Two Chilies
So this past Tuesday, NEON and Goth-ick/Unscene hosted GosT, Straplocked, and Komrads, and it was a great show. I had intended to get a picture of the food spread in the green room, but honestly I had a bit more on my plate that evening, as a representative of both groups. But since Chris from Straplocked asked for the recipe for the meat filled chili, I decided I should just write up both here.
Because I have found that there are a lot of artists who are vegetarian and vegan out on tour, and I also have vegan friends, I decided to start this as a base to build flavor, then split it down to the two different dishes. It doesn't make any more pots and pans, and actually helps speed it up a bit!
Chili Base
Ingredients:
3 Cans (15oz) of red beans
1 Can (15oz) of black beans
1 Can (15oz) of small white beans
1 Can (28oz) of diced tomatoes (with green chilies if you like)
1 Can (15oz) of stewed tomatoes
1 pack of mushroom slices
2-3 each of green bell peppers
2 each large yellow onions
4 cloves of garlic
4 Tablespoons of Canola or Corn oil
1 Pre-made Chili Seasoning packet. For this I used the Nature's Promise, because it's also soy and wheat free, but the McCormick one works very well too.
Prep:
Add the full contents of the red and white beans, and the tomatoes to a pot and put on low.
Drain and rinse the black beans and add them to the pot.
While that's coming up to temp, chop the onions and peppers fairly coarsely, like 1/2" chunks is good here. They're going to get really soft.
Saute the onions and peppers in the oil over medium heat until the onions get translucent.
Add the chili seasoning and the mushrooms and keep it all moving until they get soft. It should take only a few minutes.
Transfer the pan contents to the pot and let it simmer for an hour.
Meaty Chili
Ingredients:
1/2 of the base we have sitting on the stove now.
1.5 - 2 Lbs of 85% lean ground beef
1 Red Bell Pepper
16oz Chicken Stock
2 Tablespoons of Cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Prep:
Dice up the peppers into 1/4" pieces, these should be smaller than the ones you have made before.
In the saute pan you have left over from before, add the beef and red peppers, cook until the meat is fully browned.
Add the chicken stock, cumin, and a least a few turns on the pepper mill, or a 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper.
Let it simmer and reduce until viscous.
Transfer 1/2 of the chili base into a fresh pot, and add this mixture to it.
Let simmer 30 minutes and season with salt, pepper, and any heat sources you like.
Vegan Chili
Ingredients:
1/2 of base, now ready sitting on the stove ready to go.
1 Bag (12oz) frozen whole kernel corn
1 Can (15oz) Chickpeas
2 Tablespoons Paprika
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Cumin
Prep:
Add everything to the pot of base and let simmer for 30 minutes.
Season with additional salt, pepper, and any heat sources you like.
I use the corn as an indicator of the fact that it's the vegan chili mostly. It's very clearly different and everyone recognizes whether or not something has corn almost instantly. You could leave it out if you're just making the vegan version and want it to look more like traditional chili.