Monday, October 4, 2010

Vegan Chili

After picking up some faux "ground turkey" from the store (made by Yves), we decided chili sounded awesome for these first days of fall. Plus, I had a bunch of tomatoes from the garden that were begging to be used. And I'm tired of making tomato sauce!

To make, I used:
3 cans of beans--pinto, red kidney and white northern (juice mostly drained off)
An equal volume of chopped tomatoes
1/2 package of ground turkey
1 med chopped onion

Simmer these together for about an hour, checking if it needs more liquid or some cooked off. After getting too hungry to wait any longer, I added some seasoning. My favorite is cumin, coriander, sugar and paprika, plus the usual salt and pepper. If I remember to, I add a bay leaf at the beginning of cooking as well.

Topped with sliced avocados instead of cheese, this makes a hearty dish for cold days! You could also, in theory, make your own ground turkey using TVP granules. I'll be experimenting soon with that and update appropriately :)

If I'm feeling real ambitious, I make a sweeter/less salty chili with chopped celery included, and pour this chili over brown rice and have a side of steamed kale. The trick to steaming to kale is to tear it up into pieces, and when the rice cooker beeps "done!" throw the kale on top and shut the lid. In a few minutes, perfectly steamed kale!

2 comments:

  1. Your vegan chili is fancier than what I made for dinner tonight:

    * Leftover Pinto Beans from a few nights ago that were taking up too much room in my fridge

    * The half-jar of Grandma Chonga's Chunky Salsa I got as a sample from Work

    * TVP

    I threw it all in a pot and added some cumin and coriander and voila! lazy vegan chili. I must say it's a little spicy, though. I have leftover cornbread, too. Mmmm.

    I'd really like to make my own version of Amy's Medium Chili with Vegetables, though, it's my favorite but it hurts my wallet.

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  2. Lazy vegan chili sounds great to me! I would never have thought that salsa would make a great base. And cornbread would have been soooo good.

    Maybe I will experiment with a veggie chili--regular is a little bean-y for me.

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