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| Please excuse the awful quality of the pictures. My cell phone doesn't take the best of pictures! |
Beth's Vegetarian Chili
- 2 large cans or bottles tomato juice
- 2 packets chili seasoning mix
- 2 onions, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 squash, diced
- 1 green pepper, diceds
- 2 cans chili beans
- 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 2 cans dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed, but reserve about 1/2 can to thicken chili, if needed
- 3 cans light kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
- splash of cooking wine
- about 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
- dash of instant coffee granules
- seasonings, to taste: onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, freshly ground pepper, paprika, cumin, salt
- 1/2 cup dried TVP (textured vegetable protein)
- about 1/2 cup boiling water for TVP
- 1/2 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
The best way to make chili? Throw everything into the pot, taste-test often, and season away! Literal instructions could go something like this.
Pour one bottle of tomato juice into a large pot and mix in seasoning packet. Add cans of tomatoes and drained and rinsed beans. Cook on medium heat. Dice all vegetables and stir in. Add a dash of whatever is in the cabinets, or what I enjoy adding in: cooking wine or whatever is on hand, liquid smoke and coffee granules. I like my chili to have a lot of oomph, so I am very liberal with my use of seasoning. I add, taste, simmer, taste, add and repeat as necessary. While the chili is simmering, you get to have fun with TVP!
TVP is interesting, because it is textured soy protein. It has a protein content that nearly matches meat, and it also has a "meat-like" consistency when rehydrated, reminiscent of ground beef. I tend to stay away from "faux meat", because I have been vegetarian long enough that meat texture grosses me out. Luckily, TVP is a great addition to chili! It thickens it up, and gives it a new layer of awesomeness, and the texture doesn't bother me, but it seems to soothe my meat-eating husband, because like I said, it's reminiscent of ground beef.
To hydrate TVP, follow the instructions listed on the package. I measure out 1/2 cup of TVP and then use a glass measuring cup, and boill a little less than 1/2 cup of water in the microwave. Once boiling, take it out and add the 1/2 teaspoon Better than Bouillon vegetable base. I usually throw in some of the seasonings in with the vegetable base, to give the TVP a boost. Stir until mixed and microwave until it boils again. Once boiling, take it out of the microwave, and stir in TVP. Once mixed together well, set it aside for 10 minutes so it can hydrate itself. Easiest way? Pop it in the microwave and hit the timer for 10 minutes. Easy peasy!
Simmer until the veggies are tender enough to your preference, then serve. I like to top my chili with shredded cheese and crackers on the side, but my husband has been known to put bread & butter pickles and sour cream in his. It's all about preference! Enjoy!
This is my own recipe, and probably the only one I've ever written down while cooking. This is mostly created because of what I wanted to put in the chili, and also what I happened to have in the pantry. Hope if you make it, you like it.
Note: This recipe makes a lot of chili. I use two pots, a large and a medium. If you have an extra large pot, I am envious! If you are like me, and you have to use two, I try to put more spices and veggies in the large pot than the smaller one, and once it's just about finished simmering, I'll use a large glass measuring cup and take a few cups from each pot and put it in the other, just for consistency.
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| This picture does not do the chili justice! It's much better in person! Yellow from the squash, green from the zucchini and green pepper, red from the kidney beans. Much more interesting than the picture shows! |
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| This makes a large amount of chili. The green pot is the largest one I own, and the other one is smaller, but it works. One of these days, I am going to have to invest in an extra large pot! Please excuse the mess! I am a messy cook, but that's okay, because I make up for it by having fun while listening to good tunes and dancing around the kitchen as I'm creating culinary deliciousness. |
