Friday, February 01, 2008

Chick-a-Boom Chili

I love canned beans and use them a lot in my slow cook recipes. So I was playing the other night trying to make a white vegetarian chili. I ended up with something different but I was still happy with the taste and textures.

1 15 oz can (or so) Cuban Style Black Beans drained (not rinsed)
1 15 oz can Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can no salt black soy beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can no salt navy beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.4 oz can (or so) diced tomatoes with chili (hot or mild) slight drain (drink the juice for breakfast)
Meatless "chicken" strips" 1 package-diced

Frozen Corn-half package
handful of sun dried tomatoes (dried)
veggie broth
creamy veggie bisque
1 cup diced onion
two tablespoons minced fresh garlic (use fresh if possible)
2 peppers of choice-mild to hot-diced and seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (again fresh is best)
chili powder-2 or 3 teaspoons or a cupped palmful
crushed cumin-teaspoon or so
smoked paprika-teaspoon or so
cinnamon (a tad or to taste-grated)
salt and paper to taste

And the kicker! grated Valencia orange peel!

Add olive oil and butter to pan and add onion, garlic and peppers, simmering for about 5 minutes to sweat them out. While this is going on, add canned beans and corn to slow cooker, then cut up the veggie chicken into bite size pieces and add to pot. Add sun dried tomatoes either chopped or whole. Cover with a mixture of broth and bisque (I like Trader Joe's brands). Add the onion/garlic mix. Add your spices adjusting for personal taste and crank it up to high for several hours or low for 5 or more. About halfway thru, add the grated orange peel. I kid you not, this was the missing link in this. It smells so good! You can add more liquid if you want this more like soup or let it thicken up as chili.
Serve with hard crusty bread for dipping and freeze half the recipe for later. This is thick and so filling. And simmering blends the flavors even more.

1 comment:

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