Vegetarian Chili

Now, if you are one of those folks who doesn't think chili is made right if it contains beans, you probably shouldn't be attempting vegetarian chili anyway, and this recipe might not be for you. However, I found it on vegweb.com years ago, and it was similar to a recipe in a cookbook my parents had when I was in high school. It's fantastic.

I made it for a friend's chili-themed birthday party. After all the guests had gone, it was late, and the chili dishes, including the meat chilis, were left out overnight. Guess which one they caught his roommate's cats eating? That's right, this one. Not the meat.

You need:

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 chopped onions
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 bell peppers, chopped [red, yellow, orange, or green, your choice]
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 large can, undrained, of tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups fresh or frozen corn [you can also used frozen chopped green beans, thawed, which sounds odd, but it adds some similar freshness to the dish]
1/2 cup bulgur [AKA bulghur wheat, often available in bulk foods areas, though you can buy it packaged, too, possibly near the rice or dried beans]
salt and pepper

Construction:

• In a large pan, saute the onions and spices.
  
• Add peppers and garlic for 1 min.
  
• Add cocoa, tomatoes, and water; bring to a boil.
  
• Add kidney and black beans, corn and bulgur.
  
• Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 min. or until bulghur is cooked.
  
• Add salt and pepper to taste.

Like any chili recipe, this can benefit from being stored in the fridge overnight, to let the flavors mingle, then reheated the next day. I recommend serving with semi-homemade cornbread.