Best Ever Chili's
Best Ever Corn Tomato Vegetarian Chili
� 1/2 cup tomato juice
� 1/2 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
� 1 cup whole corn
� 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
� 1/4 tsp. oregano leaves
� 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
� 1 large onion, chopped
� 1 green bell pepper, chopped
� 2 cloves garlic, chopped
� 1 can (28 oz.) tomatoes, undrained
� 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
Heat tomato juice to boiling and add bulgur wheat. Cover and let stand 30 to 60 min. or until juice is absorbed. Mix remaining ingredients in nonstick pan, breaking up tomatoes. Cook over med-high heat, stirring frequently, until vegtables are tender. Stir in bulgur; heat through.
Nutrition Information: calories 200; fat 1g; saturated fat 0g; calories from fat 10
Serves: 8
Preparation time: 1 hour
Black Bean Chili
� 4 cups dried black beans
� 2 large red bell peppers
� 3 Tbs. cumin seed
� 2-1/2 Tbs. dried oregano (leaf, not ground)
� 1/2 cup olive oil
� 2 large onions, finely chopped
� 1-1/2 cups diced green bell pepper
� 3 Tbs. minced garlic
� 4-1/2 tsp. paprika
� 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
� 1 tsp. salt
� 5 cups crushed tomatoes
� 4 to 6 (or more!) fresh jalapenos, seeded and deveined, finely chopped.
Sort and rinse the beans, place them in a pot with ``enough'' water and soak them overnight. Drain off water and rinse, add enough new water to cover by two inches and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, until beans are tender (about 1 hour), adding more water if necessary. Drain beans, saving 3 cups of the liquid. Return beans to pot with 1-1/2 cups of the liquid.
Roast the red bell pepper under the broiler until the skin is charred, then throw it into a paper bag and close the bag. Set it aside to cool.
Heat oven to 325 degrees, put cumin seed and oregano in a small baking pan or casserole and roast until fragrant, shaking pan occasionally (about 10 minutes).
Heat oil in skillet. Saute onions, green pepper and garlic for 3 minutes, then add cumin, oregano, paprika, cayenne and salt. Cook about 10 minutes more, then add tomatoes and jalapenos and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes. Stir all this in with the beans.
Get the red bell pepper out of the bag, peel the skin off, remove seeds etc. (After peeling, if any parts look like they got badly burned, cut them away.) Chop and add to beans.
Simmer everything for a while, thinning with the rest of the saved bean liquid as desired.
Barley Chili
� 1/3 C barley
� 1 med onion chopped
� 1 green pepper chopped
� 3 tomatoes chopped (or 15 oz can chopped tomatoes)
� 6 cloves garlic chopped
� 1 jalapeno pepper chopped
� 15 oz can beans
Simmer 1/3 C barley in 4.5 C water for 45 minutes. After 30 minutes have passed - Get a large frying pan with 1 tbs oil, add garlic and onion. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and simmer 3 minutes more. Add the rest of ingredients and the drained barly. Simmer that for 20 minutes (covered) and 10 minutes uncovered.
To serve a group - double the tomatoes, beans, and barley. You can use a crock pot (after the barley is cooked and the onions sauteed). DO NOT double the jalapeno because the heat builds in slow cooking (unless you LIKE hot).
Serves: 2-3
Preparation time: 1.5 hr
Basic Vegetarian Chili
� 1/2 med. onion, diced
� 1&1/2 c. water
� 1 can refried beans (watch out for lard)
� 1 can tomato sauce
� 1 to 1&1/2 T. chili powder
� 1 tsp. sugar
� 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Bring water to boil. Add onion and cook on med. boil till fairly transparent. Reduce heat to low. Add remaining ingredients. Stir till beans are smooth and heated, a minute or two.
Hint: add a dollop of sour cream and some raw diced onion, although it is good without any garnish at all.