Champion Tempeh Chili

 

Love chili and want it to serve your health (and your family’s health)? We have you covered with this Champion Tempeh Chili. Tempeh and beans provide a meaty texture, while the spices and aromatics provide delectable flavors — and all of the ingredients provide a remarkable amount of nutritional value, too. This is a dish the entire family will love!

Champion Tempeh Chili

Ingredients

 ¼ cup vegetable broth (unsalted, preferably homemade)

 1 cup onion (chopped)

 1 cup red bell pepper (chopped)

 1 large carrot (chopped)

 8 oz organic tempeh (crumbled)

 4 large garlic cloves, minced

 1 poblano pepper (optional) diced

 1 tbsp chili powder

 1 tbsp ground cumin

 1 tsp onion powder

 1 tsp garlic powder

 1 tsp chipotle chili powder (optional)

 ¼ tsp salt (optional)

 ¼ tsp pepper (optional)

 28 oz organic diced tomatoes, fire-roasted, BPA-free canned (or 3 cups fresh, diced tomatoes)

 3 cups beans, home cooked or BPA-free canned, drained (black, kidney, pinto are great choices)

 2 cups vegetable broth (unsalted, preferably homemade)

 2 cups organic spinach (chopped)

 ¼ cup cilantro (chopped)

 ¼ cup green onion (sliced)

Directions

1

Heat a large soup pot on medium-high heat. Add the ¼ cup vegetable broth, onions, carrots, red peppers, and tempeh. Cook until the onions are translucent and tempeh is a little browned, about 3–4 minutes.

2

Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute.

3

Stir in the spices, salt and pepper, and poblano pepper, if using. Mix well.

4

Add the diced tomatoes, beans and the two cups of vegetable broth. Stir well.

5

Simmer on low for 45 minutes. Tip: Simmer for up to 60 minutes if you feel you want a thicker consistency. Also, you can taste the chili at the 45-minute mark and then decide — cooking it a bit longer will concentrate the flavors more.

6

Before serving, stir in the two cups of spinach until it’s wilted.

7

Ladle your portions between bowls and top with cilantro and green onion, if using.

Chef's Notes

Substitutions
For the onion, yellow, white or red will all work.

Instead of red bell pepper, use orange or yellow, or a combination of the two for more color variety.

For the organic fire-roasted tomatoes, it’s fine to use unroasted canned tomatoes as well. If you use fresh diced tomatoes, just note that you might need to add a bit more vegetable broth, depending on the consistency you’d like for the chili.

Black beans, kidney beans and pinto beans are all delicious in this. You can use a combination of the three, only one type of bean or a combination of two beans.

You could also use white beans like northern or cannellini beans if you’d like.

Instead of cilantro, use parsley.

Use chives in place of green onion.

Prep ahead
This is not a necessary step, but the tempeh tastes even better if you steam or boil it for 10-15 minutes before adding it to Step 1 in the recipe. Steaming or boiling tempeh reduces the slight bitterness and opens its pores so that all of those delicious flavors are able to infuse.

How to enjoy this chili
Enjoy it by itself!

Pour it over a plate of organic rice or quinoa.

Add it to organic, whole-grain tortilla shells or wraps.

Stuff it in a baked butternut squash boat (butternut squash halved, seeds scooped out, and cooked).

Use it in homemade vegan mac ‘n cheese.

Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to three months.

https://foodrevolution.org/recipes/champion-tempeh-and-bean-chili/