I’m a European while my husband (Tanner) is a Canadian. There’re many subjects we have different opinions on, but the culture around food is the one that comes up most frequently.

• I only buy food I know I’ll eat in the next few days. Tanner buys things in bulk.
• I love fresh food, so I only cook the amount I’ll be eating on the day of cooking. Tanner batch cooks and loves to have leftovers for the next few days.
• I consider pasta mixed together with vegetables a complete meal. For Tanner, it’s two sides thrown together with the main meal component (aka protein) missing.
• I don’t like throwing food away. Tanner thinks that it’s better to throw away a few things rather than having to drive to the store any time he needs something.
• I prefer cooking meals entirely from scratch, using fresh vegetables, dry legumes, homemade stocks, even if it takes hours to prepare. Tanner prefers frozen meals he can have on the table in a few minutes. We can have our pantry stocked with wholesome ingredients, but as soon as the freezer is empty, he feels there’s nothing to eat.
• I prefer to taste the real flavor of foods. If I think my food tastes a little bland, I use herbs. Tanner loves spicy food that literally burns your mouth. He puts hot sauce into everything!

What’s all that got to do with chili? Well, it’s just not all that popular where I come from, but it’s very popular in Tanner’s family. In fact, I had never tasted chili before I met Tanner. The first family event Tanner ever took me to was a chili cook-off where everybody prepared their own particular recipe and shared it with everyone. That’s where I learned that chili is a very personal thing, and everybody has their favorite recipe.

This vegan chili isn’t trying to imitate a meaty chili. Instead, it celebrates vegetables and legumes. It’s not the quickest and easiest recipes either. Sure, you can make your chili with some commercial pre-mixed chili powder, a can of beans, and some pureed tomatoes thrown together in a slow cooker. But is the flavor going to blow your mind? Not likely.

Tips for Making Vegan Chili

Ingredients

Throwing some pre-mixed chili powder from the store into a slow cooker is fine for a quick weeknight meal. However, perfect chili needs the complexity and richness you can only get from toasting and pureeing fresh chili peppers or grinding dried chilies into a powder. There are many varieties of chili peppers, depending on the region they come from. I like to make my chili powder from a combination of sweet, hot, smoky, and fruity chili peppers. Yes, I always mix and match at least four different chili peppers. Making your own chili powder (or puree) is what makes any chili more art than science.

And then there are beans. While I understand that canned beans are much more convenient, I don’t mind taking the time to soak and cook dried beans from scratch for just about any recipe. Dried beans have a more complex flavor, creamier texture, deeper color, and a better nutritional profile. If you’re intimidated by the whole cooking dried beans from scratch thing, don’t be! It’s much easier than you think. As far as bean variety goes, I like to use two different kinds of beans for textural diversity. Kidney beans and black turtle beans are my favorite, but any legumes work.

If you’re a Texan, you probably don’t use tomatoes (or beans) in your chili, but I do. You can’t beat the sweet taste of fresh homegrown tomatoes – whether you use them directly in your chili or in fresh salsa. If you do go for canned tomatoes, use whole rather than diced. Canned diced tomatoes contain calcium chloride (a firming agent), which prevents the diced tomatoes from softening and breaking down. Canned whole tomatoes yield a more natural texture.

For chili exploding with richness and layers of flavor, you need to cook it low and slow. You don’t have to worry about the vegetables and beans softening and turning into a mush. The chili base – chili peppers and tomatoes – is acidic and vegetables and beans soften very slowly in acid. Going back and forth between covered and uncovered cooking will keep the chili from becoming too watery or too thick. If your chili starts turning too thick, you can always add some homemade vegetable broth. If your chili isn’t thick enough, lightly mash the beans and vegetables with a potato masher to release their natural starches.

Tools You’ll Need

1. Blender (Vitamix 5200) | 2. Pan (10-Inch, Lodge, Cast Iron) | 3. Cookware Set (Calphalon, Stainless Steel) | 4. Knife Set (6 Pieces, Utopia, Stainless Steel) | 5. Measuring Cup (1 Cup, Pyrex, Glass) | 6. Cutting Board (24″x 18″, Michigan Maple Block, Maple) | 7. Measuring Spoons (Set of 6, 1Easylife, Stainless Steel) | 8. Can Opener (Zyliss, Stainless Steel)

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