Chili! I love chili, especially during fall when it starts to get chilly outside (see what I did there?). This recipe is one I've been messing with for a couple years and it continues to morph and change every time I make it. It's vegan before you add the cheese or sour cream, and vegetarian either way. So it's a great dish to make for a group with a lot of different dietary preferences!
Chili with red onion, cheese, cilantro and sour cream topping!
Ingredients:
3-4 big carrots, finely shredded
1/2-1 Serrano pepper*, finely chopped (with seeds if you like spice, without seeds for mild)
1/2-1 Jalepeno pepper*, finely chopped (with seeds if you like spice, without seeds for mild)
1 bell pepper each of yellow, green, red, and orange; seeded and chopped
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes
2 cans black beans
3 cans kidney beans
vegetable broth
olive oil
cumin
chili powder
salt & pepper
* For a mild chili, you can add only 1/2 of these peppers without the seeds. For a really spicy chili go for the whole pepper. The seeds are what really give the pepper it's kick, so use about half the pepper and a few seeds if you'd like your chili somewhere in the middle. Remember it's always better to use too little, since you can always add more peppers as a topping to spice it up at the end.
-Finely shred the carrots or pulse in a food processor until very very finely chopped
-Saute carrot in a pan with some olive oil, a little salt and pepper and a dash of vegetable broth until it is thick and soft, with a pulp like consistency (this is what will thicken your chili)
-Move carrots to crockpot (or very large soup pot)
-Saute all bell peppers, Jalepeno pepper, Serrano pepper, garlic and onion with 2 tablespoons cumin, a dash of chili pepper and salt and pepper in olive oil.
- Saute until soft and beginning to lightly brown/sear
- Move to crock pot
- Add cans of tomatoes to the crock pot and stir, adding cumin and chili pepper as needed, it should smell like chili
- Add all the cans of beans, including the liquid in to the crock pot
- Add vegetable broth if you like your chili a little thinner in consistency
- Cook on high for about 30 mins if you need to eat it soon or if you'd like it to stew a little (better flavor) set the crock pot to low for about 3-4 hours.
Feel free to make it your own by adding or omitting different kinds of vegetables! Maybe don't use all 4 colors of bell pepper or you could add zucchini or spinach! You can also turn this into a meat-eater's dream by adding browned ground beef sauteed in cumin and chili powder.
Toping options: chopped green onion, chopped red onion, cheese, crackers, crumbled tortilla chips, cilantro, sour cream, chopped fresh Jalepeno, the sky is the limit!
Enjoy!
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