(Vegan) Chili con Veggies

Chili used to be my mother's go-to dish on afternoons when she was feeding lots of people. It's filling, easy to make in large batches, and a great way to warm up dozens of young people on a wintry day. This is not that chili. In fact, it bears very little resemblance to my mother's chili. After all, this chili has zucchini in it, and my mom's chili had ground beef. But it has the same significance, I think. When I eat it, I think of my mom's hospitality and hot, spicy food on a winter's day.



1 cup dried red kidney beans
1 cup dried black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 red onion
1 smallish green bell pepper (or half a large pepper)
1 zucchini
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 clove garlic
(Any other veggies in your fridge, including but not limited to: 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 2 portobello mushrooms)
2 heaping tsp chili powder (if you can find chipotle chili powder, wonderful.)
1 tsp cumin
(the recipe gets hazier from here, so feel free to improvise)
A few shakes of freshly ground pepper
A few good pinches of salt
Some olive oil


Sort and rinse the beans, and put them together in a large saucepan. Cover them with water, and boil them for about an hour, or until they are soft. Check the water frequently, because nothing smells worse than burnt beans.

Meanwhile, dice or cube all the veggies according to your preference (I like big chunks of veggies, some people like them small, so go with your gut. Do whatever feels right).

Heat the olive oil (about 2 tbsp, or 3-ish glugs) in a medium skillet. Add the veggies and the spices. Saute until the onions are starting to turn cook, but try not to cook the veggies all the way through. You want them to still be firm.

Add the veggies/spices to the pot with the beans; Add the can of tomatoes and stir in the tomato paste.

Simmer 20 minutes on low heat. By this point, the beans and veggies should be suspended in a thick broth that just covers all the yummy chunky stuff. If the chili is too thin, simmer uncovered a little longer. If it's still too thin, add another spoonful of tomato paste and simmer a little longer.

Taste, and add salt as necessary.

I top mine with cheddar cheese -- for all those actual vegans out there, I'm sure Daiya "cheese" would also be great on top. The recipe for the cornbread in the photo is somewhere below this post.