Hello, friends! I’ve now been blog-silent for a week. I might say I’ve been recovering from VeganMoFo, but… nah. I’ve just been lazy. Not too lazy to cook, though! I’ve just started testing recipes for another fabulous cookbook from Joni Marie Newman, and I’m very excited about this one. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you that this book focuses on cooking everything from scratch to create flavorful, whole-foods-based fusion dishes. Intrigued? You should be! These are the types of recipes that require you to make your own sauces, marinades, and toppings ahead of time, but you don’t even care because they’re so damn yummy and versatile, and you use them in delicious, flavorful dishes like this one:

What could it be?!

Not the greatest picture, I know, but the recent time change leaves me with no post-work natural light. Thankfully, you don’t need beautiful lighting to enjoy tasty food! I can’t tell you exactly what’s in this dish, but it’s got a fusion BBQ sauce that marries some wonderfully complementary flavors.

If this next dish looks familiar, you’re right – both dishes do share a couple of ingredients, but this is a chili:

Sekrit!chili.

What, a bean-less chili?! Yes! And it totally works, because there’s a stand-in meaty element that makes it perfectly filling and toothsome.

So – are you intrigued yet? Any guesses about the less-than-common shared ingredient? 

More importantly… happy Friday!