Best Vegetarian Chili

Name: Best Vegetarian Chili
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients: , Salt; 1 pound (2 1/2 cups) dried, beans, picked over and rinsed; 2 , dried ancho chiles; 2 , dried New Mexican chiles; 1/2 ounce dried, shiitake mushrooms, chopped coarse; 4 teaspoons, dried oregano; 1/2 cup, walnuts, toasted; 1 (28-ounce) can, diced tomatoes, drained with juice reserved; 3 tablespoons, tomato paste; 1 - 2 , jalapeño chiles, stemmed and coarsely chopped; 6 , garlic cloves, minced; 3 tablespoons, soy sauce; 1/4 cup, vegetable oil; 2 pounds, onions, chopped fine; 1 tablespoon, ground cumin; 7 cups, water; 2/3 cup medium-grind, bulgur; 1/4 cup, chopped fresh cilantro

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated November/December 2012, America's Test Kitchen TV

The key to a great vegetarian chili is not finding a substitute for the meat. It’s finding substitutes for what the meat brings to the chili.

SERVES6 to 8

TIME4½ hours, plus 1 hour soaking and 20 minutes resting

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Vegetarian chilis are often little more than a mishmash of beans and vegetables. In order to create a chili—not a bean and vegetable stew—we’ve found replacements for the different ways in which meat adds depth and flavor to chili. Walnuts,...

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