Easy Vegetarian Chili

I made another batch of my super tasty veggie chili yesterday and I wanted share this easy recipe.

Start out with 1 kilo of dry beans. I’ve used many different kinds of beans. They’re all good, so use what you like. After sorting and rinsing the beans, soak them overnight in water, making sure that it completely covers the beans. They will soak up a lot of water, so be sure to add enough.

The following day, drain the beans before rinsing again. Then add fresh water and start cooking them over medium heat.

Once you have the beans cooking peel and chop about 4-6 cups of carrots, and set aside.

Chop 1-2 cups of onion to sauté with the carrots.

I like to use organic coconut oil for sautéing, but other healthy oils like grape seed are great too.

Sauté the carrots and onions with some salt and pepper, stirring frequently, until they start to brown up a little.

While the carrots and onions are browning up I add one can of tomato cubes and one can of tomato sauce.

Eventually I would like to use fresh, home grown tomatoes, but until I get that together this does the trick.

Next I add the main ingredient that makes this chili, and not just beans, the chipotle peppers.

This is how I get them right now, in a can with sauce. Hopefully in the future, when I learn more Spanish, or I’m back in the States, I can get chipotle peppers that don’t come from a can. The adobo sauce they are in though, (in the can,) is quite good, and I think I would need to understand what it is before I could replace it.

I dump the whole can in to the chili at first, because I don’t want to loose a bunch of the sauce on the cutting board. Then I fish the clean peppers out and chop them up, before adding them back in.

This one little can is enough to make this whole big batch of chili pretty darn spicy. I personally wouldn’t want it any hotter. If you do you can add chili powder.

Add your browned carrot onion mix at this point and stir it all together.

Next is the most tedious part, the part I usually try to outsource, peeling the garlic.

I recommend at least two bulbs. For this batch I used 4 bulbs because they were smaller.

Twenty minutes later~

Half is peeled, and it’s time for a beverage break.

Once the job of peeling is done, chop the garlic, along with another cup or two of onion, and brown it up in a skillet as well before adding it to the chili.

Lastly don’t forget to add salt, remember it takes more than you might think. I would suggest starting with a couple tablespoons.

Continue cooking over low heat until beans are tender and sauce is thick. Stir regularly to assure nothing sticks and burns to the bottom as it thickens up.

This it the final product and it really is great chili. Here I’m having it with a grilled cheese, half of an avocado, and some of the local organic sour kraut I get here in Lo de Marcos. I also enjoy making it into bean and cheese burritos with avocado and salsa.

This is a big batch of chili, and it will last for about a week in the refrigerator. You can freeze it and keep it much longer.

Even if you are someone who likes your chili con carne, you should try this recipe. The carrots add a subtle layer of sweetness that makes it unique and very satisfying for everyone who loves chili.