Today i have done something that I have never done before! I have made chilli. And not just any chilli! Vegetarian chilli. They said it couldn't be done but I have conquered the chilli! As you can see by the absurd about of !!! I am extremely proud of myself. Also the hubs really like it so that's an added bonus.
Sweets (the husband) and I have been doing our best to embark on an adventure of epic proportions called health. We have chosen to do our best to eat a 60% raw food diet including green smoothies and many many fruits and veggies. Today-being Monday and all, we made vegetarian chilli.
Heres the recipe from
Ezra Pound Cake
Vegetarian Chili
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch’s “Emeril’s New New Orleans Cooking”
Makes 6 to 8 servings
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (about 3 small onions)
- 1 cup chopped red bell peppers
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 to 3 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced
- 1 medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice
- 2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 3 ears)
- 1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms (about 5 large), stemmed, wiped clean and cubed
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 15-ounce cans of black beans), rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup vegetable stock or water
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (do not add to the pot if you’re planning to freeze chili)
- Optional additions: cooked brown rice, sour cream, Greek yogurt, diced avocado, chopped scallions
- In a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and Serrano peppers, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add
the zucchini, corn, and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, until the
vegetables give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges,
about 6 minutes.
- Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the tomatoes.
- Add
the black beans, tomato sauce and vegetable stock, stir well, and bring
to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring
occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning, to taste.
- To
serve, place 1/4 cup of brown rice in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle
the chili over the rice, and top with whatever garnishes you choose.
Serve immediately.
Now here's how it went for the demiurgic household...
Chopping veggies takes a lifetime... be warned!!!
1. In a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
oh ok easy. Wait whats a dutch oven? uhhh. ok well we have a huge pot but lets use a skillet first. *insert annoyed husband here* sorry hubs! Thought it would work. Transfer to larger pot. aawhh much better.
2.Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and Serrano peppers, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes.
*insert onions, bell peppers, garlic, and Serrano peppers spilling all over the stove top here.* my bad!
3. Add
the zucchini, corn, and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, until the
vegetables give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges,
about 6 minutes.
side note-we used frozen corn and it worked just fine! Just throw it all in. While we were chopping these vegetables we learned how to successfully chop up mushrooms! These freaked the husband out but he De-weirded them. Who knew you had to scrape off the little hairy parts of the mushroom? Not me! But it's true, you do. The whole time Hubs was making inappropriate comments like "I feel like this is an ear and I'm cleaning our its earwax..." lovely imagery.
4. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Oh hey! What up curry powder. Oh your not chilli powder and you need chilli powder for chilli? weird.
Anywayyyyy- Husband ran to the grocery store like superman. Ugh he's awesome. LOVE HIM.
5. Stir in the tomatoes.
*We BLANCHED. The husband was the one that brought it up. I didn't know how to peel tomatoes (pff who does!) so I was like weird what do I do. and the husband was like oh wait lets blanch it. I commended his efforts in using the word blanch in his every day vocabulary. (next time, we will be buying peeled tomatoes in a can. The blanching was probably not worth it.)
6. Add
the black beans, tomato sauce and vegetable stock, stir well, and bring
to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring
occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
What does it mean to truly boil? There were differing of opinions in this home. We decided to go for the bubble boil. It worked!
That's the end of the commentary. It was quite the meal and quite the process. AMAZING dinner tho and great amount of left overs too! I would say this is a perfect dinner for families and you can freeze them! It was great and our little family thoroughly enjoyed it. Our quest for health was a success for the day. Hope yours is going well too!
The husband is so cute eating his chilli!
