Broccoli Brown Rice Bake and Super Easy Sweet Potato Chili

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read Meatless Monday's weekly email this morning and I actually had the ingredients for one of the featured recipes. That has never happened before. O.K., I substituted asparagus for the broccoli, but I had everything else which is pretty amazing since one of the ingredients was neufchantel cheese. I bought some a couple of days ago when I had a craving for cream cheese. I can't remember the last time I had cream cheese in the house and I'd never purchased neufchantel before. Both the rice bake and the chili were done in time for lunch and it was enough for dinner too. The rice recipe can be found here: Broccoli Brown Rice Bake.

Easy Sweet Potato and Kidney Bean Chili

2 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can mexican stewed tomatoes

1 can sweet potato

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp chipotle in adobo sauce

salt to taste

cilantro, chopped

sour cream

Heat oil in a large dark sauce pan, add onion and cook for about five minutes until onions are soft. Add next four ingredients, tomatoes through chipotle. Cover and place in Sun Oven for approx. one hour. Garnish with cilantro and sour cream.

Solar Pumpkin Chili Mexicana

I got this recipe from Weight Watchers. It's a favorite in our house for many reasons. First, it's only two points per serving. I'm not sure what that translates to in calories but I'd say less than 200. Second, it makes a massive pot of chili. Even Martin can't finish it off in one sitting. There's more than enough for one meal. Third, unless you tell them, nobody would guess that it has pumpkin in it. And finally it can be served over pasta, a potato or with a slice of good bread so there is room for variety. I got it in the sun oven early today and it was ready by lunchtime. We had it for lunch and dinner with enough left over for one more meal. There's a recipe on allrecipes.com that is almost identical to the Weight Watchers version. The only modification is cooking spray instead of vegetable oil. I also substitute chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for the chili powder. I think it's even better when it's made in a solar oven.