One of the main ingredients I cook with is chili peppers. Jalapenos, Serranos, Anaheims, New Mexico Reds, Poblanos, Pasillas, Cayenne, all these chilis and more have a home in my kitchen.
There are approximately 25-30 kinds of chili peppers, and in that family there are multiple varieties. Chilis give flavor to dishes, and some great health benefits as well. A hot chili pepper has more vitamin C in it than an orange.
The weather is turning cooler and the cooking mind turns to comfort food: soups. I love lentils in stews and soups. This recipe that I developed is one of my favorites so far. You can also find it in my cookbook Delectable Vegan Soups.
Enjoy this soup on a cold winter's day with warm tortillas or crusty bread.
What I love about Tofu Scramble is it's versatility. This is by no means the be all and end all recipe for this dish. Experiment with the base, and come up with different vegetables and spices to put in it. I like jalapenos and chili powder, so it goes into the one I make here at home, but you can add any thing, really, that you want to, it all depends on your palate.
I've been on a culinary quest to make good food even better. Of course starting out with quality ingredients is a key element in cooking. But what can make your food even better then what it is? Technique. In this recipe I sweat the peppers, onion, and garlic before adding them to the quinoa. The trick is then to add salt to the vegetables that are sweating. This brings out more of the natural flavor in the vegetables.
We had guests over the weekend. I like to cook for people when they stay with me. However, these folks were busy with a conference, so they were in and out all weekend. I figured Sunday would be a good day to cook for them. (I did not know that they would be having dinner at the conference as well).
I planned to make Spring Rolls, and an orientalish fried brown rice. A light but filling “snack.” I had all the ingredients but one. Red Fresno (or red jalapeno) chilis. I live in Southern Arizona, I ought to be able to find a fresh red chili somewhere.
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