Hannah's Chili

Hi everyone, this is Hannah.  After reading through this lovely blog, I felt my cooking skills were being underrepresented.  So to prove that I am not a food dunce, I have decided to contribute to this endeavor.  It is true that I make a mean stir fry (which is why I always gave it as an option for meals), but I will wait to give that recipe until I have shown my other skillz. 

First, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I would like to present Vegan Chili Delicioso.  My grandfather had a wonderful chili recipe but unfortunately it was super meaty.  I used what I remembered from the vegetarian part of that recipe combined with some ideas I pulled from recipes I found on google (as well as just throwing in some things I had around the house).  There are a lot of places for variation depending on your taste, so feel free to experiment!

Vegan Chili Delicioso

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1.5 Onions (I used Spanish)

3-5 cloves Garlic

3 Bell Peppers (I used one green, one orange, and one red)

1 large Zucchini

2 Vegan Burgers (This is optional but can add a nice texture and flavor.  I used the ones by Nature’s Promise because they have no eggs, corn, or mushrooms.  You can also use tempeh sautéed in a couple teaspoons of soy sauce if you’d like. If you choose to leave this option out, you may want to add some extra beans.)

3 15 oz cans of Beans (I used one black, one red kidney, and one pinto but you can use any type!)

2 28 oz cans of Crushed Tomatoes in Puree (Before pouring these into the mix, you may want to put them into a bowl to check them for unwanted bits.  Sometimes these cans have the tops of the tomatoes and some leaves that gross me out when they’re cooked into the food.)

Cumin

Cayenne Pepper

Garlic Powder

Chop onions and dice garlic.  Sautee them with one tbsp olive oil in a very large pot.  If vegan burgers are frozen, add them just as the onions and garlic begin to brown/become clear.  Break apart the burgers as you stir the onions and garlic.  Chop and remove the seeds of the bell peppers and cut up the zucchini (I cut the zucchini in half length-wise and then sliced them but if its small you can just slice it with out cutting it in half).  Add the peppers and zucchini with an additional tbsp olive oil to the onions, garlic and burgers and continue sautéing.  If the mix seems too dry and is sticking too much add about a quarter to a half cup water. 

Sautee the whole mix for about 5-10 minutes.  Rinse the beans to remove the salt used in canning and get the tomatoes ready.  Add the beans and tomatoes to the pot.  Also at this time add as much cumin, cayenne pepper and garlic powder as you’d like.  I put about three shakes of cayenne (I can’t do spicy), a healthy amount of cumin (I didn’t measure but I would say somewhere between ¼ and ½ tsp.), and a couple shakes of garlic powder. Lower the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. 

Then serve up and enjoy! This makes a lot of chili.  Enough to serve at least 5 or 6.