Gone Green Chile

Hope everyone had a good day. I certainly have,Wednesday my friends Amara, Karen and myself head down and serve lunch at the local soup kitchen. It is something I like to do and it also makes the "chef" in me kind of smile, I think maybe just being in the big kitchen is what does it.

Anyway, tonight's dinner was Chili for "Veg-Heads", as i vegetarian, i was happy to see this recipe turn up. Cooking is something you can put a lot of love into, and I think a great vegetarian dish is something that can really show that aspect of cooking off. Lot's of my friends think you have to have meat in a dish to make it complete, so anytime I can whip up a veg-head dish that people find tasty and filling, I feel like I have accomplished something.

Here are the ingredients....

2 tablespoons evoo(as you can guess, I got this)

1 medium onion, chopped(got one already)

1 medium bell pepper, red or green seeded an chopped(had to buy this and I bought one of each to use half of each one. I like to make my food colorful looking when possible and thought the red and green combination would like nice and add flavor)

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped(not a fan of the jalapeno, but I bought one and I mean one pepper from the store, checker kind of gave me a look when she saw I had bagged up one little pepper)

4 gloves garlic, minced(I got these already,but man rachael loves using garlic. I do not think I have had one recipe yet without garlic)

1 cup vegetable broth(had to buy a can, I mean no one keeps veggie broth around)

1 can, 14 ounces black beans drained(actualy had this. i was shocked to find it in the pantry)

1 can, 32 ounces, crushed tomatoes(ok, had to buy this, but I like fresh, so i bought tomatoes and crushed them myself)

1 can, 14 ounces, red kidney beans, drained(had to buy it)

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin(got plenty of this already)

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder(ditto on this, got this stuff everywhere it seems)

6 dashes cayenne sauce like Tabasco(got this already)

a few good pinches course salt(got it)

1 cup refried beans(had to buy a can)

shredded chedder cheese, for garnish(this is optional but I bought some to shred)

Chopped scallions(had one left over from the other night)

Tortilla chips for dipping(I bought these, and got some black bean, blue corn and white corn ships. Again, I think the color combination looks good and add that extra something to the meal to make it seem all the more special)

Heat oil in a deep pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add onion and peppers and saute, stirring frequently, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minutes more. Add broth and scrape up any good stuff from the bottom of the pan. Cook to reduce the liquid by half, 2 or 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and beans and season with cumin, shili powder, tabasco sauce, and salt. Then stir in the refried beans. You might think the refried beans an odd addition, but it is mostly a thickening angent in this dish.

Serve in bowls topped with the shredded cheese and scallions with plenty of tortilla chips for dipping.

The verdict..........this was pretty good, I am a big fan of hearty dishes like chili's that you can eat by the dipping of a chip. I think this could also be served as a snack type item for dipping at a party instead of a dinner.

Over all, i can see myself make this again during the late fall, maybe as something to eat while watching football.

Untl tomorrow...........