Vegetarian Chili

The secret ingredient for this meatless chili is in fact "meat"...imitation meat that is.  This spin on Chili is an unexpected treat that you could feed to any meat eater and I can guarantee that they would not be able to tell the difference. I fed this to my roommate who eats meat on a regular basis, was fooled by this imitation meat. In this recipe I used Meatless Crumbles made by Simple Truth, the main ingredient being soy. You can find these meatless crumbles at any main food supplier HyVee, Dillon's, Natural Grocers, or Walmart.

Ingredients:  

• 1 package of Meatless Crumbles 
• 3-5 fresh/frozen tomatoes (we happened to have home grown tomatoes that we froze) 
• 1 onion 
• 3 cloves of fresh garlic 
• 2 cans of tomato sauce
• 1 can of pinto beans
• 1 can of kidney beans 
• 1 can of Rotel 
• 1 tablespoon of dried basil leaves 
• 2 tablespoons of ground cayenne red pepper (I like my Chili spicy, if you don't put 1 tablespoon) 
• 2 tablespoons of chili power 
• 2 teaspoons of cumin 

You'll want to start out with a large pot. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the pot. Add chopped onion and let it cook for 2-3 mins on medium heat then add the meatless crumbles and let that cook for a good 5 mins or so. 

 Once the onion and the meatless crumbles are cooked your going to add the 2 cans of tomato sauce, 3-5 fresh or frozen tomatoes, (you could also use can whole tomatoes if that is what you have on hand) and 1 can of rotel. Let that simmer for a few minutes.

 Once you let that simmer for a few minutes its time to add the assortment of beans and all the spices listed above. You are more than welcome to add more or less of the spices depending on taste. I also decided to add a dark beer I happened to have in the fridge that added a deep richness to the chili, so that's also an option for you.

Let the chili simmer on the stove for 30-40 mins. The longer you let it cook that better it will taste because it gives the flavors time to come together and marinate. Resulting in some delicious "meatless" chili. You could serve the chili over a baked potato or fries topped with some sour cream and cheddar cheese. I prefer my soup the classic way, in a bowl served with some crackers. Enjoy!!