Spicy Vegan Squash Chili

I'm not usually a fan of vegetarian/vegan chili because they always seem to be full of mushrooms and really liquidy.  I like my chili to be thick and hearty.  I find that the by using squash in this chili it makes up for the lack of meat.  I used 2 cups of acorn squash and 2 cups of buttercup squash. The acorn broke down more while cooking, so it helped thicken the sauce, while the buttercup stayed nice and firm, leaving delicious chunks of squash to eat.  And this chili certainly is spicy!  I added a large dollop of sour cream to mine to cool it down, but then it was no longer vegan, so if you are trying to leave out the dairy perhaps try using a soy sour cream product.  My hubby kept saying how great this smelled while I was cooking it, but when I told him it was Squash Chili he wouldn't try it.  That's OK though, I didn't really want to share.

Squash Chili (Originally from Chatelaine Magazine, don't remember what issue)

28 ounce can diced tomatoes

398 ml can tomato sauce

1 tbsp chili powder (I make my own, recipe here)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp allspice

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups squash, cut into bite sized pieces

2 yellow (or orange, red, green...) peppers, chopped

19 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn kernels (I soaked them in water for a bit to re-plump them)

1 cup chopped cilantro

Sour Cream (optional)

In a large saucepan stir together tomatoes, tomato sauce, spices, and garlic.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Add in the squash, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until squash is tender, about 30-40 minutes.

Stir in peppers, beans and corn.  Simmer, stirring often, until peppers are soft, about 15 minutes more.  Stir in cilantro.  Serve with a spoonful of sour cream on top, if desired.

Crepes with Manjar (Chilean Dulce de Leche)

Manjar is the Frank's Red Hot Sauce of Chile: they put that sh*t on everything!  While I was in Chile I picked up a 1 kg container of it to bring back with me.  That's a lot of manjar, and I am having trouble figuring out what to do with it all.  I need to make a Tres Leche cake with a layer of manjar in it, because that would be delicious.  But until I get around to tackling that dessert, I thought some crepes filled with manjar would be amazing.  You can find a lot of recipes to make your own manjar online, or you can just buy some pre-made Dulce de Leche at a grocery store.  From what I've read, manjar is Dulce de Leche, but my Chilean friends insist manjar is better.  I have a sweet tooth in the morning, so I made this for a Saturday breakfast, but it would make a tasty dessert as well.

This recipe made about 8 crepes:

Crepes with Manjar

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp melted butter

Mix the flour and eggs together in a large bowl.  Gradually add the milk and water, stir to combine.  Add the salt and butter and beat until smooth.  Heat a frying pan over med-high heat.  Lightly coat the pan with oil.  Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into center of pan, then tilt the pan so that the batter spreads out evenly to make a nice thin crepe.  Cook until bottom is light brown, and then flip and cook other side.  Put pieces of waxed paper in between cooked crepes to prevent them from sticking together while others are being made.

Once all of the crepes are cooked spread a thin amount of manjar on each one and roll up.  Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with fresh fruit.  Delicious!

General Tao Chicken

This is my hubby's absolute favourite meal.  He would be very happy if I made it for him every week.  And I have to say, it is pretty good.  And spicy.  The first time I made this I used 2 tablespoons of chili flakes.  I couldn't eat it, it was ridiculously hot.  It could have just been the type of chili flakes I had bought, but from then on I only used a 1/2 tablespoon.  I like spicy food, but I couldn't even taste anything that first time, my mouth was numb from the burning.  So I'm writing a 1/2 tablespoon in the recipe, but if you're feeling brave....

I like to get everything chopped and ready before I start cooking the chicken, because everything cooks really  fast, and once the chicken is done you want to be able to add the other ingredients while quickly stir-frying.  I mix the soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar beforehand too.  Plus I always like having little bowls of ingredients, it makes me feel like I'm on a cooking show.  

Also, I should mention that this recipe doesn't make the crispy chicken pieces that you get when you order General Tao at a restaurant.  If you do want them crispy like that you would need to deep fry them and make some kind of batter.  Probably just dipping the marinated pieces in flour would work.  When I make this I cook each piece of chicken individually, letting one side get a little crispy and then flipping it to crisp up the other side.  It takes more time that way though, and if you want to just dump the chicken and marinade in the pan and stir-fry it, that will taste great too.

General Tao Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tbsp cornstarch

1/3 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp each minced ginger and garlic

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tbsp chili pepper flakes

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil...or a bit more if you love it as much as I do!

soya oil for cooking

Marinade:

1 egg white

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp soy sauce

Make the marinade, add the chicken to it and refrigerate it for 1-2 hours.  Add the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to chicken broth and refrigerate.  Over med-high, heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok.  Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink.  Remove the chicken and let stand.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of the oil in the pan, add the onions, garlic, ginger, and chili pepper flakes.  Stir quickly for about 2 minutes.  Add in the chicken, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and chicken broth and cornstarch mixture.  Continue stir-frying until the sauce has thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil.  Serve over rice.  If you find that the sauce has thickened too much, just add a bit more chicken broth.  Enjoy!