Slow Cooker Market Vegetarian Chili

OK, so it's early September, it's 80 degrees out, and probably the last thing on your mind is curling up with a hot bowl of chili. However, both cross-country (important to me) and American football (important to other people) started their seasons this past weekend, so I take that as justification for thinking about autumn. What's more, there's all sorts of delicious produce in season right now (tomatoes and peppers galore) that's just asking to be mixed up into a delicious chili. I took a mixture of heirloom and juicy red tomatoes, a rainbow of peppers (bell peppers, poblanos, and hot peppers), fresh corn, and a hearty mixture of beans for a filling, flavorful, and delicious vegan chili. The best part is that once you've peeled and chopped your veggies, you can throw everything in the slow cooker and forget about it until you're ready to devour.

I don't have a cornbread recipe to go with this post, but chili and cornbread are two things that should definitely go together, so I highly recommend whipping up your favorite version of cornbread (I really like this cornmeal, by the way, which is GMO-free, economically priced, and locally produced in Indiana - and you can get it naturally blue!).

Also, if you want to take advantage of the abundance of produce in your garden or local farmer's market but can't bring yourself to eat a bowl of chili in the late summer heat, this chili freezes well in airtight containers, so it'll be waiting for you on that first nippy day in late fall.

Ingredients

1 cup dry black beans (or 14 oz can)

1 cup dry pinto beans (or 14 oz can)

1 cup dry great northern beans (or 14 oz can)

3-4 lbs tomatoes, peeled, seeded & chopped (I used the tomatoes shown & supplemented with a 28 oz can of organic diced tomatoes)

2 green/purple bell peppers, diced

4 poblano peppers, diced

2 small jalepeno peppers, diced (or more if you like your chili hot!)

3-4 ears of corn (~2 cups kernels)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2-1 tsp dried chipotle pepper

salt, to taste

Directions

1. If using dry beans: rinse beans, then mix together, cover with water, and allow to soak in a 6 quart slow cooker at room temperature overnight (no heat!). First thing in the morning, turn on the slow cooker to high, and allow beans to cook for ~1 hour. Pour off water before adding other ingredients.

2. If using canned beans, add them now. Stir in chopped tomatoes, peppers, corn, and garlic. Add in a little tomato sauce if there doesn't seem to be enough liquid (I added ~1/2 cup). Cook chili on high (~3 hours) or low (~6 hours), or until beans are tender.

3. At end of cooking, add in cumin and chipotle pepper, and salt, if using (since I used canned tomatoes and like to keep the sodium low, I didn't add any additional salt). Allow to cook on low for another 10-20 min, and adjust seasonings to taste.