VEGETARIAN CHILI

The inspiration for this dish was from Cook’s Country. I saw this episode this weekend where the chef prepared Cincinnati chili with meat. The interesting thing about this chili was that there were no beans in the chili with some hot spices and ground meat and this chili was served over pasta. I wanted to try this at once and the same evening I made a vegetarian version of it, so that my husband can also have this. I made a few changes in the original recipe by substituting ground soya nuggets for ground meat and also used some pasta sauce to thicken the sauce. This was a hit and the pasta was so good, much better than the store brought sauces. I think this chili can also be served with garlic bread or even as a dip with some pita or corn chips.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Pasta sauce or tomato sauce, 1-1/2 to 2 cups.
2. Tomato paste, 1 tablespoon.
3. Onion, medium-sized, 1.
4. Garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
5. Soy granules, 1 cup.
6. Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.
7. Cinnamon powder, ¼ teaspoon.
8. All spice powder (can be substituted with garam masala), ½ teaspoon.
9. Oregano, ¼ teaspoon.
10. Fresh parsley, ¼ cup.
11. Brown sugar, a little. (I used agave nectar here).
12. Salt and pepper as per taste.

PREPARATION:

To cook the soy granules, drop them in boiling water and let them cook for 2 minutes. Switch off the stove and let the nuggets or granules sit in the hot water for 5 minutes. Drain the water and wash them twice and remove excess water from the granules or nugggets. Run them in a blender or food processor and blend everything into a smooth paste. Dice the onion finely. Heat a pan with some olive oil. When the oil turns hot, add the chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes until it is tender. Then add the garlic and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the powders and fry for a few minutes by adding a little more oil if needed. Then add the herbs, tomato sauce or pasta sauce, and tomato paste along with some salt and pepper. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Add the blended soya nuggets, mix everything well and cook closed for another 5-7 minutes. Serve hot over pasta with some grated cheese on top.

STEEPED BITTERGOURD JUICE/TEA AND SOME FACTS ABOUT HbA1c

I wanted to share a healthy soup idea with this post. This is from my mother-in-law. She always prepares a soup like this just before lunch for my father-in-law to keep his blood sugars under control. This is just bittergourd steeped juice/tea. Steeping the bittergourd like this concentrates all the essential juices even more than making a side dish or gravy with bittergourd. Drinking raw bittergourd juice is also very good for blood sugar control but I found that too bitter for me, so I just drink a steeped juice. I feel that making small changes like these goes a long way in preventing diabetes or pre-diabetes if you are in the risk group. I usually boil some slices of bittergourd (may be from a whole bittergourd) in a cup of water (sometimes I even microwave it for 2 minutes) and strain it and drink the water. I found this bitter for the first couple of times but eventually I acquired a taste for this and these days the bitterness doesn’t bother me.

Lifestyle changes like this (especially with diet and exercise) has helped me in keeping my HbA1c also known as hemoglobin A1c within the normal range for the past couple of years. HbA1c is a test which gives the average blood sugars for the last 3 months. This will give an idea about what our sugars have been running and if it is on the borderline and high, it can be brought down with diet and exercise. Sadly, many people do not know about the existence of tests like these in India. Friends, if you have a relative who is a diabetic or if you have a strong family history of diabetes at an early age (even ladies who have had gestational diabetes and are normal now), ask your doctors to write this test for you. For people with diabetes, this test has to be taken once in 3 months. Other than that it will be ok to have the blood work done once a year to make sure everything is normal. For more information about HbA1c click here