Monday Night Dinner: Vegetarian Chili

Recently some friends and I have decided to do meal exchanges, where we all make a dish that freezes well, save a couple servings for each participant, and do a trade.  One of my friends participating is a vegetarian, so it's a meatless meal exchange, which is fine by me.  I've been wanting to amp up my vegetarian go-to recipes for a while now, and this is a great opportunity.  

I'm sharing my first experiment, a total success, as part of an installment of Monday Night Dinner.  In all honesty, this isn't a dinner you can whip up in a half hour, so it should really be called Sunday Night Dinner this week, but it will reheat well, so theoretically if you've made this on the weekend, it would be a great quick MND after all.  Just warning you - I love salty food, so if you want to cut the salt, use low sodium vegetable broth instead of salty vegetable base.  Do NOT cut out the bacon salt - it is important to the flavor.  I also used low sodium versions of the canned goods.

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp butter

2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1 Tbsp chili powder, more to taste if you like

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp bacon salt (it's vegan)

1 med yam, peeled and chopped into 1/2" cubes

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup barley, rinsed

3 cups water

1 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon vegetable base

1 cup dry red wine

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 can diced tomatoes in juice

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp agave nectar

2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp freshly ground pepper, more or less to taste

Directions:

Put vegetable base in 3 cups water in a small pot on the stove on med heat and let it warm and dissolve while you do other things.

Meanwhile, melt 3 tbsp butter in iron skillet and cook onions and mushrooms until caramelized.

Add cumin, chili powder, and bacon salt and cook for 1 min.

Add flour and cook for another couple minutes, stirring constantly.

Add 1 cup of your vegetable broth, red wine, and cocoa powder to the skillet.

Bring mixture to a gentle boil and then transfer to a crock pot.

Add barley to the remaining 2 cups of vegetable broth and cook on med heat for about 30 min.

Meanwhile, in your iron skillet (don't worry about washing it out between) melt remaining 2 Tbsp butter and cook yam and garlic until slightly soft, but not yet cooked through.

Add your can of diced tomatoes to the skillet, bring to a boil, and then transfer to crock pot.

Once barley has cooked for 30 min, add  that and any broth still in the pot, along with beans, cayenne and ground black pepper, agave nectar, and cider vinegar directly into crock pot and cook on low for several hours, stirring occasionally.

You can use a big pot on the stove instead of a crock pot, but I like to go for a long run while it cooks and you can leave a crock pot unattended, whereas you can't leave the house with an active stovetop burner.

One cup of this hearty chili is really all you need.  Topped with a little sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese and served with a green salad, this is a perfect cozy and healthy meal.