Quick Vegetarian Chili + Mustard Roasted New Potatoes

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Check out this fun chili cook-off on Saturday, 2/9 in midtown Memphis. There's a vegetarian category! It got us thinking about our own chili recipe...

Chili is our go-to when we have no idea what to make for dinner during the week. We're not the type of folks to plan much at all in life anyway, so we rarely discuss what to have for dinner until it's after 6:00 and we're both sort of starving. Then the negotiations begin! We throw out ideas and argue our key points. Often, there's a nebulous and debatable listing of how many times and how recently we had the dish in question in the last week or so. Sometimes, we meet in the middle and agree at once, and usually, that means, thankfully,  that chili is for dinner. 

This one is not fussy. It doesn't need a bunch of time, and it doesn't require a lot of chopping. With the addition of chipotle peppers and liquid smoke for depth, there's no need for low and slow to develop flavors. It's totally a weeknight kind of dish. We often have it with cornbread or rice, but mustard roasted potatoes are the best.  

Quick Vegetarian Chili + Mustard Roasted Potatoes

8 cloves garlic
1 medium white onion
2 teaspoon ancho chili powder
2 to 3 chipotle peppers from a can*
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon minced, dried porcini mushrooms (optional but awesome)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon cane sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil (like Whole Foods 365 Brand)
1 can drained pinto beans (like Whole Foods 365 Brand)
1 can diced fire-roasted tomatoes (like Whole Foods 365 Brand)
1 medium green pepper (diced)
3 to 4 dashes liquid smoke
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
Mustard Rosted New Potatoes (recipe follows)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream (to garnish, like Whole Foods 365 Brand)
2 tablespoons chopped chives (to garnish) 

Preheat the oven to 350 and make the Mustard Rosted New Potatoes.

Into the work bowl of your food processor, place the garlic, onion, ancho chili, chipotle, cumin, onion powder, porcini, vinegar, and sugar. Blend until well incorporated into a paste. In a large skillet (one with a lid that fits) over high heat, add the canola oil. Once the oil starts to shimmer, add the paste from the food processor. Cook the paste for 10 minutes, stirring consistently until all of the liquid has evaporated and the color is a deep red. Add the beans, tomatoes, green pepper, liquid smoke, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour chili over Mustard Rosted New Potatoes, cover loosely with foil, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove foil, top with cheddar, and garnish with sour cream and chives.

*Here is a great rule of thumb when using chipotle chills from a can: one chili = hot, two = medium hot, and three = very hot if you are making a recipe that will feed four people. Just remember, they are jalapeño chili peppers, so treat them accordingly. (We used 3 in this dish because we're pretty fireproof.)

Mustard Roasted New Potatoes

1 1/2 pounds red new potatoes (cut in half)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon mustard (like Zatarain's)
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)

Toss the potatoes, canola, mustard, salt, and pepper together in a medium cast-iron skillet. Into a preheated 350 degree oven, place the skillet for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.