The Vegetarian Chili Cookbook: 80 Deliciously Different One-Dish Meals
What makes a dish chili? Can there really be 80 distinct versions of this much-loved dish, and all without the meat? For Robertson, any stew-like dish qualifies as chili if it is made with chili powder and includes some combination of cumin, oregano, tomatoes, beans, onions, and garlic. She offers enough variety in this modest, clearly written book that you could make dozens of her recipes and easily tell them apart. To vary her creations, Robertson uses different kinds of beans and lentils. She also calls for soy and other meat alternatives, such as seitan, the chewy, low-fat food made from wheat protein.Robertson invents unexpected combinations, like Jamaican Jerk Chili, made with tempeh, a kind of fermented soybean cake, with allspice and oregano, plus a shot of rum. Spicy Apple Raisin Chili, a sweet, mild dish made with apple juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar, is an extremely daring recipe to say the least, and may not appeal to everyone. Hot-heads will like the collection of superincendiary chilis. They are made with four tablespoons of a generously cayenne-spiked chili powder that Robertson has you make from scratch. A jug of water is recommended to accompany these chilis!Most of the recipes are easily put together, including the basic chili powder, which uses only ground chiles, cumin, and oregano, and skips the bitter dried garlic and salt that mars commercial brands.The Vegetarian Chili Cookbookis a deliciously different book.--Dana Jacobi