Vegetarian Chili

From what I understand of the history of chili, is that it was mostly a meat dish and the beans were added later. Of course this wouldn't make sense with a vegetarian chili, so I rely heavily on beans.

Truth be told I used to be a big user of the Fantastic Foods vegetarian chili. We purchased it in bulk and always had at least a pint of it in the house for making chili on short notice. In the last few years I've moved away from using it because I just felt like I was not making my own. Even though I would modify it heavily, I never really adjusted the seasoning.

Before Jennifer went to sleep this morning she asked for something hearty for dinner. I didn't think potato leek soup was what she had in mind, so I decided to make some chili. We had some Light Life Tex Mex Grounds that I was looking to use, so that became the meat. I was thinking of leaving out a meat substitute, but I know we needed to use the grounds. I also thought of adding the new Light Life smoked sausage which we had recently acquired on sale.

I still don't do my own seasoning for the chili, although perhaps just a little bit. I mostly sauteed onion in olive oil and then added some spinach. (This is my new effort to hide spinach or kale in any meal where I can hide it.) I then put fajita seasoning on it which I buy from World Spice. I added the grounds at this point and then some of my pickled peppers from the garden, about two jalapenos worth. Then I added three cans of beans, one each of red kidney, pinto and black. I added a large can of hominy and then a large can of crushed tomatoes and let it simmer a bit. Before simmering it had a little too much tomato bite, but that mellowed out over time. I also added perhaps a tablespoon or two of Zane and Zach's Chipotle Sauce. I felt like my weak PNW jalapenos really didn't add too much heat or flavor, so it needed a little kick. I could have used a dried chipotle, but I really didn't think of it.

When plating I put a little cheese on top of mine. Jennifer likes sour cream and cheese. Although I think that has as much to do with dropping the heat of the peppers as it does her enjoying dairy products. If we have sweet onions in the garden, I'll often use one in the chili and reserve some chopped raw for garnish.