23 January 2010

"Grana y Oro" Chili

three vegetarian chilis, mine is on the right, with the 'totopo' (chip)

Tonight was the 17th Annual Chili Cookoff at church - a fabulous event - and I decided to enter the contest this year. This was a last minute decision and with little time to get too creative, I decided just to spruce up my old favorite Red Bean and Quinoa Chili with some fancy beans, some chipotles, and a new name.

Since I was using two kinds of quinoa - the red one and the, uh, gold one - I got the idea to call it red and gold chili. Which was, of course, too boring. So I told Sergio I wanted to name it in Spanish and he directed me to this perfect word, "grana," which means both "scarlet" and "grain."

I forgot to take a picture of my chili, but I was very excited about my sign.

And thus was born my "Mostly local, organic and mild Grana y Oro chili, featuring QUINOA, the ancient grain and complete protein, from South America ... yellow CORN and red TOMATOES from Kansas and Missouri ... 2 kinds of BEANS (Kidney and Anasazi) ... and Mexican CHIPOTLES!"

It tied for second place in the Best Vegetarian Chili category!


GRANA Y ORO CHILI ("Scarlet & Gold" Chili)
based on "Red Bean and Quinoa Chili" from
Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair
serves 8-10

2 cups of red beans (kidney or anasazi)
soaked 6-8 hours, simmered in 6 cups of water 60 to 90 minutes with 1 t. cumin and 2 garlic cloves

2 t. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 t. sea salt
2 bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 a small jalapeño (or more to taste)
2 t. cumin
2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. cayenne *OR* better yet - chipotle chili powder from Planters
2/3 cup red quinoa, rinsed in warm water and drained
2/3 cup gold quinoa, rinsed in warm water and drained
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 can tomato sauce
1 pint (or can) crushed or diced tomatoes
32 oz vegetable broth
1/3 cup chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped

Heat oil in skillet on medium. Add onion, salt, garlic, pepper, and spices; sauté for 5 to 10 minutes. Add rinsed quinoa and stir in. Add corn, tomatoes, and broth to onion/quinoa mixture. Simmer 20 minutes. Add cooked beans and chipotles to other ingredients; simmer around 10 minutes.

1 comment:

teresa said...

kudos and congrats! 2nd place ain't half bad for such a spontaneous decision.