veggie chili + cornbread

Here are the recipes, as promised! :)

First, the vegetarian chili.  I looked up a few different recipes, including Kath’s “Throw in a Pot Vegetarian Chili,” and pulled ideas from all of them.

Here is what I came up with:

• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed + drained


• 1 can black beans, rinsed + drained


• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed + drained


• 1c. frozen or canned corn


• 2 green peppers, chopped


• 1 med. yellow onion, chopped


• 1/2 red onion, chopped


• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced


• 1T chili powder


• 1tsp cajun spice blend


• 1tsp cumin


• 1-2tsp dried oregano


• 1tsp unsweetened cocoa powder [great addition from Kath!]


• s+p to taste


• 3 bay leaves


• 1 jalapeño, de-seeded + chopped


• 28oz can crushed tomatoes


• 1, 15oz can fire roasted tomatoes [with green chilies if available]


• 1c. veggie broth


• 1-2T chia seeds [to thicken – can also use tomato paste]


• olive oil

1. In a large pot, sauté the onion with bay leaves, cumin and oregano, in a few Tbs of olive oil until soft.


2. Mix in green pepper, jalapeno, and garlic, for a few more minutes.


3. Add tomato + beans + stir.


4. Add seasonsing: chili powder, cajun spice blend and cocoa powder.


5. Let come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 45min.  Stir a few times.


6. In the last 5-10min add chia seeds, corn, and add s+p to taste.

It was super tasty and pretty spicy.  Chris + I both really liked it.  If you can’t find cajun spice blend just add an extra tsp of chili powder and add cayenne for some zing.

Night time shots!





Day time shot of the chili – much better looking!



Cornbread PERfection :) [edited from firecracker cornbread on 101 Cookbooks]

• 1c. cornmeal [I like Bob’s Red Mill medium ground]


• 3/4c. whole wheat pastry flour


• 1c. plain rice milk [or any milk, low-fat buttermilk, 1-2% milk, etc]


• 1 egg


• 1c. defrosted corn, optional


• 1T baking powder


• 1tsp salt


• 1/4c. ground flax meal [Bob’s Red Mill makes this]


• 2T sucanat [or pure can sugar]


• 2-3T butter

1. Preheat oven to 350*.


2. Combine egg, milk, and corn in a small bowl and whisk.


3. In a large bowl combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, flax, + sucanat.  Stir well.


4. Place the butter in a 9” pan [can be cast iron, round cake pan, or pie dish].


5. Place in the oven to melt for ~5-7min.  Make sure it doesn’t burn.


6. After butter is in the oven, pour the wet into the dry.  Stir until just combined.  Let sit for 5min.


7. Take the pan with butter out of the oven and tilt pan to spread the butter around the bottom and sides.


8. Pour in batter and spread with spatula.  It should be really thick and just need to be pushed around to the edges of the pan.


9. Bake for 20-25min.

*If you want spicy cornbread, add cayenne, diced jalapeno, or red pepper flakes.  I make it without spice.

I like using the medium grain cornmeal because it gives a better texture with a slight crunch.  You can also use fine cornmeal or instant.



This cornbread is just SO so so good.  I added the flax for the first time, which gave it an extra health kick!  I have used buttermilk in the past [lowfat from TJ’s] but all I had on hand was rice milk.  It worked perfectly!  This cornbread is extremely moist and not too crumbly, but has a good break apart texture.



A perfect meal!!  Some friends are coming over tonight to help us finish it off.  I’m going to make a fresh batch of the cornbread too!  It’s so simple.  I snacked on it all night + this morning.  Seriously, addicting!



For my Colorado, or high altitude friends, this is what I changed for the bread:

• add 1/4c extra liquid


• use 2tsp baking powder instead of a full Tablespoon


• increase oven temp. to 375*

Not too bad!

Let me know if you have any questions!

~Ashley

Comments

[Katie]

I made some Cooking Light veggie chili the other night that ended up more like soup. This looks so good!

[Ashley]

This was anything but a soupy chili :)

[Katie]

I just found your blog and I'm so excited! This chili/cornbread combo looks fantastic! Plus, I'm in Colorado, so I love the high altitude tips!:-)

[Another Weekend Down « H]

[...] I have a freezer ful of bran muffins? I decided chili was a good idea, and was thisclose to making Ashley’s Chili but when I saw the bible’s recipe for spaghetti squash mexicana I figured that was a good [...]

[Heather Eats Almond Butter]

Thanks so much for the link Ashley. Your cornbread sounds like the perfect texture, and I love that it contains whole corn kernels. Looks like perfect company for that chili!

[Ashley]

You're so welcome. If you try it I hope you enjoy it!

[Emily]

Um, this was the best cornbread I have EVER HAD!!!! Thanks for the recipe, unfortunately now I have to resist every time I walk into the kitchen :)

[Ashley]

Emily!! Thanks for letting me know. I love it as well ;) It's awesome for breakfast w/maple syrup!!

[Beth]

Hi Ashley! This looks wonderful and I can't wait to make it...just curious though - when should I add the beans and broth? I didn't see that in the recipe. Thanks!

[Ashley]

You can put them in after the tomatoes. :) Sorry about that!!

[Beth]

Thanks for your quick reply...looks like this will be on the menu for tonight :)

[3 Beans « kristen, sweet]

[...] basically combined two recipes: Ashley’s Veggie Chili and Kath’s [...]

[gluten-free week: days 3-5 &la]

[...] Vegetarian chili and a glass of [...]

[…sidenote « This i]

[...] This chili was absolutely amazing, by the way. I’m so glad I have leftovers in the freezer and I’ll surely be making it several more times in the future! I also plan on making the cornbread again so I can enjoy it fresh out of the oven! [...]

[Jenny]

Made both the chili and the cornbread... The chili is delicious! I did forget the corn (because it's always lurking in the freezer...), but it would have been a marvelous addition. Loved the smokey, spicy flavour! I have to admit that I was incredibly worried about the cornbread (this was my first time making cornbread... ever), but it turned out wonderfully. No idea if it's supposed to taste like it did for me, but I thought it tasted great regardless!
Hope you don't mind me commenting on these older posts of yours. :) I like leaving feedback for recipes I enjoy! Plus I'm finally tackling all of the recipes I've bookmarked and added to my "bucket list" but never made. Yours always seem to turn out so well! Thank you again!

Ashley--> So glad to hear you enjoyed both recipes!! I really appreciate you letting me know and feel free to comment anywhere you like!