Tag Archives: chili Cook-Off

Lonestar Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off Sign-up Happening Now!

I love Chili, Texas style, Yankee style, Verde, Tons of Beans, No Beans, Tempeh, Barley, whatever it is as long as it’s vegan (and not burned) I’ll probably like it. That’s why the Lonestar Vegetarian Chili cook-off is always one of the best events of the year. Last year I got to judge and my friend Cassandra with the Red Hot Vegans took the trophy for best traditional and then members of the Austin Food Blogger’s Alliance got the best all around! It was pretty rad to see other bloggers win, I promise I didn’t cheat! Another year Molly of the Lonestar Plate won and her amazing recipe (which is pictured above in frito pie form) is in our Sunny Days in Texas Zine and she has it rounded up with some other great chili recipes online.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to win the cash prizes the time to sign up is now! Even though people come in from all over the state to play AND it’s the longest running vegetarian chili cook-off in the world Austin almost always wins and it sure would be sad if we lost to someone from Round Rock or Dallas so get your teams together and sign up. The event is going to be tons of fun, with all sorts of live music and different vendors.

Advertisement

Austin’s 24th Annual Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off this Sunday Nov. 11

It doesn’t matter if you would rather eat a great quantity of chili or make a great quantity of chili, the cook-off this Sunday there will be something for everybody rain or shine! I’ve gone in years past and was completely blown away by the different styles of chili. Some teams had a million toppings, some used none. Some were spicy, some were bland, some were burned, at least one was Indian inspired, and I was surprised how much I liked the raw one! Some were packed with vegetables and some were traditional beanless Texas-style bowls of red. In the end I was so full I thought I would never eat again.

They are still looking for volunteers to work the festival and teams to compete for the hundreds of dollars in cash prizes. The people’s choice award will get $200 and a panel of judges, (including me!) will choose 4 winners in 2 categories, “Traditional” and “All Veg”. Second place in each division gets $150, and first prize in each division gets $250! The deadline is today November 7th to enter so get to it!

I think what makes the cook-off so special is that it is the longest running vegetarian chili cook-off in the world and it started right here in Austin! Everything will be vegan and a portion of the door will go to Texas Humane Legislation Network, a grassroots, nonprofit organization that fights for the enactment and enforcement of laws to protect animals from neglect and abuse, acting as the voice for animals in the Texas Legislature. The Cook-Off is returning to the site of the first cook-off in 1989, at the Burnet Road Farmers Market in Austin.

Advance tickets are on sale now and I promise you won’t go home hungry. There will be a lot of vendors selling cupcakes, hemp supplements, funnel cakes, and all sorts of other things you vegans crave. So be there. No matter what. LA is having a cook-off too the same weekend and we need to show them how it’s done.

Lonestar Chili Cook-Off and GIVEAWAY

This weekend is the Lone Star Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off. If I can find a way to get from South Austin all the way to Round Rock I am totally going. Last year my friend Molly from Scratch and Sniff won second place and I can’t wait to see how she does this year.

At my house we eat chili more than just about anything else. And that’s right Texans, we eat it with beans.We used to have chili mac or frito pie but as time passed we learned we could mix them together into one fantastic carb lovers dish and now we typically have chili mac frito pie. Especially good when it is topped with avocado, cilantro and onions.

I love the chili at Dog Almighty, I know they won the cook-off one year but I can’t imagine having their chili without the side of their glorious tots that I love so much.

I also love the frito pie at wheatsville, tempeh chili covered in nooch.

and the Vegan Yacht really takes the whole frito pie concept to the next level by putting it in a grilled burrito with avocado. My god it is good.

I read in the Tex-Mex cookbook that chili was invented in the San Antonio missions and that the very unusual ingredient for the time was cumin. He also said that Mexicans were at first turned off by Tex Mex food that contained cumin because they knew something tasted inauthentic. The spice traveled with slaves from the Canary islands and became so popular in Tex Mex cooking, and later Mexican, that it is hard to imagine that at first it was scorned.

THE GIVEAWAY

Tasty Bite wants to giveaway a pack of vegan food to one lucky person. They have fantastic, healthy vegan heat and eat food packets that are perfect to bring to the office for lunch or eat on those lazy days. They have all kinds of new flavors too, like Malaysian Lodeh and Mushroom Takatak.

To enter, just comment on Lazy Smurf’s Guide and tell me where you got your recipe for chili that you use the most and/or in what form you enjoy chili. I wonder if anyone else out there eats frito mac chili pie? The winner will be drawn at random next Friday November 12th and Tasty Bite will ship you an assortment of vegan items but you must have a US address. And make sure when you fill out the comment form you put in your email so that I can contact you if you win!