Vegan Chili in a Crock Pot

50-mile-per-hour winds?  25-foot waves in Lake Michigan?  It's time for chili!

Vegan Chili in a Crock Pot
 
1 c dry kidney beans
4 small laurel bay leaves
2 t dry thyme or a few sprigs fresh
2 onions, quartered

2 T evoo
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 c bean cooking liquid or veggie stock
2 T tomato paste
1 T cocoa powder
1 T chili powder
1 t cayenne pepper

1 t turmeric
1 t paprika
dash cinnamon
plenty of unrefined sea salt to taste

1 T evoo
1/3 package of Boca crumble

Soak kidney beans overnight or quick soak by bringing to a boil for one minute and letting them sit off the heat for 1 to 2 hours.  Change the water; add bay leaves, thyme, and onions.

Maybe it's just my crockpot, but I need to bring the water and beans to the boil on the stove first, then transfer to the crockpot, otherwise they just never get hot enough to start cooking.  I do this in the morning and leave them on at low until I get home from work.  This makes nice, well-cooked beans for me.  I've also had success leaving them on high for four hours--starting them when I'm home for lunch--and they're ready at 5pm.

When beans are tender, begin the rest of the chili ingredients.  Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, celery, carrot, and bell pepper.  Cook until tender.  Add tomatoes, bean cooking liquid, and tomato paste and bring to a low boil.  Add spices, drained beans (save that liquid for soup!), and salt, and return to the crockpot on high for an hour and a half (or low for two or three).

When the chili is almost done, cook Boca crumbles over medium heat in a tablespoon of oil for 12 minutes.  Add to chili.

Serve with a little minced onion and some Daiya shreds, if you like.

Makes 3 or 4 servings.

And here's a pic in memory of the summer...

Parsley lounging in the hammock.  Yes, I have to tie her out in my fenced-in back yard.  She jumps my 6-foot privacy fence and runs around the neighborhood, weaving in and out of yards, and jumping other fences for half an hour, when she gets tired and lets me (or a neighbor) catch her.  I would love to hear any ideas to stop fence jumping!

Inspiration

Last November I drove from Michigan to the West Coast and back, stopping to see friends along the way.  Going west, I took the shortest path, along I70, through the plains and Colorado.  On the way back, I stopped in Phoenix, so I took a more southerly route home.

The farms in the middle of the country are mostly corn, something I'm used to seeing in Michigan.  But Texas and Oklahoma are full of cows.  Brown cows, spotted cows, and black cows.  They didn't seem as unhappy as I had been expecting: stuffed together, standing in rivers of their own excrement.  Though maybe they keep some pretty by the freeways for the benefit of those driving by.

But those big, beautiful black cows with their sad, thoughtful brown eyes reminded me so much of my driving companion:

My Parsley is so sweet and innocent and trusting, I couldn't help but attribute those qualities to those pretty, calm cows.  And now I can't justify being a party to their inhumane treatment.  So no more burgers for me. 

Poor kitty

So my cat Milo had to have a third of his tail amputated this week, after I closed a door on it Sunday night.  *warning: gory details* He jumped up in a horrible twist that a 20-pound cat doesn't usually have the energy or grace to pull off.  I looked down and there was a two inch long clump of fur..and it had pulled the skin right off with it.  Blood splattered all over.  It was so awful.

I can't tell you how badly I feel about it--I went to work all puffy-eyed Monday.  But I paid my penance at the vet Monday.  Literally.  With a check.

Here he is in his outer compound, my bedroom, where he is confined during the day.  At night I close him up in those two crates (door to door) because I've been worried that Parsley would bother his tail--Parsley is a wound-licker.  I also like the crates because he is so incredibly messy with that collar.  It acts as a scoop for anything he's trying to get at or see--food...or litter.  Eww.

It's been pretty hard to get a cat to eat a pill.  What's worked best so far is to chop it into small pieces (not ground to a powder--he could taste the powder and he was so mad at me for ruining his favorite part of life) and put in his food.  [Update: It turns out he only ate a couple bites!  Back to shoving the pills down his throat...]

But it looks like Milo is going to pull through!  I might let him out of the bedroom tonight after the dogs calm down (I'm sitting for another young dog, Jelly Bean.)  He'll be so happy about that.