If you enjoy a comforting bowl of chili, but prefer it without meat, I’ve roasted and simmered one for you to try. It’s a version of chili verde where beans replace the pork often used in it.
Verde is the Spanish word for green, the hue this chili has once cooked. To make it, I started by roasting some lightly oiled and seasoned chopped poblano peppers, onion, garlic and jalapeño pepper, and corn kernels, until tender and wonderfully aromatic.
Poblano peppers are fresh, elongated, dark green peppers with a deep flavour and hint of spice in them. Many food stores sell them, but if you can’t find them, in the recipe I give you the option to use green bell peppers, instead.
Once those vegetables are roasted, they are set in a pot with some vegetable broth, bean medley, green salsa and balancing mix of tart lime juice and sweet brown sugar. Bean medley is a mix of pulses sold in the canned bean aisle of supermarkets. You also find tomatillo-rich, jars of green salsa there, also called salsa verde, often in the Mexican foods aisle.
The pot with all those ingredients in it is then set over the heat, and this roasted vegetable and bean chili verde is simmered 15 minutes. Some coarsely crushed corn tortilla chips are mixed in, and the chili is simmered a short while longer, until those crushed chips soften and help to thicken the chili.
To finish off the chili, throw in some chopped cilantro, which adds a fresh taste to it and further enhances its green hue. Once it’s ladled into bowls, top the chili with a dollop of sour cream and some crumbled or grated tangy cheese, for a hearty dish you could also serve with steamed white or brown rice.
Roasted Vegetable and Bean Chili Verde
Make a hearty meal of the green-hued chili by serving it with tortilla chips for dunking and, if desired, steamed rice, for spooning it over. Any leftover chili you have could be frozen.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: about 25 minutes
Makes: four servings
2 medium poblano peppers or green bell peppers, diced (see Note 1)
3/4 cup fresh corn kernels (see Note 2)
1 medium onion, diced
1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
3 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 (453 gram/16 oz.) jar green salsa (also called salsa verde; see Note 3)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, plus more if needed (see Eric’s options)
1 (19 oz./540 mL) can bean medley
• juice of 1 large lime (about 2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup low or no salt coarsely crushed corn tortilla chips (see Note 4)
1/3 to 1/2 cup loosely packed, coarsely chopped, fresh cilantro, or to taste
• sour cream and crumbled goat cheese or grated aged white cheddar cheese, to taste (see Eric’s options)
• ripe, diced avocado, to taste (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set the poblano (or green bell) peppers, corn, onion, jalapeño, garlic, oregano, cumin and oil on the baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.
Spread vegetables out so they are sitting in a single layer. Roast the vegetables 15 minutes. Give them a stir, and then roast 10 minutes more, or until lightly charred-looking and tender.
While vegetable roasts, place the green salsa, 1 1/2 cups broth, bean medley, lime juice and sugar in a pot (my pot was eight inches wide, and five inches tall).
When the vegetables have done roasting, mix them into the salsa mixture. Set over medium heat and bring to simmer. Simmer this chili verde 10 minutes, and then mix in the crushed tortilla chips. Simmer another five minutes, or until the crushed tortilla chips soften and thicken the chili. If the chili becomes too thick during this process, add a bit more broth to it.
Ladle the chili into shallow bowls, top each serving with a dollop of sour cream, cheese and some diced avocado, if using, and enjoy.
Note 1: Diced in the recipe means to cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
Note 2: 1 large shucked cob of corn should yield the 3/4 of fresh corn kernels needed here (see Eric’s options). To cut the kernels off a cob, after shucking and thoroughly removing the silk from the corn, grab onto its stem end. Now set the tip of the cob in the centre of a wide, shallow bowl, and use a sharp paring knife, or a corn peeler/striped tool, to cut and slide the kernels off the cob and into the bowl.
Note 3: I used mild tasting, Herdez brand green salsa, which is also known as salsa verde. It’s sold in the Mexican foods aisle of most supermarkets.
Note 4: About six to 10 tortilla chips, depending on size, should yield the 1/3 cup of coarsely crushed ones needed here. To crush them, put them in a thick bag and use a kitchen hammer to hit and break them into small, quarter-inch or so pieces.
Eric’s options: If you eat meat, chicken broth could replace the vegetable broth. Frozen, thawed corn kernels could replace the fresh corn. Dairy-free styles of sour cream and cheese will, of course, also work in this recipe.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
