If you love spicy Mexican food and you are looking for something easy to prepare – you came to the best place. I’ve prepared for you vegan green chili with shiitake mushrooms, potatoes and red kidney beans.
This dish consists of two parts. It’s the green salsa that you prepare by roasting peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic in the oven and the chunky part that is usually some type of meat. I followed through the cooking process of the original Chili Verde and I came up with my own vegan version, without damaging the original look of the spicy stew that you get at the end.
I loved the result – a sweet and spicy super nutritious bowl of goodness.
For the salsa part of this dish I used green bell peppers, green chili peppers, onions, a bit of garlic and plum tomatoes instead of the usual green tomatoes. I did that just because I wanted it to be a bit sweet as well – and that’s what the plum tomato delivers.
The chunky side of the stew in my vegan version of that classic meal consists of red onions, potatoes, shiitake mushrooms and red kidney beans. The mushrooms really come close the texture of meat – you don’t really need it, you will realize it after you first try it. The beans contribute to the protein levels in your bowl and the potatoes are your best friend when you don’t want to use white flour for thickening your soups.
The herbs and additional flavours that I decided to incorporate in that recipe are some dried oregano, salt, black pepper, a squeeze of a lime and vegetable stock.
You will enjoy it best with some toasted bread, sprinkled with paprika powder. I think I fell in love with that chili, and it will be definitely added to my personal memory menu.
The time you need to prep for this recipe is 3 minutes at most, that depends on your knife skills. If you are a fast cutter, it could take you less than 1 minute. It takes 20 minutes to roast the vegetables in the oven, and at the same time the chunky part is being cooked in a pot for 15 minutes. After you blitz the vegetables, with the stock, in the blender the only thing left to do is add them into the pot and let it all cook together for another 10 minutes, until it thickens. The whole process doesn’t have to take more than 40 minutes.
I will now give you the list of ingredients and the full instructions on how to make 4 good servings of green chili.
Green Chili Recipe
Ingredients
For the salsa verde you will need:
- 2-3 green bell peppers
- 6 spicy green peppers usually it’s done with hatch peppers, jalapenos will work just fine as well
- 2 plum tomatoes
- Half an onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 500 ml of vegetable stock
- A handful of fresh parsley
- A squeeze of fresh lime
For the chunky part:
- 1 cup of shiitake mushrooms sliced into chunks
- 4 small baby potatoes thinly sliced
- Half an onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup of cooked red kidney beans
- A pinch of oregano
- A bit of salt and black pepper
Instructions
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Start by roasting the vegetables for the salsa in the oven. I did it by switching only the top grill of the oven to the max, and it takes 10 minutes on each side
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Meanwhile, in a soup pot, with a bit of vegetable oil, start by frying the onions
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In 3 minutes, you can add the potatoes and cook for another 3 minutes
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Now add the mushrooms and season with salt, black pepper and oregano
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After another 5 minutes you can add the beans
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You can switch off the heat now and set the pot aside
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Now it’s time to finish your salsa
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Take out the vegetables and peel the bell peppers and the tomatoes
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Put them in the blender, add the vegetable stock, the squeeze of lime and the parsley, and blitz until completely smooth
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Add the salsa to the chunky part and bring back the pot the heat
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Cook for another 10 minutes, until the stew thickens
STEP ONE – START BY ROASTING THE SALSA VEGETABLES
Put the vegetables into a tray and roast them in the oven, with the top grill on, for about 10 minutes on each side.
STEP TWO – PREPARE YOUR CHUNKY VEG PART
You need to thinly slice the potatoes, so they cook much faster, and onions and to cut the mushrooms in a bit bigger chunks.
STEP THREE – Saute the vegetables
Meanwhile, in a soup pot, with a bit of vegetable oil, start by frying the onions. In 3 minutes, you can add the potatoes and cook for another 3 minutes. Now add the mushrooms and season with salt, black pepper and oregano. After another 5 minutes you can add the beans.
Now set the pot aside and take out the roasted vegetables. Peel the bell peppers and the tomatoes.
STEP FOUR – BLITZ THE ROASTED VEGETABLES
In a high speed blender, add the vegetables, vegetable stock, parsley and a squeeze of lime. Blitz until smooth.
STEP FIVE – ADD THE SALSA TO THE CHUNKY PART
Add your green salsa to the pot and bring it back on the heat. Cook for another 10 minutes, until it thickens and then serve.
The best way to enjoy this beauty is by having it with some bread, rice or even some kind of noodles. I personally had it with toasted bread, sprinkled with paprika powder.
An amazing way to get a bit more familiar with Mexican cooking. Doing it vegan will show you just how delicious this food can be. If you are not a mushroom fan, you can use tofu – it comes close to their texture. Cannellini beans will work just fine as well, if you don’t like or can’t find red kidney beans.
Do you have your own favorite green chili recipe? Do let us know in the comment section below.