Vegetarian Chili (283cal) & Cornbread Muffins (149cal)

I just wanted to share two of the recipes from my blog (goudamonster.com - woo plug!) because I think they both turned out great. They've received rave reviews each time I've made them. Both recipes are really easy to throw together too.

Southwestern Vegetarian Chili

This recipe is actually vegan, not just vegetarian! If you're not a vegetarian you could use some kind of cooked lean ground meat, but remember that it will affect the calorie information if you do.


http://www.goudamonster.com/2012/11/southwestern-vegetarian-chili/

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1-2 jalapeño peppers, diced (remove seeds for less heat)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 package of ground meatless crumbles
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon pepper sauce
1 corn tortilla, torn into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a pot and cook the onion, garlic, and pepper until slightly soft and fragrant – about 5 minutes or so.
Add all remaining ingredients (except for the cilantro and corn tortilla) to the pot and bring to a simmer. When simmering, add the corn tortilla pieces. Cover, reduce heat, and let cook for 20-30 minutes.
Just before serving stir in the chopped cilantro. Yields 3 bowls.



Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins

I love this recipe because it yields a small number of muffins (just 6), meaning you don't have a ton to sit around and tempt you all night, hehe.


http://www.goudamonster.com/2012/11/small-batch-jalapeno-cornbread-muffins/


Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup dry polenta (this provides a texture that we enjoy, but you can use all corn meal if you don’t have polenta on hand)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
2 jalapeño peppers (remove seeds for less heat)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (you could use regular or soy milk, but it will increase the calorie count slightly)
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer dissolved in 2 tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk (this is the equivalent of one egg)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.
Put all dry ingredients + the peppers into a food processor and pulse until the jalapeños are roughly “chopped”. You will pulse the dough a few more times so don’t worry about making it too fine.
Add butter, olive oil, and cream cheese then pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
Pour in almond milk and egg replacer and pulse until the dough just comes together. Do not over mix or you may end up with tough muffins.
Spoon the mixture into your muffin tin, making six muffins. It will be thick so you may want to pat it down just a little. I leave it rough for a rustic texture on top (and because I’m lazy).
Bake for 20-24 minutes or until the muffins start to brown slightly at the edges.