Gluten Free Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili Recipe

Gluten free black bean and butternut squash chili is a welcome change for fall. I've been ready to cook fall squashes for several weeks now and I'm finally getting the chance. It's still hot here in Eastern NC, but I've already transitioned to fall foods. Apples, pumpkin, fall greens like kale, and squash are abundant right now and they are the foods I really want. The great thing about seasonal eating is that our bodies become accustomed to the foods that are (or should be) available locally. Right now I want apples. I want the taste of squash. I want filling soups and stews. By early March I'll be more than tired of them and ready for spring foods... but right now... it's time for hearty beans, lentils, and squashes.

We're still receiving incredibly fresh produce from our CSA. Last week I received a butternut squash and an acorn squash in the box (along with many other things). This week I received the first pumpkin of the year. I was almost teary-eyed at seeing the bright orange peeking through the box. Right now I'm enjoying the mere site of that perfect pumpkin... but in a few weeks it will become our first pie for the season!

I wasn't feeling well last week so I decided to make a hearty, healthy stew. I found a recipe for a vegetarian black bean and butternut squash stew and made a few changes to make the stew with what I had on hand.

Hearty butternut squash, healthy black beans and tomatoes, spicy cumin and chili powder, with the soft crunch of kale at the end of each bite. We ate this stew for two meals and then had it for lunch 3 days last week. Honestly I don't often repeat recipes (it can be hard to do that when you're constantly trying to create new recipes) but this is a fall stew we'll be making often. It's vegetarian but you will never miss the meat. Try this for a filling lunch or a hearty dinner.

This recipe is being featured on the gluten free recipe carnival: "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free." This month is being hosted by Ali of Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen and the theme is: Packing a Healthy Lunch.

Gluten Free Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and corn
adapted from this recipe by carrie forbes of gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons gluten free chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 1/2 cups butternut squash, cooked & cubed
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2-4 cups vegetable broth (depending on how thick or thin you like your stew/soup)
1 (14 oz.) can petit diced tomatoes in juice
2-3 cups fresh kale, washed, patted dry, and cut or torn into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions
In a large dutch oven heat olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until soft. Add chili powder and cumin and cook for 1-2 minutes to release the aroma of the spices. Add butternut squash, black beans, and can of tomatoes. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth. If you want the chili a bit more thin, add additional vegetable broth. Cook on low heat for 30-40 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving add the fresh kale. After simmering for 6-8 minutes the kale will be a beautiful bright green. Taste the chili. Add salt if needed, along with freshly ground pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowl into bowls and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with fresh gluten free bread.

Carrie's Notes: 

• This chili would work really well in a slow cooker. Simply saute the garlic and onions, and then add all ingredients (except kale) to your slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours and high for 2-3 hours. Add the kale, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker about 10 minutes before serving. 
• We don't use a lot of salt in our cooking for health reasons. If you need more, feel free to add it! I've learned that if you add salt at the end of the cooking process you'll be less likely to oversalt your food. 
• Any type of cooked, cubed squash would work well in this chili.
• I actually used a beef broth in this chili because it's what I had on hand at the time. It made a delicious stew. 
• After reviewing this post for me, my husband said, "You used butternut squash in the chili? I thought it was cubed sweet potatoes!"  So feel free to substitute cooked, cubed sweet potatoes in place of the squash.

This post is part of a monthly roundup of gluten free recipes called "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free." The theme for this month is healthy lunches. Ali of Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen is the host for September 2010. Make sure to stop by her blog this month to see the awesome roundup of healthy gluten free lunches, especially for kids!

Sautéed Kale & Mushrooms

Kale is one of my very favorite vegetables/greens. It's simple to prepare. You can use the leaves raw in fruit smoothies (make sure there is fruit or you will definitely taste the kale! lol) or salads. You can quickly sauté the greens and use them as a base for your meal instead of pasta or rice.

Elana calls it "McKale" and her boys eat these wonderful greens often in the summer. Meghan, Shauna, Amy, and many other food bloggers have been making "kale chips"... Lauren even found a company who makes kale chips and reviewed them for us.

Last week I had some leftover nitrate-free, organic bacon from Applegate Farms and we needed a fast meal for dinner. I also had tons of kale that I meant to use for smoothies... but I love sautéed greens so why not use them.

I came up with this simple & quick meal for dinner. The idea actually came from our recent series of 30 Days Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals. Anna had made a bacon & egg baked chard dish and that looks so delicious, but I didn't want to turn on my oven. Since I had kale instead of swiss chard I just made a variation of her recipe. As Lauren of Celiac Teen put it so elegantly yesterday... it's time to play with our food. Don't be afraid to make changes, do your own thing, use the ingredients you have on hand. Have fun!

