Sally Reed’s Best Vegetarian Chili
This best vegetarian chili recipe was passed from someone to my Mom, Sally Reed, who passed it on to me. The vegetarian chili recipe has a meat option which you can cook in the pot or on the side, which is what I do. The secret of the recipe is to always add an ingredient when you get it; my addition was the corn. If you use it, please tell me what you add. It’s mild-to-spicy, depending on how much chili powder and hot sauce you throw in, and very easy to prepare. At parties, I serve the meat in a separate bowl. Sally Reed’s vegetarian chili recipe serves about 10, though it’s best on the second day.
- 1 package ground beef (optional)
- 2 cans whole stewed tomatoes
- 3-4 cans red kidney beans (half-drained)
- 2-3 chopped onions
- 2 chopped green peppers
- 2 chopped jalapeño peppers (optional)
- 3-5 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 shakes dry hot pepper
- 1 can whole kernel corn
- 4 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper
- Hot sauce (to taste)
- 2 tablespoons water
- White rice
Brown meat at high heat, lower heat and cook for 5 minutes and set aside.
In stew pot, cook peppers, jalapeño peppers and onions until onions are transparent (about 5 minutes).
Mix chili powder with water to make chili paste.
Add stewed tomatoes, hot sauce, chili powder paste, remaining spices and cover and cook at low heat for 1 hour.
Add kidney beans, uncover and cook for 30 minutes.
Add corn and cook for 30 minutes.
Serve in bowls over rice with optional meat.
Difficulty: easy.
Time: 2 hours of intermittent attention.
Precision: approximate measurement OK.