Colorful Vegetarian Chili

It was very damp and dreary in Atlanta yesterday, which, to me, is the perfect weather for a big pot of chili. Some may argue that chili isn't exactly a soup, but its served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon, so I think its soup (though with that logic, ice cream is also soup, maybe this is faulty logic).

I have many chili recipes, most involve some sort of ground meat. I wasn't feeling like eating meat yesterday and all the fridge cases at my local Kroger seemed warm yesterday and I didn't trust the safety of anything in them, so I decided on a nice, colorful vegetarian chili.

First, chop up all your veggies. I minced four garlic cloves and one fresh jalapeno pepper. I then diced, in pretty big chunks, one yellow onion, five tomatillos, one yellow bell pepper, one red bell pepper and one green bell pepper. A note about the tomatillos, I live in a highly Hispanic part of metro Atlanta so my local grocery store carries them. They don't add too much flavor to the chili and can easily be omitted if you can't find them.

Then, cook the garlic, jalapeno and onion in your soup pot with a bit of oil until the onions are translucent. Try your best not to breathe over the soup pot, unless you want to be attacked by jalapeno fumes and have a sneezing fit. Once those are cooked, add your peppers and cook for about 5 minutes or so.

Next, add your canned goods. I like to add color so I used one can of sweet corn, one can of black beans and one can of dark red kidney beans. Make sure you drain and rinse all of these to cut down on the saltiness of them. Now, add the canned tomatoes. I used one can chili-ready diced tomatoes, one can of Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, and one can of tomato paste. The whole thing is probably looking a little thick, so add some liquid, I used one Yuengling black and tan beer because it was the best beer I had in the fridge (miller light has no place in chili). I think this would be yummy with an even darker brew, of if you're fresh out of beer, just add some water.

Now, spice it up a bit more with whatever spice you like. I used a generous portion, probably a tablespoon or more each, or ground cumin and chili pepper. I'm not a fan of black pepper and very rarely salt anything, but now would be a good time to add both pepper and salt if you like.

Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir it every once in a while. I simmered for 30-45 minutes to be sure the beer taste cooked out, all the flavors mingled together and because I was making cookies at the same time and didn't have time to stop and eat.

Serve in your favorite soup bowl topped with various yummy additions such as shredded cheddar cheese, crushed tortilla chips, or even crushed Goldfish crackers (just a few of my favorites). Or leave it naked, its delicious either way. Be sure to admire its lovely mix of colors since it really is a pretty soup.