It was a beautiful 80 degrees in LA over the weekend, so I felt the craving for some chili (weird I know). There was a method to the madness. I am now in the “tapering” period of my marathon training, so food is even more important in these next two weeks. So I thought chili would be the best choice, it’s full of veggies, protein and carbs. So I decided to visit my favorite site Post Punk Kitchen to see what amazing chili recipes I could find. I sure did find a gem, Red Lentil Thai Chili. This recipe is so perfect, it has beans and lentils both packed with protein. The sweet potatoes are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. It is really filling, the lentils thicken up the base and the added coconut milk makes it even more creamy. This recipe is really easy to make, I really did enjoy this dish. Another one to add to the favorite pile.

{Photos by Me}

Last week I made these fantastic aka Fresh Corn Johnnycakes via the Post Punk Kitchen. This recipe was super easy to make, and it reminds me of these amazing corn cakes I had at Sage in Echo Park. I even made a chipotle vegenaise aioli to dip these sweet cakes in.

For the aioli, I used powdered chipotle seasoning about a tbsp (depends on how spicey you want it) and 3 tbsp of vegenaise. Mix it together and enjoy!

{Photo by Me}

Thanks to my good friend Jessica, she introduced me to this awesome website theppk.com. This website is filled with some really great vegan recipes. One recipe I was dying to make was the Savory Mushroom Gravy, oh man was it good! Since I was making this gravy I decided to put together a nice vegetarian comfort dinner. Mash potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts with pistachios and crispy seitan. This was a perfect balance of flavors, textures and straight up yumminess. I have a ton of leftover gravy I think I might need to bake some biscuits.

CRISPY SEITAN

For the setain, I just bought the water packed seitan. I seasoned the flour with salt, pepper and some garlic powder. Toss the seitan in the flour mixture and transfer to a plate. In a large skillet heat up some oil (I used coconut oil) place the floured seitan in the pan and cook until the sides are crispy and golden brown; about 5 minutes.

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS (I have no measurements I eyeballed everything)

Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the ends off and half the Brussels sprouts, place in a baking dish. Shell the pistachios and place in the baking dish. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat everything, place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Once out of the oven squeeze fresh lemon juice on top (I used half a lemon and it served 2).

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jessica for sharing this with me, I have already made two dishes from this site.

{Photo by Me}