Recipe Post: Vegetarian Chili

I can take very little credit for this recipe, other than making this specific batch. This is my dad's tasty brainchild. I also suggested adding the fake meat crumbles once upon a time, but that's not the main part of the recipe.

This one is nice since it's a crock pot recipe AKA you can leave it at home while you're at work and when you come home, dinner! Or, you can be like Hubby and I and you can leave it cooking while you play video games all afternoon on a Saturday. Either way works. I preferred the Saturday one because 1) I was able to monitor and stir the chili since I was around for it and 2) Video games, duh.

I'm getting hungry for a bowl just talking about this. Luckily it makes tons of left-overs!

Let's get down to it:

Prep time: 45 mins-1 hr.

Cook time: 4-5 hours

Serves: ~7 quarts (however many bowls that is...a lot!)

Ingredients:

3 onions
2 garlic cloves
2x 15oz can diced tomatoes, pureed
1x 15oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, pureed
1x 8oz can tomato sauce
1-1/2 cups vegetable broth
2x canned black beans, drained
2x cans pink beans, drained
2x cans dark kidney beans, drained
1x cans navy and/or white and/or northern beans, drained
1-2x cans corn, drained
3/4-1 bag Morningstar Grillers Recipe Crumbles
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup dark chili powder
1-1/2 tbsp oregano
1-1/2 tbsp basil
2 tsp cumin
~1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp baking soda

1. Marvel at all of the ingredients involved in this.

Then realize you forgot several, add them to the lineup, take a new photo, and marvel some more.

This step is totally optional, of course.

2. Pour the olive oil into a large skillet.

Sauté the onions and garlic.

3. Combine all other ingredients except the baking soda in crockpot.

I started with the beans and corn.

Then the spices. Look at that mound of spice!

Then, add the onions and garlic once they're soft/translucent, about 5-10 minutes.

Let this sit on low heat for about 4 hours.

4. In the last 1/2 hour to hour, add in the meat crumbles and the baking soda. I turned it on high for a little bit in here but you don't have to--low the entire time works just fine.

And voila! You have chili.

5. This one is optional--grab a tiny round loaf of bread, gut it and make a bread bowl.

Or, y'know, buy a bread bowl.

Pour some messy deliciousness in there.

As a warning, bread bowls tend to be heavy and chili tends to be heavy, so you will be very stuffed if you do it this way. Still tasty, though.

Hubby had three bowls of chili that night. I think he liked it!

Enjoy!