Bridal Shower Bites - The Radel's Veggie Chili

And we're back with the another Bridal Shower Bites! This time, we're trying out one of the recipes from Aunt Carol and Reen: a veggie chili recipe passed along from Mark, Jr. I was originally worried that since spring's a-coming, it would be a little too warm for a chili recipe, but luckily Boston has refused to follow Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of an early spring and we're still having cool enough weather to try a new chili recipe. Phew!

And we are enjoying them!

I have a veggie chili recipe that my mom and I came up with a few years ago, but it differs from the Radel's version in a few ways. Mine calls for kidney beans and chickpeas, and uses whatever vegetables are on hand - it's not really a traditional chili at all, more of a spicy tomato based bean stew. But it's pretty fantastic. Anyway, Aunt Carol's differs in a few ways - it uses only black beans, and calls for zucchini and yellow squash, which I would never have thought to put in a chili despite the fact that we pretty much always have zucchini on hand. And the seasoning is different, too. And easy - it's a packet of taco seasoning and a packet of ranch dressing mix.

Here it is!

Anyway, it's pretty easy to make. Chop up the veggies, and then toss them in the slow cooker or a large pot with the beans, diced tomatoes, and two cans of corn. Dump in the seasoning packets, and cook on low for a few hours (if using the slow cooker). I cooked it on the stove, bringing the mixture up to a boil, and then let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

The zucchini were really small, so I used two of them.  Yum!

The only change I made to the original recipe was with the corn. As loyal readers of this blog know, Matt and I had a weekly farm share last summer (and are planning on getting one this summer, too!). The farm share was pretty awesome, although towards the end we were getting about eight ears of corn a week, which is waaaay too much corn for two people to eat on a regular basis. We gave a lot of it away, and I also ended up drying a bunch of it in the oven. (On a side note, drying corn is really easy - you cut it off the cob, and put it in a low heat oven for a few hours until all the moisture is out.) We ended up with quite a bit of dried corn, and I've been putting it in soup and other dishes all winter. It's also delicious to just eat by the handful, if you're so inclined. Anyway, since we still have some dried corn, and I'm anticipating getting more corn this summer, I decided to use a few handfuls of dried corn instead of the two cans of corn. To offset the addition of dried corn, I added a couple of cups of water so make sure there was enough liquid in the finished chili. By the time the chili had simmered for about half an hour, the corn had rehydrated well, and the flavors had all melded together.

Throwin' it all in a pot!

And lettin' it simmer...

Aunt Carol wrote on the recipe "It's delicious!" so this recipe had a lot to live up to. And I'm happy to report that she's right - it is delicious! We used mild taco seasoning, but I think it would be good with medium or hot if you want it a little more spicy. The ranch adds a bit of thickener to the chili, and works surprisingly well in the recipe. We served it with corn chips, but it would be equally delicious with some cornbread, I'd think.

All gone!  YUM!

 

 

  
The Radel's Vegetarian Chili
2 15oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 15oz. cans black beans, drained
2 15 oz. cans corn
1 each zucchini and yellow squash, cubed
1 package original Hidden Valley Ranch
1 package taco seasoning

Easy to mix together in the crock pot or on the stove top (bring to simmer).