Remember the vegan bolognese sauce I made? Well we got tired of the leftovers as soon as we finished the spaghetti squash (because you can't have spaghetti without the noodles, right?)
So I had this mock meat sauce when it occured to me that I could turn it into vegan chili since chili is basically meat (in this case mushrooms as a meaty substitute) plus spices.
So with the help of my friend, 2 Alarm Chili Kit, I set out to make a way less guilty version of Frito Pie.
The instructions are for 2 lbs. of meat so I found myself tweaking the recipe quite a bit, namely omitting the set amount of water and eyeballing the moisture level and I didn't have to brown anything I simply warmed up my meaty sauce, added the spices and let it simmer to blend the flavors. I reduced the salt since it ended up needing only about a quarter of the packet.
That's my hint though: you don't have to add allll of the spice packet, add and taste and just use what tastes good to you.
I also added some blended black beans for a little extra nutrition and because this is Texas and there are no whole beans in Texas chili! (I learned that tip from a regional expert so it's not something I just made up.) The blended beans helped thicken it up.
Side note: I always feel a bit guilty buying the chili kit because chili spices are pretty much Italian seasoning, garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, salt and paprika, plus corn meal for thickening!
The 2 Alarm Chili Kit is gluten-free and according to Frito-Lay so are Fritos Corn Chips.
Of course I should note that while my spaghetti was completely vegan, alas my Frito Pie was not. I did add some shredded cheddar to the top because I had to get my cheesy melty on but the chili itself however, remains completely vegan/vegetarian.
We all got seconds of this of course and even my meat eating mom and my Mister agreed that since it wasn't as rich as regular chili, it didn't leave you feeling bloated or yucky afterwards. That's always good, isn't it?
0 comments:
Post a Comment