Scott's Vegan Chili

This chili is awesome. And it's vegan.

TIME

The main work takes me about two hours, not including soaking or simmering time, but I'm kind of slow.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb dried kidney beans, rehydrated
• 1.5 lb dried black beans, rehydrated
• olive oil
• 2 small white onions, diced
• 2 dried guajillo peppers, rehydrated, diced
• 4 small green peppers, diced
• 2 medium red peppers, diced
• two 14.5 oz. cans of diced roasted tomatoes, or about 30-35 medium tomatoes you roasted yourself (see recipe below).
• 1 quart of water or vegetable stock
• 2 cups of corn kernels (fresh or defrosted)
• salt
• chipotle powder
• ancho powder
• cinnamon
• sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Rehydrate the beans overnight. Put them in a very large bowl and fill it with cold water. Stir a bit. Let them sit out overnight. Next day, drain them well.

2. Rehydrate the dried guajillo peppers about 30 minutes before starting the main prep work. Put them in a small bowl and fill it with boiling water. Puncture the peppers and let the air out so they don't float. Once soaked, drain them, cut off the tops and bottoms, remove all seeds, and dice very finely, almost to a paste. You don't want to eat chunks of these.

3. Dice the onion and green and red peppers. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Sautee the onion in olive oil until soft, then add the green and red peppers. Add salt and continue sauteeing until all are soft. I like to sautee them longer so they melt a bit more.

4. Add the tomatoes (see below), guajillo peppers, powdered peppers, sugar, cinnamon. Stir. Bring to a boil. Add water or vegetable stock. Add beans and corn, stir well, and return to a boil.

5. Reduce heat and simmer on low for a long time (perhaps 10 hours), stirring occasionally. Lid on for the first several hours, then uncovered for some time if there's too much liquid remaining.

6. You now have a lot of chili. Have a party, or else freeze much of it. It freezes very well, for months.

To roast tomatoes:

1. Wash each tomato and cut it in half (top to bottom, not side to side). Remove the core and discard. Scoop all the tomato guts and liquid into a bowl. Toss the tomato halves in olive oil and salt lightly. Lay the tomatoes open-side up on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet and roast at 400F for about 20 minutes, or until slightly browning.

2. Dice the tomatoes and add to the chili pot. Use an immersion blender on the tomato guts and strain as much liquid as possible (fresh tomato juice) directly into chili pot.

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