Fall is here and it's officially sweater weather in Chicago. It's the perfect time to make a big pot of hearty vegan chili to share on game day or any day. Your omnivorous friends will be pleasantly surprised to find that our new Toasted Quinoa, sautéed with onion and cumin really can substitute for ground meat -- both texturally and taste-wise.

Ingredients

1 cup of cooked Toasted Quinoa, cooled
2 cups of kidney beans (either from a can or dried, soaked overnight, and pressure cooked for 30 minutes)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, mashed
1 tspn of cumin seeds (ground or whole)
1 tspn of coriander seeds (ground or whole)
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of chili powder
1 green chili
5 cups of vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into course chunks
salt and pepper to taste
2 tspn of olive oil

Directions

Start as if you were going to brown ground meat. Heat oil in pan, add cumin and coriander. Cook until cumin seeds start to jump. Add onion and garlic. Stir in pre-cooked quinoa and sauté for a 2 minutes, stirring periodically. Then add carrots, beans, bay leaf and broth. Bring to a boil. simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat. Add chili powder, tomato sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. *Note: the best piece of advice I got when making chili was following smitten kitchen's rule. she always adds 1/4 cup of chili powder, which seems to be a crazy amount of seasoning but works terrifically. Serve with tortilla chips.

I Heart Keenwah Toasted White Quinoa (12oz Bag)