Chili Sin Carne

Ever since Cinco de Mayo, I have been craving Mexican and Texas food. I love the simple ingredients, such as onions and tomato, fused together with a complex assortment of herbs and spices.

This recipe is a redux of Chili Con Carne ("Chili with meat") and has been relabeled Chili Sin Carne ("Chili without meat"). I have replaced the meat with soy wadi, those wonderful meat-like chunks I have covered before.

This dish also calls for two kinds of beans: black beans and pinto beans. You can used canned, but I prefer pressure cooking dried beans. Both beans cook for the same amount of time (15 minutes at high altitude), so you could cook them together.

Chili Sin Carne

Ingredients

3 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1½ c soy wadi, pressure cooked for 10 minutes

1 can diced tomatoes (don't drain)

1 T chili powder

2 t ground cumin

1 t dried oregano

1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 c dried beans cooked

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 c dried beans cooked

1½ c beef or vegetable broth

½ t salt

Steps

1. In a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, add the olive oil. When hot, add the cooked wadi and onion. Cook 5 minutes until almost browned. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes.

2. Dump in the tomatoes, juices and all, and the chili powder, cumin, oregano, beans, and broth.

3. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes.

4. Stir in salt. Garnish with parsley.