We’ve had a string of cool days here in California (cool for us, anyway, with temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s) and when it gets cold, I really enjoy a bowl of chili. I suppose the easy thing to do would be to head over to a restaurant and order up a bowl, but with restaurant prices verging on the ridiculous lately, I only visit restaurants when I’m traveling. Sue and I usually prefer to cook at home. The cost is way less and the food is better.
One of my buddies mentioned a good pot of chili he ginned up and I asked for his recipe. A few days later when I was in Trader Joe’s, I saw the shaved beef my friend told me he used in his chili. I was about to put it in my cart when I thought I really didn’t want to put that in my body. Then an idea hit me: Vegetarian chili. I’ve had some good ones but I had never made vegetarian chili before. I quickly Googled vegetarian chili recipes on my cell phone, mentally merged the ingredients that appealed to me, and I picked those up instead.
I do a lot of my cooking in a crock pot. I like the idea of getting all the work out of the way in the morning and letting the brew simmer all day long. The aromas are always great, and my vegetarian chili was no exception. crock pots are cheap, too. They are an easy way to prepare a great meal.
Here’s my recipe for what turned out to be a great vegetarian chili:
I drain and rinse three different kinds of beans before adding them to the pot. After everything is in the pot, I mix it up a bit with a big wooden spoon and then put the pot on the low heat setting. Eight hours later, it’s ready.
The bottom line? It was delicious.
Pro tips:
The sizes on the ingredients listed above make for a full pot; Sue and I will get four or five meals (each) out of this recipe. I’ve found that chili makes for a good omelet, too.
Our recipe for crock pot Italian meat sauce and lasagne is here.
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