If you’re over boring broths and mild stews, spice up your soup season rotation with this vegan white bean and hominy chili. Courtesy of New Paltz native Nava Atlas, who’s also the bestselling author behind numerous vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, this recipe capitalizes on the veggies and spices of winter. Atlas develops her recipes with the vision of a plant-based planet in mind and uses nutritious ingredients to make tasty dishes.
In her newest book, the fifth and final edition of Vegan Soups and Stews for All Seasons, Atlas has added 20 new vegan recipes to the classic cookbook. Each chapter of the book highlights the best produce available in every season, and winter focuses on comfort. Even so, with seasonality stretching far beyond what it was not long ago, cooks can ignore the calendar and choose to chef up whichever soup or stew will satisfy the craving of the moment. For this vegan chili, certain spices can be swapped out depending on the time of year to provide as much heat or heart as desired.
“A colorful stew featuring sweet potatoes, this offbeat chili is a pleasant introduction to whole hominy, if you’ve never tried it before. Hominy results from soaking corn kernels until the hulls come off. You’ll find canned hominy shelved near other canned corn products in well-stocked supermarkets,” says Atlas.
White Bean and Hominy Chili
Course: SoupsCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Medium6
servings10
minutes40
minutes50
minutesThis white bean and hominy chili recipe is courtesy of Hudson Valley resident and cookbook author Nava Atlas.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red or green bell pepper, cut into short narrow strips
1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups water
3 to 3 1/2 cups cooked great northern beans or two 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed
15- to 16-ounce can whole white or yellow hominy
14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes (try fire-roasted)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 to 2 fresh hot (jalapeño) or mild (poblano) chilis, or 1 to 2 chopped canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
Salt to taste
Dried hot red pepper flakes to taste, optional
Directions
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until both are golden.
- Stir in the bell pepper, sweet potatoes, and water. Bring to a slow boil, then lower the heat. Simmer gently over low heat with the cover ajar for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are just tender but still firm.
- Add the beans, hominy, tomatoes, corn, chilis, cumin, and oregano. Simmer gently for 20 to 25 minutes longer. Stir in the cilantro, and taste first before adding any salt (you may not need much, due to the canned beans and hominy). If desired, season with red pepper flakes if you are not using chipotles.
- The stew should have the consistency of a thick chili—quite moist, but not overly soupy. Add a bit more water if too thick. Serve at once, or let stand off the heat for an hour or so, then heat through before serving.
Notes
- Using chipotle chilis will give this stew a smoky flavor and will make it spicier than if using green chilis.
Make this white bean and hominy chili smoky and spicy or bright and fresh, but be sure to give it a try, especially if hominy is new to you. Not only will Atlas’s recipe warm you on a cold night, but it will add some much needed spice into a season of stuffy noses and congestion. Whether you’re looking for a colorful global stew or a refreshing cold elixir, there’s something for every soup lover in the pages of Atlas’s book. Vegan Soups and Stews for All Seasons is a must-have for every plant-forward kitchen.
Related: Make Pulled Pork Sliders With Hudson Valley Maple Sugar
