Easy Vegetarian Solar Chili

The weather was back to normal today. Sun, sun, and more sun. Made a pot of vegetarian chili. It was a two step process. First I cooked some beans, you could use canned, but I like the taste of dried beans better. When they were tender I added them to the other ingredients and let the whole thing simmer some more. Martin had a bowl of it as a snack when he got home. For dinner I served it over pasta.




Vegetarian Chili

1/2 lb dry pinto beans
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 15 oz can mexican stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz can pumpkin
salt to taste

Soak beans overnight, drain, add enough water to cover them by an inch and simmer in the Sun Oven until tender. In a pot large enough to hold all the ingredients saute the onion in the oil until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and the drained cooked beans. Simmer in the Sun Oven until the sweet potatoes are soft.

Minestrone, Half Solar

There are probably as many recipes for minestrone as there are cooks. I don't have a set recipe of my own, it depends on what the market has to offer. Today I used mayocoba beans, savoy cabbage, leeks, carrots, celery, turnips, butternut squash, green beans and vegetable broth. After soaking the beans overnight and cooking them until soft, I combined them with the chopped vegetables and broth in a large pot and put it back in the Sun Oven. I served it over a slice of crusty bread rubbed with garlic and seasoned each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh basil, and a dusting of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I'm surprised I got any solar cooking done at all today. It wasn't until around noon that we started getting some intermittent sunshine. I figured I could at least get the beans going, if need be I'd finish up the minestrone inside. I set the Sun Oven out and was careful to refocus it often to get the most out of the little available sunlight. It wasn't until I went out to turn it the third time that I noticed it was empty; I'd forgotten to put the pot of beans in it. Oops. By the time the beans were cooked and the rest of the ingredients were chopped and ready to go it was starting to get cloudy again. I gave it a shot but after about an hour the clouds had taken over. This pot of soup was coming inside to simmer a little longer.

Two Days of Solar Cooking - One Blog Entry.

Once again I was too tired post an update yesterday. I had a very busy day. I taught my first two, yes two, solar cooking classes in one day. I was very nervous beforehand, in fact, when Brent (the owner of the store where the classes were held) considered canceling it due to rain forecast, I was almost relieved. Luckily he didn't. The weather cleared up and both classes went very well. We had two Sun Ovens set up, one with rice and beans and the other with the most amazing 16 grain bread made by Kristi. If you live in the Phoenix metro area, I highly recommend you check out Brent and Kristi's store, FoodWise. It's located at 395 E. Warner in Chandler. Kristi holds weekly cooking and bread baking classes that are free. I will definitely be attending some of them in the near future. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera so I don't have any pictures of my big day. Also, despite spending the entire afternoon solar baking bread and solar cooking beans and rice, I had nothing prepared for dinner. Matin and I went to one of our favorite local spots, Joe's Farm Grill in Gilbert. By the time we got home I was exhausted.

Today I wasn't feeling very creative. We got up early to go to yard sales and by mid morning I still hadn't decided what to put in the Sun Oven. For inspiration we stopped at Trader Joe's on our way home. I found a ready to cook turkey breast with cranberry stuffing. Perfect, all I had to do was take it out of the packaging a stick in the Sun Oven, in a pot of course.

The instructions said to bake in a 350ºF oven for 20 - 30 minutes per pound. The thing about solar cooking times is that they depend a lot on the type of pot used, the quality of the sun, and how often you refocus the Sun Oven. The other thing is cooking times don't really matter. Since the food won't overcook or burn it's almost impossible to ruin it. But since I'd done nothing more than take the turkey out of the package I figured the least I could do was pay attention to the cooking time. It weighed 2.5lb. I put it in the Sun Oven at 11:45. I remembered to use my probe thermometer and at 1:15 it had reached 180ºF. It was ready.

I'm generally not very fond of these types of convenience foods. Somehow the flavors are never quite right and this was no exception. The stuffing was just so so and the meat was a little dry. I actually think it might have been better if I'd have cooked it at a lower heat with some kind of liquid, like white wine, for additional flavor. In any case, I was starving so I was happy to have it for lunch.

Solar Cooked Pot O' Beans

Both yesterday and today I had to leave home early. Both days I woke up to gray skies. The forecast for both days was rain. Yesterday I chose to believe that forecast and left home without putting anything in the Sun Oven. But this is Arizona and by 9 a.m. there wasn't a cloud in sight, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. By the time I got home I had missed my solar cooking window of opportunity. Clouds were starting to roll in and by evening we had heavy showers.

Today I chose to go a different route. Once again I had to leave home early and, unlike yesterday, I wouldn't be home until late afternoon. I didn't want to put a lot of work into something that might just sit in a cold Sun Oven all day, and I really didn't want to risk something like meat that might spoil. I figured beans were my best bet. Even if it did stay cloudy all day I could still cook them on the stove when I got home and if the sun did come out I could use the cooked beans to make some soup. In the end we had another typical sunny Arizona day - the forecast still says it's going to rain - and I came home to a perfectly cooked pot of beans.

