Cauliflower with Indian spices

I was on the road a bit over the last few weeks and haven't cooked much or posted in a few weeks.  I've been feeling the need to do a little detox and get back to eating a healthier again so I'm going on a little stretch of vegetarian and vegan cooking for a little while.  

When it comes to Indian food, I always love the vegetarian dishes -  okra, cauliflower, potatoes, spinach, lentils, eggplant, all kinds of veggies, all with lots of great spices and all completely satisfying without any trace of meat.  

Here's an easy Indian-influenced dish to make at home - cauliflower cooked with carrots, onions, garlic and canned tomatoes, and seasoned with cumin seeds, curry powder and some fresh cilantro at the end.

Chicken or vegetarian chili

First of all, chuc mung nam moi!  Happy new year!  February 3 marks the beginning of the year of the rabbit in the Chinese new year, or the year of the cat in the Vietnamese new year, also known as Tet.  I wish you lots of happiness, good health and good fortune this year!

And the Super Bowl is coming up!  My husband Rick is a Wisco boy and is of course unbelievably excited that the Green Bay Packers are in the Super Bowl tomorrow night.  So in honor of the big game, here's a chili recipe for all those that like to make chili when watching football :)  And if you're looking for a new wing recipe, try my sweet and spicy soy glazed chicken wings - easy to make under the broiler in your oven and so good!

I typically make chili with ground chicken, ground turkey or make vegetarian versions with bulgar wheat, which has a ground meat-like texture.  You can use whatever combination of your vegetables - here, I used carrots, green peppers, and added some frozen corn towards the end just because I had some in the freezer.  You can also use zucchini or squash, or mushrooms.  I also like to use a combination of fresh onions and garlic and dried onion flakes and garlic powder.

Also, spice-wise, I don't like to go too hot but you can certainly add more heat to your own tastes. I always like that kind of sweet, savory thing to my chilis so I use a mix of cumin, chile powders, Mexican hot sauce, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little unsweetened cocoa powder. I usually always have a few different kinds of salsa in the fridge so will often throw in a little - I really like ranchera salsa in chili- there's a nice smokiness and heat that's great.

And as with all chili, it tastes better the next day or next few days while the flavors develop.