing about a stew is that is can be made with lots of different veggies - for example the exact veggies that you happen to have at home! These days I want to have pumpkin in almost everything - and so I added them to this stew as well.

Adding some pre cooked legumes when the stew is almost done is a great way to add som extra protein (and taste!). And then I always want to add something green - kale is a favourite! Best thing is to add the kale once you have removed the pot from the heat, that way the kale will stay green and perfectly soft.

You could serve the stew just like it is, or with your choice of grain och pseudo-grain; like sorghum, quinoa, naked oats or millet, for a even more filling meal.

And last but not least - don’t forget the golden rule when it comes to stews; they are even better the day after when the flavours have had the chance to REALLY evolve!! Now, time to cook.

Hearty curry stew with aubergine, pumpkin and kale

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp caraway seeds

2 Tbsp paprika powder

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1 aubergine

1 small pumpkin, Hokkaido or Muscat

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

500 g crushed tomatoes

400 ml coconut milk

230 g / 4 dl / 1.6 cups pre cooked chickpeas

100 g kale, rough stalk removed and leaves shredded

2 Tbsp cold pressed coconut oil

salt and freshly ground black peppar

For serving

2 dl / 0.8 cups sorghum, uncooked

fresh cilantro

How to

Cook the sorghum according to instructions on the packaging.

Fry the spices in the oil in a thick bottom pot at medium heat until fragrant. Peel and finely chop onion and garlic, add to the pot at fry until soft.

Cut the aubergine in bite size pieces. Wash the pumpkin then half it, remove seeds and cut in to bite size pieces. Add the aubergine and pumpkin to the stew. Fry for 2 minutes together with the ginger. Add the crushed tomatoes and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and and let simmer for 20 minutes, until the aubergine and pumpkin have softened. Salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse the chickpeas. Add to the stew together with the kale. Remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve the stew together with cooked sorghum and cilantro.

Recipe was first published in The Gothenburg-Post/Två dagar