two bean vegetarian chili

i hesitate to actually call this dish "chili", except for the spices that i used. i don't generally use cumin in soups and stews, or else this could be considered a soup. of course, the amount of beans in it definitely earns it the designation of chili, right?
best part about this meal? besides the fact that i could eat it every day for the rest of my life?
there's a measly 400 calories in one generous serving!
add 1 tablespoon of light sour cream, and you've reached a whopping 420 calories.
yumm-o.

i'll do this one the old fashioned way...

1 onion, chopped
most of a butternut squash, chopped into 1/2" squares
red pepper, chopped
garlic cloves, or garlic paste
red pepper flakes
1 cup water, separated
two cans of beans. whichever you like. i used red and pinto.
a can of stewed tomatoes
spices-- cumin, italian seasonings, cilantro-- whatever you like.



in a dutch oven, or large pot, heat some oil. add the onion and saute about 5 minutes.



add the butternut squash, red pepper, and 1/2 cup of water. also red pepper flakes, garlic, and any spices you choose to add. simmer for about 7 minutes.



add the beans and the stewed tomatoes, using the spoon to break apart the tomatoes a little bit. add the other 1/2 cup of water, then simmer, partially covered, for 15-20 minutes, until it thickens a little bit.



serve as is, or garnish with fresh cilantro and a lime wedge. or, a small dollop of light sour cream.

spaghetti squash and meatballs

i made an amazing dinner last night. amazing. and i only took one photo, just now, of my leftovers. sorry.

so i made homemade meatballs first. easy. one pound of ground beef, half of a small onion (diced small), 1/2 cup bread crumbs, salt, pepper, one egg, 2T water. mix it all. form into balls and bake at 350 until done (20 minutes? 30 minutes?).

then i baked a spaghetti squash. there are so many ways to cook it if you look online-- but they all come to the same conclusion. cut it in half, put it face down, and bake or microwave. well, i found a better way to do it on the pioneer woman's blog. you just take the whole, intact squash, put it in the oven at 375 for an hour. that's it. then it's done, and it is so much easier to cut in half. scoop out the seeds, and use forks to shred. all the photos for that are on her website. sorry i didn't take any.

except for this amazing iphone photo of the leftovers.

i served the spaghetti squash (which, by the way, was still crunchy and amazing) with a few of the meatballs and some organic spaghetti sauce (thank to watching food, inc earlier in the day). also served with a side salad and red wine.

it was awesome.