Spicy Vegetarian Chili

Well, spicy is an option. But you can always crank back on the spicy ingredients (identified below) if you want it milder. But for many of us, spice is life. (In which case, you can carefully add more of those ingredients).

And this is a guilt-free chili, loaded with healthy legumes and vegetables and missing the usual meat. (Although there is nothing to keep you from using this as a base and adding browned ground beef or chicken). But try it this way at least once. You might be surprised how hearty and satisfying it is.

Once of the essential ingredients is the chipotle pepper. This adds a kick of spice and a smoky flavor. They can be found canned in the Mexican food section of your grocery store, usually packed in adobo sauce. Use a bit of this sauce as well as one of the peppers, chopped.

The recipe is very forgiving and you can modify it in many ways. It is prepared in a single pot (bonus) and consists of three basic steps:

1. Sauté a soffritto (base)
2. Add, crush, and thicken tomatoes
3. Incorporate vegetables and simmer to finish

Here goes.

Ingredients

Soffritto
4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS ground cumin
½ tsp fresh chopped oregano or 1 tsp dried
2 TBS chili powder (less to reduce spice)
1 chipotle pepper, chopped, with some of its adobo sauce (less to reduce spice)
1 large carrot, halved lengthwise and diced
1 large onion, diced
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, diced

Tomatoes
1 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes with juices

Vegetables
1 15.5 oz. can pinto beans, drained
1 15.5 oz. can black beans, drained
2 cups frozen corn kernels

Optional toppings
Fresh chopped cilantro
Chopped green onions
Grated Mexican cheese

Salt
Black pepper

Procedure

Pour the oil into a large pot and heat over medium setting.

Add cumin, oregano, chili powder, chipotle pepper and stir till blended. Heat until oil mixture is hot.

Add carrots and sauté for several minutes. Then add onion and red pepper and continue to cook till softened. Add garlic and cook for another few minutes, stirring frequently. Your soffritto is now complete.

Add the canned tomatoes with their juices. Cover pot and cook for several minutes till the tomatoes have softened. Uncover and mash the tomatoes thoroughly with a potato masher or the back of a large spoon. Continue to cook uncovered, stirring, until the tomato mixture begins to thicken. The tomato preparation stage is now complete.

Add the beans and corn and stir well. Simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Serve in individual bowls with any of the optional toppings. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Buon appetitto!