Pub-Style Vegetarian Chili

Pub-Style Vegetarian Chile (from AllRecipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         1/3 cup olive oil
·         2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
·         1 cup finely chopped onion
·         1 cup chopped carrot
·         ¾ cup chopped green bell pepper
·         ¼ cup chopped celery
·         1 Tbsp. minced garlic
·         1 Tbsp. chili powder, or more to taste
·         1 Tbsp. ground cumin
·         1 1/8 tsp. salt
·         ¾ tsp. ground black pepper
·         ¾ tsp. dried basil
·         ¾ tsp. dried oregano
·         1 (28 oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
·         3 cups black beans, undrained
·         ½ (6 oz.) can tomato paste
·         ¼ cup red wine
·         ¾ tsp. hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®)
·         2 cups water

Directions

1.)    Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir mushrooms, onion, carrot, green bell pepper, celery, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, basil, and oregano until the onion begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.
2.)    Stir in tomatoes with their liquid, black beans and their liquid, tomato paste, red wine, hot pepper sauce, and water.
3.)    Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

My husband did not like this dish at all – he said it looked more like soup than chili.  I agree, the consistency is not chili-like at all. If you make this, I recommend adding less water, maybe even removing that ingredient entirely.  I served it over spaghetti squash and it completely saturated the strands (with some leftover!).

As for the taste, it was OK.  One of the reviews on the website said spicy – not so much.  You would need to add a lot more hot sauce than ¾ tsp.  It wasn’t bad, I just feel like the different spices didn’t really lend it to taste like chili.  The fresh vegetables did stay crisp, which made for a difference in consistency.  Overall, though, I will not make again – I have better chili recipes in my stockpile.