Solar Cooked Beans and Wheat Berries

It was another day of intermittent clouds so to be on the safe side I decided to solar cook beans and wheat berries to make soup. After soaking them overnight I put them in two separate pots and let them solar cook all day. Surprisingly neither of them were over-cooked.

At dinnertime I pureed half of the beans in their cooking liquid and combined them and the wheat berries with a base of diced onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and strained tomatoes that I'd prepared last night. The outcome was a very satisfying winter's night meal.

Camping with the Sun Oven

 We went camping for one night, and while there is some debate among my friends as to whether staying in a cabin is actually camping, that's what I'm calling it. So we didn't pitch a tent; we did bring our own linens, cook and eat outside, and use the nearby shower/restroom facilities. Really the cabin was nothing more than a hard sided tent.
Using the Sun Oven in this setting was mostly a question of preparation. The evening before I seasoned a small pork shoulder roast with a spice rub and wrapped it in plastic wrap. I also soaked some beans and chopped a bell pepper and onions. We got to the campsite just before noon, set up the Sun Oven and had our dinner cooking in no time. After an afternoon of hiking and enjoying the cooler temperatures-it's still in the 100's here in Phoenix-we enjoyed a relaxing picnic dinner.

With no t.v. or internet and only a flashlight to see by, we decided to call it an early night. I wanted to get up early to make breakfast in the Sun Oven. I didn't need an alarm clock, at 6:30 a.m. it was time to make a trip to the communal restrooms. When I got back the sun was just starting to peak over the trees. To use the Sun Oven to catch the early morning rays I remove the tray, turn it upside down and place a trivet, or in this case having forgotten to bring one, an upside down square pan, on the floor of the cooking chamber. By 7:00 the Sun Oven had reached 250º. Hot enough to cook some huevos rancheros. I took two small dark metal pans, coated them with cooking spray, then topped a corn tortilla with some beans left over from dinner and two eggs.

Sun Dried Tomatoes Day Two

Even with the Sun Oven being used to finish drying the tomatoes today, we still managed to have a solar cooked meal. For once I was thinking ahead when I cooked a whole pound of beans on Friday. I used some of them for that evening's pasta fagioli, the rest I saved for use during the rest of the week. Today we had this simple but satisfying salad.

White Bean, Onion and Tuna Salad

2 cups cooked white beans
2 cans tuna
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
Oil
Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Drain tuna, combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Season to taste with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve with a good crusty bread.

A Solar Cooking Favorite

This lamb cassoulet was the first dish to appear on my blog. It's still one of my favorites. I adapted the recipe from Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass.

Sun Oven Lamb Shanks with White Beans

1/2 lb. white beans (cannellini, great northern or mayocoba)
1 tbs. olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 bay leaves
3 1/2 cups water
2 lamb shanks
1 tbs fresh chopped rosemary
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Soak beans overnight. Heat oil in a large dutch oven, add leeks and carrots, saute for about five minutes. Add beans, water, bay leaves and lamb shanks. Cover and place in Sun Oven and cook for at least four hours. To serve remove meat from bones. Drain beans reserving broth for future use. Return beans to pot and season with rosemary, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Be sure to save the broth. It's the best part of the recipe and can be used to make outstanding soups.

Sun Oven Dinner Party

The baked beans are bubbling and the pork is roasting. Everything is on track to be ready in time to bake a pan of macaroni and cheese while there's still enough sunshine. We're having guests for dinner and all of the cooked food is being prepared in the Sun Oven. Pulled pork is a dish - like chicken - that will get you hooked on solar cooking at first bite.

Sun Oven Shredded Chicken and Cowboy Beans

When people see a Sun Oven for the first time, especially in Arizona, the first thing they ask is, "Why doesn't everyone use one of these?" They usually come to the assumption that it's a question of price and don't give the matter a second thought. I must admit, I too was guilty of this. But if you think about it, many home cooks are perfectly willing to pay top dollar for a good chef's knife, a food processor, a stand mixer or a slow cooker. All of which, with the exception of the chef's knife, are less useful than a Sun Oven. Just like with any craft, home cooks know that high quality tools make the art of cooking much easier and more rewarding. The Sun Oven is designed to last much longer, again with the exception of the knife, than any of the above mentioned appliances. It's more versatile than a pressure cooker or a crock-pot. And while food processors and stand mixers are incredibly useful, they rarely come out of the cupboard in most home kitchens.

After giving it more thought I now believe the price has little to do with it. It's much more about habit. People don't cook with the power of the sun because they never have. Hopefully my blog will inspire at least some of my readers to change their habits and give solar cooking a try. If they do, they'll be rewarded with some of the best tasting meals they've ever prepared.

Today's dinner couldn't have been easier to make. Just take a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts and throw them in a pot with a jar of salsa. Put it in the Sun Oven. When it's done shred the chicken with two forks. The beans and rice were made in the Sun Oven too. I didn't use a recipe for the beans. After soaking the beans overnight I seasoned them with chopped onion, minced garlic, some chili powder, chopped red pepper and a bay leaf. It took about an hour to cook them in the Sun Oven.