February 23rd is National Chili Day and with our snowy and icy week around the farm, we’re ready to get warmed up with a nice bowl of vegan chili. Our executive director, Megan, adapted her graduate school colleague’s chili recipe by simply switching out regular Worcester sauce for Annie’s Vegan Worcester sauce. You’ll notice there are no measurement amounts. You may see this as Megan’s carefree nature, or unskilled chef abilities, with the later being most accurate. This recipe is more of a suggested guidepost than a set rule. Serve with tortilla chips and you (probably) can’t go wrong.
Chili:
In large pot sauté half a chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic.
Add and bring to boil the following:
- Can of each (not drained): light red kidney beans, dark red kidney beans, tomatoes
- Can of DRAINED black beans
- Small can of sweet corn (not drained)
Flavor to taste:
- Cumin
- Chili powder
- Vegan Worcester sauce (Annie’s is a favorite)
- Tabasco sauce
Guest appearance ingredients (Megan doesn’t always use these, but they’ve proven to be yummy additions):
- Bay leaves
- Hot peppers
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Sage
- Garlic salt
- Beer (a stout)
- Tomato paste to thicken as desired
After boiling for a few minutes, let simmer for at least two hours. Similarly, this can be easily tossed in a slow cooker on low for six hours.
Megan tends to make a sweet chili with a very generous helping of Worcester sauce, cumin, chili powder, and a few dashes of tabasco sauce. Since she doesn’t rinse the kidney beans, she recommends getting low sodium. When she’s feeling fancy she’ll use fire roasted tomatoes, and often thickens the chili with tomato paste toward the end (especially if using a slow cooker). We hope you stay warm out there and find your own way to celebrate National Chili day!
