Carnivore Creations: Vegan Chili

 

WAIT. WAIT. (Palms up, in your face.) WAIT. 

Before you roll your eyes with exasperated groans of disagreement. This dish was created in a house of meat lovers and licensed hunters, and AND a Traeger smoker. When my husband -- a wonderful cook -- bought that Traeger smoker, their powers combined made me have a legit affair with tri-tip and bacon. I have chosen to cut back on meat intake greatly by doctor's reccomendation and have been experimenting in the vegetarian world since 2012. My husband recently joined me after I asked him to watch "Forks Over Knives" with me. Once the documentary brought out testimonials from long term athletes, I could see the gears turning in his head. Thinking how he could beat me at vegetarian cooking. 

Which he hella did. 

PISS.

This recipe is his FIRST damn creation into the vegan world, and it is glorious. I must point out Eric did not do any previous research, or read any example recipes prior to creating this. A day after watching the documentary he cooked this up. I had to share this with the community. 

Eric Zanutto's Vegan Chili

Ingredients:

½ c kidney beans (dry)

½ c black beans (dry)

1 c pearl barley (dry)

2 medium green bell peppers

1 medium yellow onion

2 jalapenos w/ seeds (remove seeds for mild flavor--Eric kept the seeds)

3 garlic cloves

8 Roma tomatoes, diced

2 avocados

½ c fresh cilantro

Spices:

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbl lemon pepper

½ tbl sesame seed oil

1 tbl chipotle Cholula sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tbl Vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 tbl apple cider vinegar

1 tbl Sriracha (optional)

1 full juice from lime

½ tbl chili powder

½ tbl crushed red pepper

½ tbl rosemary

1 tsp cayenne powder

½ tbl chipotle chili powder

2 tsp liquid smoke (1 tsp in barley, 1 tsp in whole pot)

Instructions:

1. Put all into a large Pyrex dish or tempered glass dish:

          - Dice tomatoes, onion, green bell pepper, jalapenos.

          - Mince garlic.

          - Chop cilantro.

2. Traeger Smoker:

          - Smoke at 225 for ½ an hour. Raise temp to 300 for another 1/2 an hour. During both temps,    stir every 15 minutes.  

3. Beans:

          - Soaking beans overnight is not necessary, however you could soak them to save time.

          - Combine beans and water together in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower flame to allow mixture to simmer for an hour or until soft. Stir mixture every so often until you get the texture you want.

4. Barley:

        - 1c, with 3 c water. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until it turns into the consistency you want.  As a tip, leave about 1/2 cup of water behind.  While pot is still on low heat, mix in all the spices into the barley except the Sriracha and only add 1 tsp of liquid smoke. Mix until ½ cup water is gone. This mixture should still be moist, not dry. The whole point of doing this is to try and replicate the taste similar to meat.

5. Putting it together:

      - Mix barley mixture into the beans in one large soup pot.  Pour all the smoked vegetables from the pan including their juices into the soup pot as well. If mixture is dry, Eric's was, add 2 cups of water, Sriracha, and the last 1 tsp of liquid smoke. 

Simmer for an hour. Stir every 15 minutes. While chili is simmering, chop avocado.

When serving chili, put ¼ c of avocado on top.

Non-vegan: Add shredded cheese of your choice on top to melt then the avocado. I understand if you cannot commit to a full vegan dish. I gots you. ;)

Thanks for reading and please comment below if you created this dish. Thoughts? Opinions? Changes you made? Comment below to share with the community!

*~*BearHugs*~*

-Melanie Dyogi