One of my yoga student's recently asked me for a chili recipe. I haven't made one in a while, but I decided to dig up one of my favorite recipes that I created years ago in California. The picture is from my last house. I really miss the recycled glass back splash.
The must have ingredients in a really yummy chili are 2 things, beans made from scratch and beer.
Black Bean Pasilla Chili
6 cups cooked organic black beans cooked with 1 organic yellow onion plus liquid (recipe follows)
1/2 red onion finely chopped
6-8 minced garlic cloves
2 large or 3 small organic fresh chili pasillas chopped into 1" pieces
2 ears fresh or 1 1/2 cup frozen organic or frozen organic fire roasted corn
4-5 fresh organic tomatoes or 1 28 ounce box or can of organic chopped tomatoes
1 cup Samuel Smith's Organic Pale Ale or other favorite vegan beer
1 tablespoon organic chili powder
tablespoon oregano
1/4 cup organic tamari
Protein Add-ons (pick one of the following)
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Textured Soy Protein (TSP) -pictured in the photo
1/2 - 1 package Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles, BEEFY
2 Field Roast Mexican Chipotle Sausages
1 box or can of navy or great northern beans and 1 box cremini or button mushrooms sliced.
Saute the red onion, corn, and pasilla chilis in 2-3 tbsp of water for 5 minutes. If using mushrooms cook them here tooAdd more water as needed. Add garlic for 1 minute and cook for 1 minutes longer. Add all the remaining ingredients plus 1 protein add on. Cook on high heat until it reaches a boil. Reduce the heat until it reaches a simmer. Partially cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes - 1 hour. In general the longer it cooks the deeper the flavor. For extra delicious chili allow the flavors to develop overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat the next day and serve.
Black Beans
soak 2 cups organic black beans overnight. You can cook the black beans 3 different ways. The easiest and quickest is by far the pressure cooker.
Stovetop method- Rinse beans and place in a large pot with 1 chopped yellow or white onion. Add enough water to cover the beans by about an inch. If you find that beans make you gassy, add either a piece of kombu or 2 bay leaves when cooking. Turn the heat to high and allow the water to boil. Once it reaches a boil reduce heat and let simmer for about 1.5 hours. Be mindful to watch the water level and add water as needed. The beans are done when they are soft. Make sure to reserve the liquid for the chili.
Slowcooker method- Rinse beans and place in a large pot with 1 chopped yellow or white onion. Add enough water to cover the beans by about 1 - 1.5 inches. If you find that beans make you gassy, add either a piece of kombu or 2 bay leaves when cooking. Set the slow cooker to 7 hours on high. Check to see if they are done after six hours. Make sure to reserve the liquid for the chili.
Pressure cooker method- Rinse beans and place in a large pot with 1 chopped yellow or white onion. Add enough water to cover the beans by about a 1/2 inch. If you find that beans make you gassy, add either a piece of kombu or 2 bay leaves when cooking. I like to set the pressure cook time to 20 minutes instead of the 14 minutes. Let the pressure cooker release it's pressure naturally. The whole process takes roughly 45-50 minutes from beginning to end. Please be aware that I use an electric pressure cooker you may have to adjust the time for a stovetop model. Make sure to reserve the liquid for the chili.
Serve with either fresh pico de gallo or chopped white onions and cilantro with a squeeze of fresh lime and vegan sour cream. My kids love Tofutti Better than Sour Cream or the wonderful Cashew Sour Cream recipe from Oh She Glows. This also pairs wonderfully with a large salad.
Enjoy!