Simple Sautéed Kale & Mushrooms
an easy side dish technique

• 3-4 cups kale, torn into bite size pieces
• 1-2 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil -or- if you used bacon like we did, just use a little of the bacon grease... a little!
• salt & pepper, to taste (go easy... enjoy the flavor of those marvelous veggies!)

Directions:
In a heavy cast iron pan, or your favorite heavy skillet heat your oil until a drop of water will sizzle. Add the mushrooms & onions and sauté for several minutes until they are just slightly tender, but still have some "bite" to them. Add your kale and gently saute for about 3-4 minutes (5-10 minutes) until the kale is bright beautiful green. Serve immediately with your meal. I love using this as a base for our meals. It was excellent with eggs & bacon!

What are your favorite ways to make kale?

* This post is also shared with "A Gluten Free Holiday" hosted by Diane of The WHOLE Gang on 12/2/2010. 

Gluten Free Whole Grain Rosemary Garlic Pizza Crust Recipe

I really like easy recipes. My favorite recipes are the ones you just toss all the ingredients in a bowl, mix it up, throw it in the baking dish and you're done.

This recipe is sort of like that. A yeast-free (ie.. no rising time) gluten-free pizza crust that is very quick to throw together, shape on your baking sheet and you're good to go.

Another great thing about this crust is you can premix all the dry ingredients ahead of time and when you need a fast pizza just whip out the dry mix add the wet ingredients and in 5 minutes you have a pizza crust ready for baking.

How easy is that?

Summer calls for a fresh vegetable pizza. This pizza in particular is very vegetarian and almost raw. I guess it can't officially be a "raw" food since the crust is baked... but I think it's pretty darn close!

Eat your vegetables. Eat lots of them in the summer. Nearly all the vegetables on this pizza are from the CSA box we had last week.

My favorite way to make a veggie pizza is to simply bake the crust by itself. Then make a gluten free/dairy free "ranch" dressing, as your "pizza sauce" and then top it with fresh vegetables.

Done.

And then you can eat your vegetables for dinner! :-)



Whole Grain Rosemary Oregano Pizza Crust
(Gluten Free, Soy Free, Yeast Free, Egg Free, Vegan)
Created by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Print-friendly version.

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup brown rice flour -or- millet flour
1/2 cup arrowroot flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoons crushed rosemary
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Wet Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds mixed with 1/3 cup hot water
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Optional Herbs:
1 teaspoon dried sweet basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12" pizza pan with parchment paper. In a medium sized bowl whisk all dry ingredients together. Add any of the optional herbs to the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl mix together all of the wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you have a slightly sticky dough. Spread pizza dough in a large 12" circle using a spatula that's been spritzed with olive oil.

For a Traditional Pizza: Bake the crust alone for 10 minutes if you are adding traditional pizza ingredients. Remove from the oven. Add pizza sauce & toppings and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Yum!

For a Veggie Pizza: Bake crust for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven. Let cool 5 minutes and then add whatever type of sauce you want to use. Add veggies on top. Cut and serve! Yum!

CSA Week One: Lettuce, Radishes, Lots of Greens

It's the first week of our summer CSA (community supported agriculture). I love this time of year & getting our boxes of fresh produce each week. We started using a CSA last year.

This year we ordered from an organic farm that's closer to our home. They also deliver which is wonderful. Plus, we additionally will have fresh eggs delivered each week with our produce.

It's the next best thing to having my own garden & chickens!

This week we received:

• little white radishes
• some type of pink radishes
• a beautiful head of escarole lettuce
• a bag of colorful swiss chard
• a bag of a spinach variety
• several fresh leeks
• a pint of strawberries
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 dozen eggs

Now, here's where you come in...

Other than making a really good salad & green smoothies (which I love) I need some help figuring out how to use all these greens & radishes. What are some things you would do with them? Do you have any radish recipes? Any really good (dairy free) spinach recipes?
PLEASE share them with me in the comments below!!

Speaking of green smoothies...For lunch today I took a few leaves of escarole, spinach, and chard. I washed them thoroughly and added them to my blender.



Added in a banana, some frozen blueberries, lots of fresh water, a few superfoods (raw cacao, maca powder, spirulina, raw pumpkin seeds), ice, and some vanilla stevia for sweetness. Blended away...



...and had a really awesome green smoothie! It was so neat to know that all my fresh vegetables & greens were from a farm less than 10 miles away.

Each week this summer I'll post the items we receive in our CSA box and I hope you'll help me figure out what to do with all the farm fresh vegetables and fruits!

If you want to learn more about how to make green smoothies for your own health, please visit Meghan Telpner's amazing blog.

Also if you'd like more green smoothie recipes, please read my series of Green Smoothie blog posts from last year. A whole week's worth of fresh, healthy, green smoothie deliciousness!