I was reminded this week of my love for quinoa so I decided to take all the best Ontario veggies from my local produce store and make a summer classic. The secret to this chili is that aside from the basic ingredients like tomatoes, onions, corn, quinoa and beans, you can use any other veggies that are in season and will stew well. Every time you make it, it turns out a bit differently.
For this dish, I highly recommend using your mom’s crock pot from the 80s.
Vegan Quinoa Chili
2 large cans, diced tomatoes
1 medium can, red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
2 chipotle peppers, canned in sauce
2 cups red quinoa
200g green beans, roughly chopped
200g white mushrooms, cleaned & quartered (about 14 med. mushrooms)
200g carrots, sliced into rounds
2 tomatillos, diced
1 ear of corn, boiled, niblets removed
1 large red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp sunflower oil
chili powder
salt & pepper
adobo seasoning (optional)
1 dash liquid smoke (optional)
Clean and prepare all the vegetables. Normally, this part would be boring, but I was fascinated by the colours of the local veggies, especially the purple carrots, which are orange on the inside. If you don’t know how to get niblets of corn off the cob, here’s a good demonstration.
Turn a slow cooker to high heat and get it warming.
Heat sunflower oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the diced onions, crush in the garlic, add a few shakes of chili powder and cook, stirring occasionally, over med-high heat until onions are caramelized.
Add the cooked onions and garlic to the crock pot with both cans of tomatoes.
Add all the other ingredients, including about 2 teaspoons of sauce from the chipotle can, which adds smoky flavour and searing heat to the final product. Don’t worry if the ingredients pile up to the top of your slow cooker. The mushrooms will reduce by about half as they cook and the quinoa will soak up all the liquor from the veggies.
Take a 40-minute nap (this is a key step - do not skip.)
Stir the mixture, adding seasoning as desired. I discovered today a super secret technique for adding flavour and cutting acid - a tablespoon of cocoa powder.
Let it cook for 4-6 more hours, until the quinoa have released all their little tails and most of the liquid is absorbed.
Delish!
