Vegetarian HOT HOT HOT Chili

It's cold outside right now.  Like really cold.  This Florida girl still isn't used to the cold temperatures and snow in the mountains where I live now.  It was 14 degrees all morning, and my office is right next to the door.  Brr.  It's the kind of cold I can feel in my bones.  Ok, well, that kind of made me sound old - but you get what I mean.

Nothing is better on cold days than a nice HOT chili.  I usually make mine pretty hot, but we amped it up this time with habanero peppers.  My chili is super easy and you can adapt it to fit your needs.  My recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

*1 bag of MorningStar Crumbles.  You can also use veggie burgers and just crumble up the patty.  Or if you are a carnivore, like my boyfriend, use ground beef or chunks of beef.  Use as little or as much as you like. 

*Onions

*Fresh Garlic

*Kidney Beans.  I always use a big can of light beans, a big can of dark and a can of spicy kidney beans.  You can use as much or as little as you like.  Some people like more or less beans, but this is the amount that works for me.

*1 jar of salsa.  I use hot to give the chili more heat, you can use mild or medium if you prefer.  The salsa sounds kind of unconventional, but trust me it makes it good.  I got this idea from my friend, Amber.

*Diced tomatoes.  Again, this depends on your preference.  I like a lot of tomatoes in mine, so I put a large can of diced tomatoes, and a small can of garlic, oregano tomatoes.  Here is where the HOT HOT HOT comes from - usually I also add two cans of diced tomatoes with chilies  but we kicked it up a notch by buying the diced tomatoes with habanero.

*2 large cans of tomato sauce.  I wouldn't go more than this, unless you want the chili to be more soupy.

*2 Alarm Chili mix.  It comes with cayenne, chili powder, paprika  dried onion & garlic, oregano, masa powder (for thickening the chili if it's too runny), and salt.

Toppings:

*Green Onions

*Cheese

   Instructions:

    I start by sauteing chopped onions and fresh garlic.  Next add in the meat or MorningStar crumbles or crumbled vegie burger.  Cook until meat is brown or MorningStar product is no longer frozen.  I move this mixture over to a large pan, which I turn on low heat.  I then add drained kidney beans (except the spicy can, don't drain that one), diced tomatoes, salsa, and tomato sauce.

   In a small bowl mix seasoning powders from the 2 Alarm Chili mix except for the Masa.  I personally feel chili is salty enough on it's own so I don't use the salt packet either.  Once everything is well blended I beginning adding it a little bit of the mixture at a time and then stirring well.  If you don't stir it in slowly or mix well in between, it will just clump up and stick to the bottom of the pan.

  I bring the chili to a boil, and then I simmer on low for several hours.  I don't like my beans to be hard, so the longer they simmer the better.

   When the chili is done I like to serve with shredded cheese and scallions on top.  Sometimes I serve it in a bread bowl.  Sometimes I serve with yellow rice.  It all just depends on my mood, but there are so many ways you can go with this.



   This is my favorite chili recipe.  What is yours?  Have you ever used MorningStar Farms products in place of meat?  Did it taste the same to you?  What other recipes do you use MorningStar Farms in?


*** I am a BzzAgent, and I received this product for free via BzzAgent. All my opinions are my own.