The secrets of the best veggie chili
Plus: A super-moist dairy-free cornbread to bake right alongside it
I know chili is a personal subject, but allow me to make a bold statement. Chili is not a 30-minute meal. No matter what you see online, the best recipes are the ones that simmer for hours. Time lets the spices mingle and the tomatoes concentrate, so the chili gets rich and sweet. It’s also why chili tastes better the next day, and the day after that.
A lot of meatless recipes require little work beyond tossing the contents of your kitchen cabinets into a pot and warming them up. That’s fine for a hectic weeknight, but if you want a veggie chili that has the complex, savory qualities of a meat version, you’ve gotta simmer it for at least an hour to give the spices time to do their thing. That doesn’t mean you have to stand over the stove and babysit though: This week we’re putting a meatless chili into the oven right alongside a dairy-free cornbread—both of which will be ready to eat within minutes of each other.
The review: This oven-baked bean chili cooks itself
Everyone has their own chili opinions. Beans or no beans. Dried chiles or fresh—or none? Me, I just want it to taste good. My search for a new meatless mod to try, though, didn’t turn up a ton to make my taste buds tingle: beans, tomatoes, maybe some crumbled tofu or tempeh thrown in there. Then a version from Meera Sodha at The Guardian intrigued me. Her riff centers on hearty butternut squash and (wait for it) chocolate. That’s not even the best part. The dish starts on the stove but cooks slowly in the oven for a mostly hands-free meal made of pantry staples like beans, tinned tomatoes, and the half-eaten bar of chocolate we all have lingering in the cupboard. The result is a deeply flavored pot of nuance with a rich, savory broth.
Check out Meera Sodha’s full oven-baked chili recipe at The Guardian
Sodha’s oven-baked chili starts with butternut squash browned on the stovetop to draw out its sweetness and create that charred caramel-y flavor—a trick you’ll remember from Braising 101. Softened onions, bell peppers, and ginger round out the flavor base along with warm spices like cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, and cinnamon. Canned beans (I used red kidney) and tinned chopped tomatoes then combine with water and the main flavor agent: vegan dark chocolate. (I went with this one from Endangered Species Chocolate, which I always have in my pantry for snacking.) The whole pot comes to a boil and goes into the oven for an hour, and a scattering of cilantro and sliced pickled jalapeños add hits of freshness to the final product.
What Sodha’s chili lacks in “just a pot of beans” conformity, it makes up for in flavor. It’s smoky and sweet with layers of complexity coming in from the chocolate and spices. The combination of chili powder, cocoa, and cinnamon reminds me a bit of a mole negro. In addition to definitive autumn vibes, the chunks of squash add depth, sweetness (because we seared them first!), and creaminess to the chili, so it doesn’t just taste like a pot of beans. The whole process takes about an hour and a half, but the result is completely worth it.
The broth itself is so flavorful—even more so the next day—it demands a carb for swiping up every last bit. Sodha suggests serving this with tortillas or rice, but I’m a cornbread gal. My go-to dairy-free version bakes at the same time and temp as her pot of smoky goodness, and it’s the only thing I want to dunk in my bowl.
The recipe: The only dairy-free cornbread you’ll ever need
Similar to chili, there are many schools of thought when it comes to cornbread. Sweet or savory? All cornmeal or some flour in the mix? Soft and cakey or crumbly? I like mine moist and tender, slightly sweet, and adaptable to whatever mix-ins I fancy that day. This time of year, I always have cans of sweet potato and pumpkin purée for fall baking, and a lot of recipes for pancakes, waffles, muffins, and quick breads leave leftovers. One day I threw that extra purée into my cornbread batter, and I’ve never looked back. If you prefer a classic version you can omit it, but sweet potato purée, in particular, adds lots of moisture and a touch of sweetness.
You can jazz this batter up the way you would with any cornbread. Another variation I love replaces the sweet potato with a can of sweet corn and 3 tablespoons of chipotle in adobo liquid. In the summer, I fold in blueberries and sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar before baking. This sweet potato version, with its salty maple-kissed top, is my favorite of them all and pairs splendidly with Sodha’s choco chili.
Salted Maple Cornbread
Makes 9 squares
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