Classic Vegan Chili

Classic Vegan Chili is one of my all-time favorite winter warmers! Incredibly easy, delicious, and healthy. Packed with flavor for all vegans and non-vegans alike! It’s getting coooold, so my body needs some warmth. I LOVE soups in the fall and winter seasons. Sometimes, I need something super hearty though. For me, that is almost always in the form of some kind of chili. I wanted to keep it simple so I made my Classic Vegan Chili and actually had the foresight to style and shoot this meal. So glad because it looked so very pretty. Yes, food can totally be pretty, sexy, sultry, beautiful, and badass. 😉 

When I made this, I was sick with a crazy head cold. Doped up on DayQuil, kava kava tea, and a muscle relaxer. I remember thinking that everything was oh sooooo pretty. LOL. I was convinced it was my most beautiful photo shoot ever. Yeah, well, it’s nice and all, but the best? Fuck no! Gotta love drugs. 😉 Today, I am literally sick with the SAME shit… so, I thought it would be fitting to post this recipe today. Honestly, this school year has been brutal! I’m sure staying up to all hours of the night working on my “branding” – a full time job – after coming home from teaching 10 classes mostly back-to-back, and then mothering, cooking, and cleaning, is starting to take its toll on me. I need more sleep and more exercise. My friend just gave me a 14-day free trial of Beach Body. I’m crazy excited about it! Mostly, because of the insanely large variety of workouts it offers. I love me some Jillian Michael’s but I’ve done that shit SO many times that both my body and my mind need a change. My goal is to be back to my normal weight, where I’d been for years prior to the past 17 months, by this summer. Seventeen months ago is when I began taking a medication that completely changed my appetite, and in turn, my body. It did wonders for me otherwise, but I blinked and gained 60 lbs. TOTALLY INSANE! I switched my meds almost 2 months ago and dropped 14 lbs in 6 weeks. This was a HUGE relief for two reasons: 1- Losing it felt like I could actually get my body back, and 2- I was thrilled to know that it was, in fact, the medicine, and not me! Weight is crazy! It totally changes you, and I don’t mean physically, that’s a given. It fucks with your mentality. My confidence is still okay, thankfully, however, I haven’t felt sexy in about a year. I’ve lost the motivation to do things like paint my nails, wear nice clothing – because as I say, “I refuse to invest in my fatness” – and, if you know me, you’ll know how into fashion I’ve been my entire life – like, since the womb! 😉 It’s been rough. Anyway, there’s now a light at the end of the tunnel.

Back to Classic Vegan Chili. 😉 It’s crazy delish and perfect with a margarita – naturally. Send me pics of your creations! -FGG

PS- Since “oh so pretty” seems to be a theme in this post about both body AND food, as I was writing this, one of my old and all time favorite songs popped into my head. “It’s Oh So Quiet,” by Bjork. So awesome! Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjIFGaN_iVk

Classic Vegan Chili (Serves approximately 8)

Ingredients:

1 Tbl cooking oil

4 cloves of garlic – diced

1  onion – diced 

1 jalapeno deseeded – minced

1 1/2 C (12 oz) ground veggie beef crumbles (I like Lightlife’s Smart Ground Meatless Crumbles – I used Original, however, you could use the Mexican flavored one)

2 cans (15 oz) of kidney beans – DO NOT DRAIN

2 C non-chunky tomato sauce (use something you like!)

2 Tbl chili powder

2 tsp cumin

Salt to taste

Optional (for garnish) – avocado, chives, fresh cilantro/oregano

Directions:

Heat the oil in pot over medium-high heat

Add the onion and jalapeño – stir occasionally. About 3-5 minutes,

Add garlic and stir occasionally for one minute more

Add the ground veggie meat, chili powder, cumin and salt – stir until fully mixed

Add the tomato sauce and beans

Turn up the heat until the pot is almost boiling and then reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer

Stir occasionally, about 1 hour

Done!

Pairings:

Wine – Tempranillo 

Beer – Pale Ale

Cocktail – Margarita on the rocks