Hearty Chewy Chili (yep, another one)

By:
Category: Soups
This recipe is suitable for a: vegetarian/vegan diet.

Ingredients:
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olive oil by sauteeing
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 large red or orange bell pepper, diced
hot peppers of your choice (I use 2 minced jalapenos, or one minced habanero)
1 block firm tofu, frozen, thawed, water squeezed out, and crumbled (do not substitute unfrozen tofu)
2 tablespoons pure chili powder or more to taste
1 tablespoon cumin or more to taste

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
3 15 oz. cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed (my favorites are pinto, red kidney, black, and chickpeas)


Instructions:
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Combine the tomatoes, tomato paste, and beans, and heat on medium-low.

Sautee the onions and garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes, until slightly softened. Add the spices and stir to toast. Add the peppers and sautee for a few more minutes. Add crumbled tofu and stir over medium-high heat until the tofu, onion, garlic and peppers are well mixed and the tofu is slightly browned in places.

Add the tofu mixture to the tomato mixture. Mix well. Let heat through and serve.


Additional comments:
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Kreeli's variation: add a couple chunks of baker's chocolate (i.e. not sweetened) to the finished chili mixture and let it melt and mix it around. I have tried that a few times and it really does add something.

I like this recipe best with a dollop of guacamole on top, and tortilla chips on the side.



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I made this for my omni boyfriend tonight, but substituted morningstar ground beef crumbles for the tofu. Also added lots of frozen corn. I think it tastes smashing (and was very easy to prepare), hopefully he'll like it too.

how many does it serve???? just wondering because I love leftovers, but I have to feed 4 people

The recipe would serve four very comfortably, even four with hearty appetites, but if you want lots of leftovers, double the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

I made this the other night, except I didn't use the tofu or any tofu substitutes. I also added some mushrooms and celery. Anyway I was kinda scared when I put the jalepenos in...didn't know how hot it would turn out...but it's just hot enough for me to tolerate so it is good. I'm very proud of my chill (never made it before)

Also, I offered my omni roommate some and then he actually helped himself (I didn't have to talk him into trying it!!) and he said he liked it. Hehe. So I am happy. Now I need to get him to like tofu since he thinks it's "not real food." I shall change his mind about that!!

This is just how I've always make my chili (sometimes I use Morningstar Veggie crumbles in place of tofu though) and it is quite delish :lick:

CROCKPOT variation: I didn't have a big enough cooking pan at my house, so I sprayed my crockpot with a light cover of olive oil. I added all ingredients and cooked on slow for 9 hours. I didn't sautee anything. Since I didn't have a can of diced tomatoes, I added 2 cans of tomato sauce and diced 4 roma tomatoes. I also substituted the beans this way: 2 c. beans with 3 cups TVP previously soaked in decaf coffee (drained the coffee before adding). Stirred it all up, went to sleep and woke up to the most lovely smell. These ratios seemed to work well in my crockpot - after stirring, it wasn't too runny and wasn't dried out. The amount of spice didn't seem to kick it though. Next time I might add another T. of chili powder or more chili peppers.

Yeah, I tend to use more chili powder but some people are pretty sensitive to it (that's why it says "more to taste" :) ) Also, since you didn't toast the spices, they wouldn't have released as much flavor into the dish as they would have in the original recipe.

It depends on the quality of your chili powder too, of course.