One of the things that came over the Twitter recently was this chili recipe and comments about how good it was. The spices looked interesting but its Palio-ness was not. So I took a stab at veganizing it. Here goes:
Ingredients:
(the base)
- 2 tablespoons of your favorite fat (olive, coconut, etc.)
- 2 onions, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 16oz package of tempeh, crumbled (Trader Joes brand works well)
- 8oz red lentils
(spices)
- 3 tablespoons chili powder (a bit more than the original recipe, likely due to lentils absorbing flavors)
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
(liquids)
- 14.5oz can chopped tomatoes
- 6oz tomato paste
- 26oz vegetable broth (a full carton from Trader Joes)
Directions:
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add onions & saute until soft. Add garlic and let head until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Do not burn or brown the garlic.
- Add the tomato paste and the tempeh. Let the tomato paste coat the bottom on the pot, but scrape and stir before it burns or browns too much. (You want it to carmelize.)
- Blend the spices in a small bowl. Add to the pot and stir for a minute
- Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, and (rinsed) lentils. Stir well.
- Bring to a boil then reduce the heat until the pot has a gentil simmer. Simmer for at least 2 hours.
- Check the spices each hour. If its not hot enough for your taste, add additional. I found that it needed a bit more chili powder
I'm serving this with avocado and salad, and a glass of the Daniel Gehr Syrah.
This is a pretty damn good chili recipe.
