Our Veggie Kitchen

I've been musing about going hiking again. I haven't spent a night in the woods since childhood, not since I ended up hiking through a stand of freshly clear-cut Ponderosa Pines ...the kind that took 100+ years to develop and will never, ever grow back because its too dry to support any sort of rapid growth ... and the eco-friendly lumber company who absolutely knows this because they need to know if the ecology will support a future clear-cutting event ... and it wont ... so the eco-friendly lumber company plants a few non-indigenous fir trees that will eventually spurn another wildfire because a fir tree won't withstand forest fire like a mature pine forest, where the trees don't even have branches until you hit the canopy ... so the eco-friendly lumber company plants a few token fir trees and maybe takes a picture for their website ... so they can dupe the public into thinking that they have interests beyond the bottom line.

Oops, I ranted.

Anyway, that event ruined hiking for me for 25+years. And I'm thinking about giving it another shot. So, in addition to gathering gear again, I started thinking of light weight, high energy food that's non-perishable and easy to cook. My first thought was chili, and my first recipe (I'll post another tomorrow) started off by throwing in whatever sounded good and making adjustments from there (Masala!) ... and it turned out to be my favorite.



Chili Masala
1 1/2 cups dried kidney beans, soaked overnight
1/2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup lentils
1/4 cup chickpea flour
Spice Mix:
1/2 oz dried mushrooms (shiitake, porcini, etc), ground
1 tbs onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt

Soak the beans overnight, and drain. Grind the dried mushrooms in a spice grinder. Don't worry about getting it totally fine, any chunks will add to the texture and mix with the other spices and the lentils. Add the beans and spice mix to a pot, cover the beans with water. Simmer until the beans are soft, about an hour. Toward the end, stir in the chickpea flour and lime juice.

The lentils will soak up a lot of water, so make sure you check the beans occasionally, so make sure you add more water, if necessary.

5 Servings: 379 cal (2g fat, 60g carbs, 25g protein)