Vegetable and Bean Chili

  Every year at work, we have a chili cook-off to kick off the start of March Madness.  The cook-off is always on a Friday, and it’s always during Lent.  For us Catholics, Lent is a time when we don’t eat meat on Fridays.  The only chili that I felt I made well enough to serve to other people has always had meat in it.  Leaving the meat out just didn’t taste right.  That meant I couldn’t eat my own chili during the potluck lunch! 

  This year, I thought I would do some research online for good vegetarian chili recipes.  This recipe base came from a recipe in Gourmet magazine. You can find it on epicurious.com.  It was highly rated, so I tried it out this week on my Hubby before I made it for the cook-off.  (Thanks for being my guinea pig, Love!)

   My changes were basically to use a mix of black and kidney beans. I only used one onion, and I added one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce that I pureed in my mini food processor.  Once everything was simmering in the pot, the chili seemed dry, so I added 1/2 bottle of Bass beer to the mix. I think it added a nice flavor.

 Maria’s Vegetarian Chili  (adapted from Gourmet Magazine, Dec. 1999 recipe)

• 1 large red onion
• 1 green bell pepper, diced into small pieces
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno chile, seeds and membrane removed, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter 
• 1/2 packet of McCormick chili seasoning mix
• Salt to taste
• 28 oz diced tomatoes with chili seasoning
• 2 zuchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 individual chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, pureed
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed
• 1 (15oz) can kidney beans, rinsed
• 1/2 bottle beer
• 1 Tbsp chopped semisweet chocolate
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Heat olive oil and butter together in large, heavy pot over moderately high heat.  Saute onions, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the seasoning mix and cook, stirring, 1 minute.  Add tomatoes and juice, adobo chili, and zuchinni.  Simmer while partially covered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.  Stir in beans beer and chocolate. Simmer, stirring occasionally for at least 5 minutes.  Add the cilantro 5 minutes before you are ready to serve. 

I like to garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream and green onions.

One note:  Chilpotle peppers in adobo sauce come in cans in the mexican food section of the grocery store. They pack a smoky heat, and come with several peppers in a can. I only used 1 pepper, NOT THE WHOLE CAN!  I put the rest of the peppers in a ziplock freezer bag and froze them for later use. 

   This chili recipe deserved all of the good reviews it recieved from epicurious.com cooks.  It has earned its way into my chili recipe rotation.  I think adding the chocolate at the end really gives the chili a nice rounded flavor.   You could very easily add beef to this recipe if you need meat in your chili.  This recipe could also be easily adapted for cooking in the crock pot.   I am taking this recipe to the cook-off this week, wish me luck!