Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Daylight Savingzzz

It's now Wednesday, and I think I've finally gotten myself back in sync with the clock. Why are we still subjected to this every year? I find it hard to believe that it saves enough energy to be worth the trouble it cause. Of course, being a night owl, I do like the day in the fall when we "fall back."

It's been a busy week so far: fundraiser for Voci on Sunday, and a major project at work that was due today. I did find time to make dinner tonight: a vegetarian chili recipe I cobbled together from a couple of recipes I found online.

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Vegetarian Three-Bean Chili

1 Tb olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 15-oz can black beans, drained & rinsed*
1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained & rinsed*
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed*
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 c vegetable broth
1/2 c frozen corn
2 Tb chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Saute onions in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in other ingredients. Mix well and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt & pepper.


*To substitute dried beans, use 3/4 cup dried beans, soak overnight, and cook for 1.5-2 hours. Also add extra 1/2 tsp. garlic salt

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I first came up with this recipe for a party we had a few weeks ago, and it was very popular. I went with chili because we ended up with a huge number of guests (around 40), and I didn't want to spend a fortune on dinner. One vat of chili con carne, one smaller vat of vegetarian three-bean, and side dishes that other people brought. Three of the four members of my family like it, too, so it's a winner. (As any of you with kids know, it's next to impossible to please all four of us at the same time!)

The weather has been nice, and the California poppy seeds I sprinkled in the dirt a few weeks ago are starting to come up. I haven't had a lot of luck with starting things from seed in the past, but I figured that these are wildflowers that bloom next to highways, so how difficult could it be to grow them? We'll see how many of them make it :-)

1 comment:

Anna Banana said...

Greetings SuperAlto, welcome to the blogosphere! What fun to get a glimpse of your life in NoCal. We used to live in San Leandro and Oakland and Marin and SF, 15 years altogether. We miss you in PWC, glad Kay could take over directing. The music is lovely!