No Laundry, No Naked Chef, Yes Recipe.

Tonight I had big plans on meeting Jamie Oliver "The Naked Chef". He's a very meat and potatoes guy but I love him. I love what he has done with Englands school lunch program and he makes good veg. He was speaking in NYC tonight and I was going to get him to sign his new book for my mom. Instead I decided that waiting 4 hours alone in a bookstore wasn't worth it. Especially since it was going to rain and I've been a bit woozy on and off since sunday. So I came home to do laundry. That didn't happen either. The pic you see to the right is what happened and I couldn't be happier. I had two butternut squash's to use for another recipe I'm making but I hate peeling and chopping the bottom because it's such an awkard piece. So I decided to stuff both squash bottoms with my BlackBean, Cashew and Apricot Chile.
I actually wrote the recipe down and will write it below in a minute. The one photo is of one of them fully stuffed and the other 1/2 stuffed so you can see what it's like. For some reason I thought this was important. I think I was just happy about how it all was coming out that I went picture taking crazy.
This is actually a very easy dish to make and it's perfect if you have left over Chile. For the squash just:
~preheat oven to 400 degrees
~chop off the bottoms of the butternut squash
~scoop out all the seeds and guts
~rub all over with oil
~place cut side down on a parchment lined baking tray and bake until cooked and slightly al dente
While all of this is being done make the chile!

Black Bean, Cashew and Apricot Chile

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (approx 2 cups)
1 1/2-2 cups carrots diced
1 medium size jalapeno, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (approx 1 cup)
3 large cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1 heaping tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons chile powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 15oz can black beans, drained
1 28oz can fire roasted tomatoes either diced or ground

1 cup raw whole cashews
5 dried apricots, diced small

~Heat oil in large pot and add onion, carrots and red bell pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes and add the jalapeno and garlic and cook until carrots start to soften up.
~Add all the spices to the pot and stir on medium heat for 2 minutes to cook the spices.
~Add black beans, tomatoes, cashews and apricots.
~Cook until cashews are soft and apricots have plumped up about 30 minutes.
~Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff the inside of the butternut until there is a lovly mound on top and bake in the oven for 10 minutes to meld it all together.

YUMYUMYUM!!!
It's alittle spicy but that's how chile should be in my book. If you are sensitive to spices just cut back where you think you need to. This recipe I think will easily fill about 6 medium squash bowls. Too bad I only had two. What to do with the leftovers now.

Eek! I made another soup! This was sunday's lunch and monday's leftovers. It is Myra Kornfeld's French Lentil Soup from the Voluptuous Vegan. It was rather good. Peter really liked it. I served it with whole wheat garlic toast. I'm getting into this whole "in the mood" for soup thing.