Jamaican Red Bean Stew

This morning before rushing off to work, I threw all this stuff into the crock pot. We'll see how it turns out. Adapted from Robin Robertson's 'Quick Fix Vegetarian'.

1 sweet potato, diced
2 cups sliced carrots (I chopped up a bunch of old baby carrots I had on hand)
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can light coconut milk
1 can water
1/2 veg bouillon cube
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Combine in a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

Enchilada Pie

Adapted from 'Quick Fix Vegetarian', by Robin Robertson. This took maybe 10 minutes to throw together, and we had plenty of leftovers.

1 package polenta
1 can pinto beans, drained
16 oz salsa (I used half salsa, half homemade enchilada sauce from Kelli's Amazing Enchilada Adventure)
1 veggie sausage, diced (optional)
1 can diced green chilies, drained (optional)
1 cup frozen corn (optional)
a few dashes cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup soy or regular cheddar cheese (optional)
3 or 4 handfuls crushed tortilla chips

Slice the polenta 1/2 inch thick and lay the slices in the bottom of a baking dish. Top with frozen corn. Mix the beans, salsa, sausage, chilies, cumin and chili powder together and spread that on top of the corn. Top with cheese, if using, and top that with tortilla chips. Bake for 30 minutes and 350 degrees.

Note: I buy polenta pre-packaged at New City Market, where it's relatively cheap. To make this recipe even cheaper, you could microwave your own polenta and/or sub more crushed tortilla chips or corn tortillas for that bottom layer. The sausages can also get expensive, but you could always roll your own.

Spinach-Mushroom-Artichoke Turnovers

2 tsp olive oil
1/4 onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced
10 marinated artichoke hearts, diced
1 handful pine nuts
10 oz fresh baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg (2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Saute the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are soft, add the pine nuts, artichoke hearts and spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted.

Slice each puff pastry sheet into four pieces. Roll each piece out until it's roughly 6-7 inches on each side.

Put two-three tablespoons of filling on one half of the pastry. Wet the edges and fold the pastry over to form a triangle. Crimp the edges to seal.

Bake the pies for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.