Souper Sunday

A garnished bowl of chili.

Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili.

~ Harry James

This week’s soup is not a soup at all, but a chili.  I figure since restaurants get away with slipping chili into the soup categories on their menus, I can get away with slipping a chili into my Souper Sundays.  The original purpose of my soup challenge was to make something different, but some days I crave an old (or in this case, fairly recent) standby and this chili is my go-to for warmth and comfort.  I actually made this earlier in the week when it was quite cold outside.

This is a vegan chili although you could, if you wanted, add cheese and sour cream (or crema) for garnishes.  M and I like ours garnished with avocado, green onions, and cilantro that I’ve mixed with some lime juice.  It adds a nice, fresh, pop of color and flavor to the dish.

This chili was ready for a close-up.

There are a variety of recipes for this chili.  My favorite is this one, but I do change one thing.  I use chipotle peppers in adobo sauce instead of ground chipotle powder.  I’ve heard that some adobo sauces use a meat stock (chicken, usually), but the one I buy does not and is therefore vegetarian/vegan.  When I cut up the chipotle peppers, I remove most of the seeds.  I leave some for the heat/spice.  It’s a difficult balancing act because some chipotle peppers are hotter than others, in my experience.  The more seeds you put in the chili, the hotter the chili will be.  I also add some of the adobo sauce because it adds even more smokey flavor to the chili.  If you can find them, fire roasted tomatoes also add more smokey flavor.

Thanks for stopping by for another Souper Sunday.  If you decide to cook up some of this chili, please let me know what you think of it and/or any variations you try.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  151)  Weekend beach time.  152)  Foggy mornings.  153)  The sound of the Laughing Gulls in the farm field next door.  154)  Sleeping in on a Sunday.  155)  Listening to New Orleans jazz music while typing up my Souper Sunday post.