Flamingo Pink & Aqua

A couple of years ago I modified my mom’s turkey chili recipe to make it vegetarian, since I avoid poultry (completely gave it up November 2011, but quit cooking it at home ~July 2009).  It’s a white bean chili & delicious.

White Bean Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium jalapeño pepper, minced
1/2 habanero pepper, minced (optional)
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour (I use brown rice flour or my gluten-free flour mix)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 x 14 oz can vegetable broth
2 x 15 oz cans navy beans, undrained*
1/4 C fresh cilantro (optional)

*if you can only find the low sodium variety add 3 tsp of salt, unless you prefer the lower sodium (it can be pretty bland without the salt though)–I need excess sodium for health reasons, so I don’t care that canned beans have tons

Directions:
In a large stockpot, sauté peppers, onions, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil for 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables soften. Stir in flour, oregano, cumin, salt, and white pepper. Continue cooking for 1 minute. Stir in vegetable broth. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in beans and cilantro.  Cook for  20 minutes.

Garnish: 4 oz monterey jack cheese, grated, when serving, if desired

Yield: 4 servings

I can’t eat chili without cornbread (a weakness of mine) & I kind of love Jiffy Cornbread Mix, but I have a wheat allergy, so it’s a no-go.  I’ve tried Bob’s Red Mill Cornbread Mix, but it’s not sweet enough for me & adding sugar (& maple syrup) is fine, but it’s still not the same.  I recently found a “fake jiffy cornbread mix” on pinterest & decided to make it gluten-free.

Gluten-free Fake Jiffy Cornbread
Ingredients:
2/3 Cup Flour (I used a ratio of 1:1:1, brown rice flour:coconut flour:tapioca starch)
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1.5 tsp Ener-G egg replacer + 2 Tbsp warm water (or 1 egg)
1/3 Cup soymilk (or milk)
2 Tbsp applesauce (or veg. oil)

Directions:
Bake at 400 degrees, 15-20 min.

Makes ~ 6 muffins.

They didn’t turn out very pretty looking (something I’ve frequently encountered with other gluten-free cornbread muffin mixes/recipes as well), but they are delicious!!!  Perfect crumbled up in my chili!

The chili recipe freezes well & I usually make a double batch of chili and freeze it in the screw lid ziploc storage containers.  Cornbread muffins always freeze well & now that I know this cornbread muffin recipe rocks I’ll be making double/triple recipes & freezing them in ziploc bags.