Tag Archives: Chili

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.

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Sunny Days in Texas: Frito Pie

Frito Pie might be my most favorite dish, we certainly make it enough! I was really looking forward to trying Molly’s award winning recipe because I tried her chili before at the Lone Star Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off, and it was my favorite. I had never made it before because we usually use a ppk recipe that I also love. Molly’s recipe is so much simpler, quicker, and requires almost entirely pantry staples so I am definitely going to make this a lot more. Oh, and it tasted great and was super cheap. It doesn’t get much better than that!

I served it to a couple friends, including two native Texans and they both really enjoyed it and wanted the recipe. In fact, I sold another zine! I forgot that nonvegans always cover their frito pie in cheese and I didn’t have any vegan cheese. I tried to proselytize topping with nooch and the Texans seemed to enjoy that quite a bit. When I told them that I sometimes carry a nooch shaker to top my frito pie at restaurants they thought that was going a bit to far. Whatever, nooch is the shit and it is packed with B-vitmans.

Today Miso for Breakfast is giving away a copy of the zine although I still have a few for sale.

Every post this month for Veganmofo will be celebrating the recipes in the zine Sunny Days in Texas, a fundraiser cookzine to help Sunny Day Farms Animal Sanctuary.

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!

Frito Pie sans fritos and pie

I wanted to make Frito Pie so once I had the chili going I ran to the store to grab some Fritos, alas I once again went to Sun Harvest the worst health food store in town, and once again they didn’t have what I needed, in this case fritos. But the last two times I have gone I tried to get bulk syrup and they were out, tempeh was out, brussel sprouts were out and they stopped making my favorite wrap in the to go section. It is really annoying to have to go all the way up to the co-op to get simple ingredients. I guess I should be thankful that I live in a place that has vegan food at all. Thank you Austin!

This dish turned out totally frakking spectacular. If you are going to be home alone on Thanksgiving or you are non-American or anti-American you should make it because, really it was one of the best combinations I have ever eaten and you will have leftover chili. And it feels like you are eating food that is really bad for you but (except for the chips) it is actually a very healthy meal. I made the tempeh chili from the ppk and it is my new all time favorite chili, although I did add some allspice, some nutmeg, ancho chili powder and a touch of cinnamon. To make the frito pie you just put fritos (or tortialls chips) at the bottom of a bowl top with the chili, cilantro, finely diced red onions and avocado. Or you can do it Texas-ghetto style and just pour the chili into the frito bag along with the toppings and go about your day, chili in hand.

Speaking of Thanksgiving I am super stoked to make a bunch of food when I get off work tonight. My game plan is

Seitan Roulade with Fig and Wild Rice stuffing from the conscious kitchen

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Garlic Gravy from Gourmet

Cranberry Sauce with Dates and Oranges from Gourmet

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with pecans and peal onions

Pumpkin Pie both from the Voluptous Vegan

Stay tuned for the pictures tomorrow!