Heirloom beans and Eggplant

Have I mentioned how much I am loving heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo?  They are so flavorful.  Last night I paired Vaquero beans with eggplant, and it was quite yummy in the words of my 4 yr old.

2 small/medium eggplant
1 pkg sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 pckg Trader Joe's fire roasted onions and peppers
1/2 jar of FF Trader Joe's tomato sauce
1/2 Cup Vaquero beans - soaked for at least 4 hours

1) Preheat oven to 400
2) chop off the ends of the eggplant and slice in half lengthwise.  Spray very lightly with olive oil spray and put face down on baking sheet, bake at 400 for 45 min
3) While eggplant is baking, cook the beans.  I like my pressure cooker, 12 minutes at high pressure with a natural release worked fine for these beans.
4) when eggplant is done, scoop out the flesh and chop.
5) In nonstick pan (large), water saute the sliced mushrooms, adding in the garlic after the mushrooms are soft.
6) add in the onions/peppers and continue to water saute.  Optionally add some basil (I used frozen).  Add in the eggplant beans and tomato sauce.  Lower heat, cover and simmer.

I served this over brown rice but it would go well over pasta too.

Vegan Chili

I found this recipe http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=16131.0, while searching for seitan chili recipe. I omitted the oil, and used a full can of red beans and one of pinto beans, instead of 1/2 of pinto and 1/2 can of black beans.  D is not a fan of black beans, and I don't like opening 2 cans that will leave me with leftovers, though I'm sure I could put them to good use later in the week.  Otherwise, we went with the recipe as written.  I served the chili over red rice, and it was very good.  As usual, I didn't cook with salt/pepper, and we found it didn't need any, though your mileage may vary.