I became interested in vegan and vegetarian cooking a few years
ago when I saw Ruben Studdard, 2nd season American Idol winner on
The Wendy Williams Show. He revealed he
had embraced a vegan lifestyle. This was
intriguing to me! How can you satisfy
your cravings for classic comfort foods?!
Interested in decreasing my meat consumption, I started
researching recipes, and among other things, targeted chili. I found a couple recipes that I thought would
be worth a try, and ultimately decided on “Really Good Vegan Chili” fromVegWeb. It’s a hit at my house. No one ever complains about having it, and no
one cares that it doesn’t have meat.
This is my adaptation of the original recipe, having
prepared it several times now. It’s a
lot the same, but a lot different, know what I mean? I’ll give my ingredients and instructions, and
comment on variations at the end.
My
Vegan Friendly Chili
Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 Tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
1 cup each of 5 varieties of dried beans and peas, such
as:
kidney beanspinto beans
black beans
pink beans
black eyed peas
navy beans
great northern beans
garbanzo beans
lima beans
1 large can of tomato juice (about 1 quart)
1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, quartered (optional)
2 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp each: chili
powder, Lawry’s garlic powder with parsley, Lawry’s seasoned salt
1 tsp each: cumin,
coriander, and cardamom
1/8 tsp each: cayenne
pepper, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and smoky sweet red pepper flakes
Instructions
1- Soak beans and peas 8 hours or overnight.
2- Pour tomato juice and diced tomatoes into a 4 to 6 quart
Dutch oven pot. Use immersion blender if
desired to break tomatoes into smaller pieces.
3- Add beans and peas.
4- Add seasonings and 1 Tbsp of oil and stir. Cover and simmer on low, stirring
occasionally. Allow chili to simmer
about 90 minutes.
5- Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a skillet. Add chopped onions and sauté. Transfer onions to Dutch oven.
6- Sauté mushrooms. Transfer
to Dutch oven. Stir.
7- Allow chili to simmer another 30 minutes, or until beans
and peas are soft.
Serving
suggestions: Serve
with rice or macaroni; cornbread, vegan cheese, raw onions.
My
Personal Perspectives on the Recipe
The original recipe used 4 veggie burgers, broken into
pieces in the skillet. I used the
crumbles, my first experience with “texturized vegetable protein” (TVP). I didn’t know how well it would hold up, so
added it after my chili had been simmering almost an hour. I just poured it directly from the bag into
the chili. Truthfully, I was not crazy about the texture.
The second time we had this chili, I browned the crumbles
(TVP) first, and added them near the end of the cook time. I liked the texture better, having browned it
a bit in the skillet. The last time we
made the chili, we skipped the TVP altogether.
I have some reservations about the “fake meats” since many have
ingredients that look engineered in a lab.
Many have soy components, and I’m not convinced soy is great for
you. Sally Fallon says even the Japanese
eat it sparingly.
Sally Fallon speaks on reservations about soy
The originator of the recipe used tomato paste and a large
can of tomatoes. I used tomato juice and
a smaller can of diced tomatoes. I’ve
found tomato products in glass jars at HEB Central Market. The originator used white mushrooms but I
prefer baby portabellas. My sister
doesn’t like mushrooms, but quartered mushrooms are easy enough to pick
out. Sometimes I leave them out
however. All minor differences from the
original recipe.
The original recipe also uses broccoli tips, finely
cut. I’m not sure if this is for texture
or for nutrients. I like broccoli, but
it’s not a chili ingredient to me. I
have left it out after the first time. I
usually add 1 to 2 cups of pureed carrots to tomato-based recipes to boost the
nutritional value.
The original recipe calls for ½ cup unsalted sunflower
seeds. I assume this is for texture,
though I didn’t particularly care for the contrast. My brother and sister liked them though.
The original recipe was a bit vague on spices. In the text it said “whatever seasoning
appeals, like pepper, salt, crushed red chili peppers, dulse sea weed. Lots of garlic powder is always good.” I was inspired by the medicinal properties of
spices, particularly classic Indian spices.
I think I hit on a great combination this last time, which is the list
of spices I listed above. The chili
tasted heavenly, especially after two days in the frig!
Dulse and other seaweeds are excellent sources of B vitamins
and trace minerals. I have dulse seaweed
powder, but have gotten out of the habit of using it. It smells fishy if you sniff it directly, but
does not make the food taste fishy. I’d
say for this chili recipe, you could easily add a tablespoon of dulse
powder. Anytime you use dulse in a
recipe, cut back on the salt in the recipe.
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