Passover Vegetable Chili

I really did have enough toppings for the potato bar at Seder, but I wanted to make sure there was enough variety so guests could make completely different dishes even if they had two or more potatoes.  Harkening back to the butternut squash chili, I saw that I could easily replace the bulgur with quinoa and just veggie it up enough so you didn't notice the missing beans.  The crimini mushrooms took on the bean texture.  I discovered a few weeks ago by accident that they don't soften much during a short stewing and keep a chewy texture.

I did get it to thicken enough to count as chili, but it can also be thinned out with stock into a soup.  I dropped spoonfuls into the leftover turkey soup as a filling lunch.  In a non-Passover week, you could use it as a vegan protein pasta sauce.

It's always odd to me when the experiments are the memorable dishes.  Honestly, this is what I consider a barely edible leftovers concoction I would make only for me and not for company on a normal day, but it got raves as a new way to use quinoa. It's like the gingered bok choy I made once for seder, assuming most of it would be left over, and instead was completely gone.

And yes, I know many consider cumin kitniyot.  I'm relaxing my personal kitniyot rules to no soy, rice, corn, mustard, or legumes (and their derivatives), but otherwise naturally KLP items processed in a facility with them are ok.  I did experiment with using grapeseed oil instead of olive.  It was terribly expensive for an 8oz bottle, and I only used half the bottle in the entire seder, including salad dressing.  It's light and neutral, but too pricey to become a regular thing.

1/2 C dry quinoa
1/2 C diced red onion
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, diced
6 oz crimini mushrooms, quartered
1 jalapeño pepper, sliced (optional)
1 Tb chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 C water (or more)

1.  Pre-soak quinoa for two hours to remove residue.  This isn't necessary for health or safety reasons, but it will reduce the starchiness of the chili.  Drain and rinse.

2.  Into a larger saucepan than I used, place quinoa, onion, diced pepper, diced mushrooms, canned tomatoes with their juice, and seasonings.  Add 1 C water and heat to a simmer on medium.  Don't stir yet, because you want the quinoa on the bottom to absorb the liquid.  Cover.

3.  After fifteen minutes of simmering, stir chili and add the jalapeños if you want a spicier chili.  If the quinoa is cooked, you can estimate how thick you want your chili to be.  If it isn't completely done, you may need to add a bit more water.  Simmer for 5 more minutes, then taste and adjust seasonings.  Serve hot as a chili or cold as a salsa.

Makes about 1-1/2 quarts

Difficulty rating  π