I meant to post this here a while back, but somehow it slipped my
mind. This is a recipe developed by Jeff and me to enter in our company's recent chili cook-off.
Being vegetarian, we we pretty sure we had little hope of winning, what
with our chili's built-in deficiency. Our judges, though, had sympathy
for us, and we somehow managed to take second place. Our colleagues told
us a number of times, You can't even tell it doesn't have meat!
Xochipilli Chili
Vegetarian chili with roasted corn. Named for Xochipilli (show-key-PILL-ee), one of many Aztec corn deities.
- 2 10 oz bags frozen corn
- 4 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 8 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 Tbsp chili powder
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tsp ground cumin seed
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 4 oz cans diced green chiles (we used mild, but hot wouldn't hurt)
- 6 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or frozen)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- Approx. 3 Tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place one bag of corn in a large baking dish; mix in just enough olive oil to coat the kernels (about a Tbsp), and spread them out as much as you can in the dish. Roast the corn in the oven until browned, about 20 minutes. (Corn does not always brown. Be careful not to burn it.) Repeat for other package of corn.
While corn is roasting: Cook onion in remaining olive oil over medium heat. Use a pretty big pot; this makes a lot of chili. Cook onion until soft, about five minutes.
Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, cocoa, cinnamon, and cayenne. Work fast. Stir to coat onions with spice and toast the spices a little, about a minute.
Stir in broth, beans, chiles, and tomatoes; reduce heat to a simmer.
Cover and cook 15 minutes, then stir in corn and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
This makes mild chili. We were being careful with the spices to make
sure it would be edible by people who don't push the Scoville
envelope the way we like to. Even so, we had to add a healthy
dollop of Sriracha, aka
rooster sauce
, before serving at the cook-off, to give it a little
heat. Next batch, I will added a seeded jalapeno or two to cook with the
onion, and maybe upgrade to hot diced green chiles.
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