Vegetarian Chili

After a couple of years of experimentation, I’ve landed on a chili recipe that I like a good bit. Everybody else who’s had it is either loves it or is surprisingly good at acting like they do.

It’s so simple that it barely even qualifies as a recipe, but I’m sharing it because the effort-to-taste ratio is unbeatable. The hardest part is opening cans and dicing a few vegetables.

Plus, decades of television taught me that homemade chili is for obsessive suburban dad types who spend hours over it and fiercely guard their recipe. I was surprised that even I could get good results without all the fuss, so it might encourage other lazy cooks out there to give it a try. Take this basic recipe and modify it to build your own.

Ingredients

2 12-ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 12-ounce cans of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 12-ounce can of corn, drained (I’ve used the “Mexicorn” or similar variant with peppers included, but I don’t think it’s worth the extra cost)

1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red or orange bell pepper, diced

4 jalapeños (or 2 Anaheim peppers), diced and with ribs and seeds removed

2 12-ounce cans of diced tomatoes (“fire roasted” works best, and I prefer the Muir Glen brand even if it’s just the extra cost convincing me it tastes better)

1 6-ounce can of tomato paste

4 tablespoons chili powder

~2 teaspoons cumin (generally, the more the better)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

~1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

~2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

~1/2 teaspoon salt (or 1 tsp soy sauce)

Directions

With a slow cooker, I’ve dumped everything into the pot before going to work, set it on “low,” and had it for dinner that evening, i.e. about 6-8 hours.

With a dutch oven:

Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until translucent

Add the cumin, let it “toast” for about 30 seconds before stirring everything together

Add the tomatoes and mix everything to de-glaze the bottom of the pot

Add the beans, corn, and peppers, mixing after each step

Add the spices and tomato paste, then mix again until the tomato paste is fully integrated

Heat over medium, stirring every few minutes, until the chili is bubbling

Reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least an hour, mixing periodically to keep the tomatoes from burning

Or the short version: dump everything into a pot and cook it all day, but start with the onions.