Award Winning Vegetarian Chili
The Ultimate Cold Weather Comfort Food! Vegan and Healthy Too!
Another great Once-a-Month Cooking meal. Chili without meat? You'll never miss the meat thanks to a product called Textured Vegetable Protein, or TVP for short.
Textured Vegetable Protein is a meat substitute made from defatted soy flour. It's high in protein and fiber and low in sodium and fat. It's lightweight, has a long shelf life and mimics just about any meat you need it to be. TVP comes in granular form, chunks, and flakes, making it one of the most versatile foods in your pantry. Because it comes dried, flavorless and looks like dog food, the TVP needs to be reconstituted with water, bouillon, barbecue sauce or a blend of liquids. You can find TVP food store in any health, or the natural foods section of your favorite store.
This recipe is quickly made, the leftovers freeze well, making it a great Freezer Meal.
The Recipe: Award Winning Vegetarian Chili
- 2 cups chunky TVP
- 2 cups boiling Water or a mixture of 1 cup water and 1 cup BBQ sauce
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 2 quarts stewed tomatoes
- 4 cups kidney or black beans, cooked and drained
- 2 cups whole kernel corn, drained
Directions:
- Reconstitute the TVP with boiling water or a mix of water and BBQ sauce, or any other liquid you desire as long as you have at least 1 cup of water.
- Let sit for 15 minutes until all liquid is soaked up by the TVP.
- Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, saute onion, pepper and garlic in the olive oil until it is tender but not overdone.
- Add chili powder, cumin, sea salt and ground pepper.
- Add stewed tomatoes and TVP and simmer for 15-20 minutes until hot.
- Finally, add beans and corn and heat through until just ready to boil.
- Turn off heat.
- Serve in bowls over rice and topped with shredded cheese. A wedge of corn bread would finish off this meal perfectly.
Serves 10.
Once-a-month-Cooking, also known as Freezer Meals, are big time savers for the large and/or busy family. Read all about The Advanages of Bulk Cooking. It basically involves committing one or two days of menu planning and shopping, then one or two very full days of cooking, packaging, labeling and freezing. Most cooks will get together with a few friends and prepare 5-7 different recipes, double, triple or quadrupling them for variety. For the rest of the month, they thaw out whatever suits their fancy overnight or the next morning. When they get home from work, it's ready to pop in the oven, crock-pot or stove with little prep time. Make a salad, buy some corn bread and dinner is done!
This Vegetarian Chili won a First Place Blue Ribbon in the Vegetarian Chili Contest, Addison County, Vermont in 2003.
If you liked this soup, try these hearty soups and chowders:
Vegetarian Pea Soup with Barley
