Moosewood Vegetarian Chili
I've made this one for decades, and it is the one I keep going back to. More than one meat-lover has mistaken the bulgur for ground beef.
Yield
6 servingsPrep
30 minCook
45 minReady
75 minIngredients
| Amount | Measure | Ingredient | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 ½ | cups |
red kidney beans
raw |
|
| 6 | cups | water |
|
| 1 | teaspoon | salt |
|
| 1 | cup | tomato juice |
|
| 1 | cup | cracked wheat (bulgur) |
|
| 2 | teaspoons |
olive oil
for saute |
|
| 4 |
garlic cloves
crushed |
*
|
|
| 1 ½ | cups |
onions
chopped |
|
| 1 | cup |
carrots
chopped |
|
| 1 | cup |
celery
chopped |
|
| 1 | teaspoon | basil |
*
|
| 1 | tablespoon |
chili powder
or more to taste |
|
| 1 | tablespoon |
cumin
ground |
|
| salt and black pepper |
*
|
||
| 1 | dash |
cayenne pepper
to taste |
*
|
| 1 | cup |
green bell peppers
chopped |
|
| 2 | cups |
tomatoes
fresh, chopped |
|
| ½ |
lemon
juice of |
*
|
|
| 3 | teaspoons | tomato paste |
|
| 3 | teaspoons |
red wine
dry |
*
|
| ⅓ | cup | cheese |
*
|
| ¼ | cup |
parsley leaves
fresh chopped |
|
Directions
Put kidney beans in a saucepan and cover them with 6 cups of water. Soak 3 to 4 hours. Add extra water and salt. Cook until tender (about 1 hour). Watch the water level, and add more if necessary.
Heat tomato juice to a boil. Pour over raw bulgar. Cover and let stand at least 15 minutes. (It will be crunchy, so it can absorb more later).
Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil. Add carrots, celery and spices.
When vegetables are almost done, add peppers. Cook until tender.
Combine beans, bulgar, sautéd vegetables, tomatoes, lemon juice, tomato paste, and wine and heat together gently, either in kettle over double boiler, or covered in a moderate oven.
Serve topped with cheese and parsley.
Comments
I think you left out the peppers in the ingredient list.?
Thanks for your comment, just edited the recipe, it should be 1 cup of chopped green bell pepper. Enjoy!
so nice recipe ...Vegetables are low in fat and calories, a good source of dietary fiber and provide us with extra energy. All these features help control weight effectively.
I like this recipe...Vegetables are low in fat and calories, a good source of dietary fiber and provide us with extra energy. All these features help control weight effectively.
My mother in law prepared this chilli for us about 25 years ago and since then it was always part of our family menu. Now my son asked me to show to him how to prepare it. Thank you Molly for sharing with us this nice family friendly recipe. Zofia, Gex (France)
This is probably not Molly's recipe as she used all of the Moosewood Restaurant's owners' recipes without ever giving them credit or paying these other women a dime. It is a great recipe book, but unfortunately Molly needs to pay her fellow recipe makers their fair share of her very profitable recipe book!!!!! You can do it Molly!!!
Who's Molly?
Molly Katzen. I had no idea there was an issue about authorship and sharing of revenues. Too bad. Amazing cookbook, if a little heavy on the dairy.
This is our favorite chili recipe and we're not vegetarians! My husband or I make a batch at least once a month from Fall through winter. Our recipe book is at another location so it was great to find it here.
I've been making this recipe for 30 years. Everyone loves it - even the people in my family that don't like vegetarian meals. I used to get this at a vegetarian restaurant attached to a health food store for lunch. I bought the cookbook and since then have bought all of your cookbooks and even drove to Ithaca once for lunch (4 hour drive) to see the restaurant. Thanks.
My chili mix right now is dry as a bone. Was I not supposed to drain the water off the beans? I'm afraid to put it in the oven!
help
Maybe add more water to your desired consistency, then adjust the seasoning?!
Yes, you were suppose to keep the bean water.
what may be used in place of the red wine? I hate to buy a bottle of wine for 3 teaspoons.
It is only 3 teaspoons red wine, so I wouldn't worry about adding it in, if you don't have it on hand. Hope this helps, and happy cooking :)
It's Mollie not Molly. And if she owns the restaurant, then they she owns the recipes as well !
As someone who worked as a cook for years and created many recipes for the restaurants that I've worked for I can say that this comment is very insensitive to the people that pour their heart and soul into cooking food for others. What is wrong with giving credit to someone else when it's due? It's a better look than fluffing yourself up with the achievements of others.
I love this recipe and have been using it for years now. I use a variety of canned beans, drained, including pozole, and add Mexican oregano as one of the spices. Very versatile and delicious!
Anyone care to add Instant Pot directions?
I've been using this recipe since 1980, though sometimes I do cut up some organicly raised steak and add to it. I most always use a Dutch oven but have also used a crock pot. I do add a lot more chili powder than the recipe calls for. Always make a big batch and can it all except a couple meals worth. Really needs cornbread with it, I use the Joy of Cooking crackling cornbread (leave out the crackling) and make that in a skillet. Blue cornmeal. I also start with dried beans soaked overnight, per the original recipe.
This is a fantastic recipe, I add corn and skip the wine and cheese to make it vegan. I also make it with this cornbread recipe, so Good! https://www.noracooks.com/the-best-vegan-cornbread/
Quite a few changes here from the original recipe, no lemon or wine in that one and it had canned tomatoes and twice the garlic!