Nuts to You Vegetarian Chili

Gloria of Cookbook Cuisine and Foods and Flavors of San Antonio has a chili cook off each month. We are asked to submit an original chili recipe and send it to Gloria by the 20th of the month. You can find the rules for the Chili Cook Off Challenge here .

This was an interesting and fun challenge for me. It forced me to think outside the box a little since I've always only made chili one way and here I was in invention mode making a vegetarian chili. I was pretty surprised to find out that this newly created chili (at least new for me) was really delicious and will now become my chili of choice. Although it seems like alot of ingredients, it does come together pretty quickly and makes enough for 10 servings. You still have time to create and enter so do check out Gloria's blogs for more information.




Ingredients:

1 medium onion (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
3 medium carrots (diced)
3 Japanese eggplants (you can use regular eggplant)
3/4 cup cauliflower florets
3/4 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup cut yellow beans
1/2 cup cut green beans
1/2 cup slice mushrooms
1 19 oz can chick peas
1 19 oz can kidney beans
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 28 oz can tomato juice or sauce (I used home made sauce)
3 cloves minced garlic
1-1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 heaping tsp. chili peppers
1/2 tsp hot paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup unsalted cashew nuts
1/2 cup shredded cheese (for topping) I used Gruyere
dollops sour cream (for topping)

Method:

1. Saute onion for 5 minutes until translucent. (approx 3 minutes)



2. Add carrots and celery, cook approximately 5 minutes
3. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste
4. Add cauliflower, broccoli, green and yellow beans, mushrooms and eggplant. Combine and cook for 2-3 minutes




4. Add chick peas, kidney beans, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Combine until well mixed. Add chili powder, hot paprika, cumin and mix. Allow to simmer for approximately 1/2 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings.






5. Mix in 1 cup of unsalted cashew nuts (this gives it a special meaty texture)
5. Serve with some shredded cheese, a dollup of sour cream and a sprinkling of a few cashew nuts.