Vegan Green and White Chili

A Hot Logic Mini Recipe by Jennifer Keene

Tools:

Hot Logic Mini

6 Cup Glass Pyrex

Ingredients:

1 Can White Beans

2 Tsp Vegetable Better Than Bouillon

½ a White Onion, finely diced

½ a Green Bell Pepper, finely diced

1 Tsp minced garlic

1 Tsp Cumin

⅔ Cup Green Chile

⅓ cup unsweetened plant milk

½ Tsp Salt

Optional Topping Suggestions:

Green onion

White onion

Fresh or pickled jalapeño (or hotter peppers like Serrano, if you are into that)

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Avocado

Crispy tortilla strips

Squeeze of lime

Directions:

Finely dice the onion and pepper. You want those to be small enough and as close to the bottom of the Pyrex as possible to make sure that they get cooked through. I like to use enough onion/pepper to just cover the bottom of the dish, so adjust your amounts as needed or save some for fresh garnish after it cooks.

Add the garlic, salt, cumin, and bouillon.

Add the beans and carefully mash about half of them with a fork. This will help make the broth thicker and creamier.

Add the rest of the ingredients and give it a gentle swirl to lightly mix without disturbing the veggies along the bottom too much.

Put the lid on the Pyrex, place it in the Hot Logic, and zip it up.

Plug in the HLM and let it do its thing for at least 2–3 hours.

Gently stir and serve. I highly recommend adding some fresh toppings for texture and flavor!

Notes:

White Beans. I used cannellini, but you could also use Great Northern, or Navy beans. Honestly, even pintos would be delicious, your chili just won’t be as light colored. Also, I use the juice from the can, also known as aquafaba, because it adds to the body and seasoning of the soup. If that bothers you for any reason — some people are concerned about chemicals in cans, some people can be more gassy from aquafaba, and some people just find it gross — just use about ½ cup of water or additional plant milk and adjust the salt to taste.

Vegetable Better Than Bouillon. This stuff is pretty easy to find and travel with and adds flavor without adding additional liquid. You could use an equivalent amount of a different brand of paste or powder as well. If you don’t have anything like this, you could skip it and then add more salt at the end to suit your tastes.

Onion. A white or yellow onion would work here, but I wouldn’t suggest using red. Also, the amount is just an estimate. If you have mega jumbo Costco-sized onions, ¼ and onion may be plenty. That’s why I suggest using the idea of having a 50/50 mix of onion and peppers to just cover the bottom of the Pyrex in a single layer.

Peppers. I did not use green bell pepper like a normal person, I used 2 jalapeno peppers because I knew the ones I had were pretty mild by our standards, but I wanted a bit more heat. Anaheim or Poblano would be great, too. See the note above for onion as far as the actual amount to use.

Garlic. I used jarred minced garlic for the sake of convenience and I put in “some.” I always use a lot of garlic, especially the jarred kind, because I don’t find it very potent. If you have fresh garlic, use at least one clove, minced. If you only have powdered garlic, use ½ Tsp.

Cumin. This is a big part of what makes this taste like chili to me. If you don’t have any, the finished product should still taste good, if a bit different. Maybe try adding white pepper or dried coriander instead.

Green Chile. In a perfect world, you would have access to actual Hatch chiles from New Mexico. These are getting more and more prevalent with regular grocery stores and Costco stocking brands like Bueno, Young Guns, 505, Hatch, and El Pinto. Look with the salsas, with the hispanic foods, and in the freezer section. If none of these are available, you can use regular canned green chilis like Old El Paso or Ortega. Make sure to check the label for added salt or other ingredients. This recipe was designed with frozen fired roasted Hatch green chile with no added salt or other ingredients. You can use one with salt, garlic, etc., just adjust the seasonings accordingly.

Plant Milk. I used plain unsweetened soy milk for this. Try whatever you like best or have on hand as long as it is unflavored and unsweetened. Double check the ingredients list as I have ruined dishes in the past by accidentally using Pacific Foods brand “Original Unsweetened Almond Milk” that has vanilla extract in the ingredients, even though it isn’t mentioned anywhere on the front (hence why this happened to me more than once).

Salt. I used ½ tsp because I am a fiend, but you should probably start with none or ¼ tsp, taste, and adjust for your own preferences.