Beans Bourguignon

Beef Bourguignon is practically synonymous with French cooking. This classic French stew, rich with red wine and thickened with beurre manie {"kneaded butter"}, is given a vegan makeover and makes its glamorous reappearance as Beans Bourguignon {page 253}. Tender red kidney beans stand in for the traditional cow's flesh, and vegan margarine is kneaded with flour to make a vegan beurre manie.

Don't let the genre frighten you - this recipe was easy peasy to throw together. I had it on the table in just over 30 minutes! Additionally, it's made from inexpensive ingredients {depending on the wine you choose} and is a one-pot meal. Although it can be eaten as a stew, I found it especially good served over egg-free wide noodles.

The flavors were complex and deep, and only improved in the fridge, making leftovers of this stew absolutely delightful {which is convenient, as the stew made quite a lot}. Even though I made this and enjoyed it in the dead of summer {not sure what I was thinking}, I think this would be especially good served in the cool fall or winter months, with some crusty bread for sopping up the delicious broth. The ultimate comfort food - French-style!

Bon appetit!

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Red Bean Jambalaya

The Red Bean Jambalaya on page 252 was very simple to put together. I prefer Brown Rice but used white to stay in with the recipe.

I missed the crushed tomatoes in the recipe so used 2 cans of diced since I was in the middle of the recipe when I realized the error but it still tasted good :).

For me the beans were protein enough but if I have left over seitan or some vegan sausage links I would add that next time for sure for additional flavor.

The spices were fine for me so I don't think I'd make any alternations.

~~Gymmie

Jerk-Spiced Red Bean Chili

As I discussed on my personal blog recently, I really hate chili. It usually has all the wrong flavor, too many random vegetables, and the list goes on. However, upon reading the ingredient list for Jerk-Spiced Red Bean Chili {page 251}, to my surprise it actually sounded...edible. Even good! And since the Ninjahusband is generally jonesing for chili {and I generally fail at satisfying that particularly jonesing}, I thought it was only fair to put this chili on the menu this week, being that it actually sounded like something I might eat.

And now I must admit...me, Batgirl, The Chili Hater...liked this chili. It was spicy and sweet from the BBQ sauce and just had a wonderful flavor and texture. I swapped out the seitan in favor of Boca crumbles {seitan + soup = hatred}, and aside from accidentally putting twice as much cayenne in as was specified, that was the only change that was made.

Because of the cayenne mistake, it was too spicy for me to eat more than a small bowl, and there was no way that the Supertoddler was going to eat it, but the Ninjahusband loved it and took it to work with him to share with his coworkers with more spice-adjusted tongues than mine.

I liked it enough that I'm considering putting it back on the menu for next week -- sans double dose of cayenne.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl