(Who doesn't love chili? Especially this delicious veganized version!!! An easy one pot meal with black beans, corn, red peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, chipotle in adobo, cumin & chili powder. 

I find the heat level of this chili perfect for me, but everyone is different when it comes to how much heat they like, you could leave out the chipotle in adobo, or add less/more to your personal taste. I shared some with my mum and she didn't find it too spicy so I think that means this recipe will work for most people. 

I garnished my black bean chili with daiya cheddar style cheese, and green onions. (I bought the block of cheese at sobeys, and just grated it myself, not the pre grated stuff)

I usually garnish this chili with tofutti sour cream, I just didn't have it on hand for the photograph. Don't leave it out if you can help it. It is the perfect garnish to contrast the spice in this dish. (The chili is most delicious when you garnish it with something that has a bit of fat content round out the acidity and spice. Vegan cheese and or sour cream will do the trick! 

On the side
I made simple crostini to go with my chili. I just thinly sliced some baguette, drizzled with canola oil, a little sprinkle of salt and pepper and then popped them into a 350F oven until they were slightly crisp. About 10 minutes or so but I wasn't really timing them. 

Next time I will be making my Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits!! (pictured below)

Other thoughts on side options:
- serve the chili with corn chips instead of bread along with the sour cream/cheese. 
- or how about a loaded baked potato? Stuff potato with chili, shredded vegan cheese, sour cream and green onion. 100% yum.

Happy September! 

Work is still pretty crazy but it will chill out in a few weeks. My mind is easing into its happy creative place...I love cooking this time of year...once the air changes. I think I get more of a sense of renewal in the fall than in the spring and it's a great feeling. Even though I haven't been publishing many recipes as of late I am doing lots of cooking and experimenting on my days off so it will come. 

Right now the food/recipes that I am working on are those that I would serve if I had a vegan cafe. A recipe is usually "complete" for me if I think to myself...."that would be on my menu". These baked beans definitely would be.

I like these baked beans best with the oatmeal brown bread recipe on my blog. I made this most recent batch without the bread and was REALLY missing it. It's the combination of the two things. They elevate each other. So, go ahead and make these beans without the brown bread...but I don't plan to skip it ever again. (or perhaps I would go for a really good bakery bought brown bread) 

Pictured below I created a little brunch plate. Slow roasted tomatoes, vegan bacon, and some arugula with a bright balsamic vinaigrette. Next time I'd probably go with vegan sausage instead of the bacon, and if I was going next level I'd do a tofu scramble and probably enjoy a mimosa or two while I ate. 

In this recipe I use three different ingredients to give the baked beans their "smoky flavour". Liquid smoke, chipotle in adobo & smoked paprika. My logic is that it will give the final dish more complexity than if I just used one of the ingredients. This was an easy choice because I always have these things on hand. If I didn't, I probably would try to make it work with whatever I had. It's not too difficult to tweak a recipe like this to your individual taste. I might try reducing the sweetness next time and see how that goes. While these are delicious as is I'm not a fan of consuming a lot of sugar, so if I could get away with less even better.