Some days, when it’s cold and rainy, we want something that is a nice soul warming comfort food. Sometimes, we are in the mood for for a hearty vegetarian meal. When these two situations intersect, we find ourselves craving Vegetarian Chili. Normally, we rely on beans to do the heavy protein lifting for us, but in this case, we decided to try something different and use Tofu as well (the extra firm variety so we could crumble it and have it look like meat). In this case, the tofu filled in admirably texturally, and it really soaked up the flavours of our seasonings and veggies to seamlessly incorporate itself into our dish! We definitely plan to invite tofu to our chili parties moving forward.
Time: 60-90 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Extra Firm Tofu
- Red Onion
- Red Bell Pepper
- Jalapenos
- Garlic
- A quart of Canned Tomatoes
- Corn
- Beans of your choosing. We used black beans, black eyed peas, and red kidney beans.
- Ground Cumin
- Chili Powder
- Cilantro
- Salt
- Optional to thicken the sauce: 2 Tablespoons of Corn Starch, and 2 Tablespoons of Water
Method:
- Dice your onions, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic.
- Heat some olive oil in a large pot, and add your veggies. Sprinkle in a copious amount of cumin, cilantro, and chili powder, and cook until your vegetables begin to soften.
- As your veggies cook, use your hands to break up and crumble your tofu into a bowl. Then, when your veggies are ready, add your tofu to the pot, and stir to combine.
- Drain and rinse all of your beans, and add them to the pot with your corn. Stir to combine, and add a little more ground cumin and chili powder as well as some salt to taste.
- Pour in your canned tomatoes, and mix well. Then, add your lid and simmer for 30-60 minutes.
- Toward the end of your cook time, if you’d like to thicken your sauce a bit, combine your corn starch and warm water in a cup, and stir to fully dissolve…then pour it into your chili, and stir everything together. A few minutes later, and your sauce will have thickened a bit.
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
