Stovetop Vegetarian Chili

2011-2-7

Stovetop Vegetarian Chili

This is recipe #1 in Good Housekeeping: Vegetarian Meals; Meatless Recipes Everyone Will Love. This is actually the third recipe in the book I've tried. For those of you who are just joining me, I had meant to go in order, for the most part. Somehow the pages got stuck together, and I neglected to see the first two recipes. Also, I am not a vegetarian, but I have good friends who are. One of those really good friends has this cookbook, and I told her I'd go through it kind of like Julie Powell did with Julia Child's cookbook.

I made this in a bit of a hurry, being on a time crunch, this morning. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Very tasty. My husband agrees. I made several of my own tweaks, as usually. You'll have to get a hold of the original recipe to see the differences. Unless you're content with my version. Plan on adding this to list of foods to make in the future.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 medium red onions - chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, sent through a garlic press
• 3 medium sweet potatoes - peeled & cut into small squares
  
• 1 jalapeno chile, seeded & minced
• 2 15.5 oz cans of black beans, drained
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
  
• 1 28 oz can of pre-cut mushrooms
• olive oil
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp red sugar
• 3-4 tbsp sea salt
• 6-8 c. water
  

Directions:

• In a pan, with a few tablespoons of olive oil, on low medium heat, cook the red onions until transparent. I added a bit of sea salt towards the end of cooking.
• In a large pot, place in the sweet potatoes with just enough water to barely cover the sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil & lower heat until simmering with lid on but somewhat displaced. Cook for about 20-30 minutes.
• In the large pot, add everything else to the sweet potatoes: garlic, jalapeno chile, black beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, pre-cut mushrooms, chili powder, cumin, coriander, sea salt, and sugar. Add the red onions as well. Allow the contents enough time to soak in all the flavor, and it's ready to serve.
  

One rookie mistake I made was, I wish I had pan-fried the mushrooms first, before throwing them into the soup. Cooks fast that way. Sometimes the mushrooms don't quite cook well if they're thrown into the soup late in the game. Thankfully, the mushrooms were fine this time.

A delicious soup.

Still steaming. Can you see?


As my dad would say, "Try it; you'll like it."

Vegetarian Chili

2011-1-26

Vegetarian Chili

An individual who became my best friend in the 4th grade recently purchased a Good Housekeeping Vegetarian Meals book. Partially inspired by Julia Powell as portrayed in "Julie & Julia" and mostly inspired by a long-lasting growing friendship. My plan is a bit slower than that of Julie, one recipe from not Julia Child's book but one recipe from Vegetarian Meals per week. This is my revised version of recipe #1 in the Good Housekeeping Vegetarian Meals cookbook. [ADDENDUM: I just realized on February 2, that this recipe is actually recipe #3 in the recipe book.]

Of the various spices that go into different versions of chili, this is, by far, my favorite. Per usual, I turned the written recipe into something else and made it my own, some changes including using different kinds of beans to adding tomato sauce and water. Anyways, I am proud of the concoction that resulted.

One change I would make is: use LESS salt. The vegetable broth, I suspect, is already plenty salty; didn't taste it ahead of time and wish I had. I ended up eating mine over rice; surprise, surprise.

Here's my version of the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 large red onion, cut thinly (perhaps diced would have been a good choice)
• 1/2 of a 32 oz bag of small carrots, cut into thirds or fourths
• 1 medium organic butternut squash, peeled and cut into small squares
• 3 green onions, washed and cut thinly
• 2 jalapeno chiles, minced
• 4 cloves of garlic, pressed through a garlic press
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 15.5 oz can of dark red kidney beans, without the juice
• 1 15.5 oz can of black beans, without the juice
• a few tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tbsp sea salt (this is what I would recommend after using more than 1 tbsp)
• 1 tbsp red sugar
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 cups of water

Directions:

• In a pan, with olive oil, cook the red onion on medium heat until transparent. Then set aside.
• In a pot on medium to high heat, throw in the carrots, butternut squash, beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, green onions, vegetable broth and water. Once the carrots are more tender, add in the sugar, sea salt, and chili powder. Leave simmering for awhile.
  

I've got to confess that the aroma from the soup leaves me salivating and wanting seconds and thirds, even though I am full to the brim. Enjoy, my friends.



By the way, I'm not sure you can tell from the photographs, but steam is rising from the bowl of soup.