Sunday, December 12, 2010

Quinoa and 3 Bean Chili

This is not exact science, but I will attempt to give a good idea of what is in my chili.

In a smaller pot:
Sautee 1/2 small onion, chopped and 2 cloves of minced garlic in coconut oil (or olive oil) with a sprinkle of sea salt
When that cooks a few minutes, add in about 3/4 cup quinoa and 1/2 cup split red lentils
Sautee this together 2 minutes. Add roughly 3 cups of water, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until tender (about 20 minutes) adding in water if needed.

In a big soup pot while the quinoa and lentils are cooking:
Sautee together with salt and coconut oil:
1 large onion chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic minced (depending on how much you like)
2 carrots, chopped small
2 stalks of celery, chopped small
Put lid on and cook down, sweating off the veggies about 8 minutes.
Add in 1 vegan boullion cube, 1 jar of tomato sauce, and about 8 cups (this is a guess) of water. Bring to a boil with a mixture of these spices:
1 tbsp. mild chili powder
1 tsp. of cumin
dash of cayenne pepper
1 tsp. of dried oregeno
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika (smoked is best if you can find it)
tiny pinch of cinnamon
pinch of a curry mix you like

Once mixture comes to a boil, add in a mixture of:
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper chopped
2-3 tomatoes (half, and then with hands, squirt juice and seeds into pot and roughly tear with your hands into the pot into bite-sized chunks)

Cook until the peppers and tomatoes have cooked down and softened with lid on pot over mild heat.
When they have cooked down, add in 1 jar each of:
black beans
white beans
red kidney beans
and also add the lentils and quinoa to pot
add more water if necessary to make a stew like consistency, and taste to adjust seasonings. Cook together for 5-10 minutes over low heat (so as not to make the beans over-mushy). Serve with Vegan cornbread recipe.