To me, there's no better accompaniment to an overcast autumn day than enjoying a big bowl of delicious chili while sitting next to a crackling fire. Mounted with melted cheesy goodness, and a dollop of sour cream, this vegetarian chili is guaranteed to warm you from the inside out.
The preparation starts at night once all my kids are in bed. I make myself a cup of tea, turn on some BBC or a Ted Talk (power to the nerds!), sort through the beans, give them a rinse and throw them in the crockpot set to "low." They'll cook all night, filling your home with the warm aromas of your favorite Mexican restaurant. In the morning, or sometime during the day, you have three steps left. 1) Sautee your veggies, 2) add the canned ingredients, and 3) add your spices. That's it!
This will feed an army of Shabbat dinner guests, or your family for a whole week. If you're making it for 4-6 people, you might consider halving the recipe, or filling up some mason jars to drop off to a friend or family member in need.
Ingredients:
2 cups of uncooked pinto beans
2 cups of uncooked black beans
2 cups of uncooked red beans
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 bell peppers (any color), diced
4 cloves of garlic
4 bay leaves
1 28 oz cans of crushed whole peeled tomatoes *Note, if you don't have this around, you can use your favorite spaghetti sauce. I like Trader Joe's Tomato Basil sauce. Just one jar is good!
12- 16 oz (1 1/2- 2 cups) of chopped green chiles or chile sauce (505 is a good one!) Use as much or little as you like.
1 12oz can of tomato paste
4-6 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons Chicken flavored Better than Bouillon
2 tablespoons of cumin
4 tablespoons of New Mexico chili powder
1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika, or Hungarian paprika paste
1 tablespoon instant coffee
2 tspns of dried oregano
Kosher salt and black pepper
Directions:
1) Sort through your beans and take out any small pebbles, or defective beans. Rinse them. Put them in the crockpot and fill it almost full with water. Add your bay leaves and cumin, and set the crockpot to low. Go to sleep and enjoy the amazing smell of beans cooking all throughout the night.
2) In the morning, give your beans a stir and make sure none of them are stuck to the sides or bottom of your crockpot. Smell that amazing-ness? YOU did that!
3) Sauté your diced onions and bell peppers. Toward the very end, add the minced garlic. Add it to your crockpot.
4) Add all of your cans and jars of goodies: tomatoes, green chiles, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and better than bouillon. Give it a good stir.
5) Add your spices: cumin, chili powder, paprika, instant coffee (yes! I'm serious!), oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix it up!
6) Leave it in your crockpot on low until your ready to serve it.
7) You can serve it with corn bread, tortilla chips, basmati rice, in a bread bowl, or even with a nice fresh side salad. Suggested toppings include: green onions, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, and shredded cheddar jack.
Enjoy!
