December 15, 2009: Slow-Cooked Summertime Chili

At 3:30am on my birthday, when I couldn't sleep, Michael gave me a irksome cooker. Until now, my noesis of irksome cookers has extended to stews in addition to dried beans - the materials of winter. (But, every bit Michael observed, "your birthday's non probable to autumn inwards wintertime anytime soon".) Michael also supplied me amongst Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker past times Robin Robertson, writer of Vegan Planet in addition to 1000 Vegan Recipes. This mass rapidly gear upwards me right away - every bit good every bit the chapters on stews in addition to beans that I expected, at that spot are also sections devoted to appetisers, breakfasts, desserts in addition to beverages! Sitting on my bed at that early on hour, I got a piffling over-excited every bit I scanned a dessert department amongst multiple vegan-friendly cheesecake recipes in addition to a imbibe department featuring warming wintertime punches. If this irksome cooker were a piffling to a greater extent than cycle-friendly, I could encounter myself taking it to every vegan potluck for the side past times side year.

In the afterwards morning time light, I scaled dorsum my ambitions in addition to focussed on making something nosotros could relish during a calendar week total of social activities. I returned to the to a greater extent than conventional sections on stews in addition to vegetables, finding several chili recipes in addition to settling on 1 that emphasised summertime vegetables. Chopping in addition to sauteing all the veges took around time, in addition to thence the irksome cooker wasn't a labour-saver inwards this instance. (In item I flora the eggplant peeling in addition to corn-cob shucking a existent drag.) However it did attain a chili unlike from whatsoever I've eaten before. While the vegetables were gorgeously tender after 8 hours of cooking, I was amazed that they hadn't disintegrated - the eggplant cubes in addition to corn kernels nonetheless retained their ain structures in addition to textures.

Chili similar this is wonderfully versatile: nosotros ate it on rice, slathered it over corn chips to brand nachos, in addition to stuffed it into toasted sandwiches.

Slow-cooked summertime chili
(based on Farm Stand Chili amongst Chickpeas from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 pocket-sized eggplants, peeled in addition to chopped
1 greenish capsicum, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 generous teaspoon chilli powder
1 1/2 cups water
400g tin crushed tomatoes
400g tin chickpeas, drained in addition to rinsed
1 loving cup corn kernels
salt in addition to pepper

Heat the stone oil inwards a large frypan in addition to gently saute the onion, celery, eggplant, capsicum in addition to garlic for five minutes. Stir through the chilli pulverization in addition to induce got it all off the heat.

Tranfer the sauteed veges to a irksome cooker in addition to add together the remaining ingredients, seasoning to taste. Cover in addition to create on depression for 6-8 hours.