No Tomato Chili ideas

[Shayla]

No doubt I'm going about this in a way that would be considered sacrilege to chili connoisseurs, but what I'm really looking for is a way to spice up my beans. I love a kick in my food and I've had chili that I liked before, so chili with beans seemed like a way to go, but they are all made with lots of tomato or broth (which drives the sodium content way too high) or with actual chilies I have to slice and cook and I'm just not that good a cook. Not to mention my kitchen has half a counter for prep space.

I'm flexible on whether meat is included or not, but I don't really want any tomato flavor. If the tomato is used in a way that the flavor isn't strong, I wouldn't mind it, though.

Any easy recipe's? Thoughts? Ideas on what I would do to replace the tomato content in a recipe? I think that's my big issue: I don't know enough about cooking to know how to add and subtract ingredients in a recipe to fit my needs.

Thanks!

 

[Andy M.]

First of all, if you have a chili recipe you like, you can either leave out the tomato or reduce the amount. You can also buy low sodium broths to add.

On the other hand, if you want a tasty bean recipe that's easy as there will be hundreds available. What kinds of beans do you like?

 

[Shayla]

I like pinto, ranch, and black.

What would I do about consistency if I left out the tomatoes?

You know what my other problem is: I'm looking for really simple recipes.

 

[DaveSoMD]

You could use beer for the liquid and then maybe just a small amount (like a Tbsp) of tomato paste. If you add in things like Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce you might be able to mask the tomato flavor some. Also the amount of pepper,cumin, and chili powder will help too.

 

[pacanis]

Is what you are after "white chili"? If you Google white chili I'm sure you will come up with lots of recipes, some of them probably here even.

 

[Dawgluver]

If you aren't opposed to salsa, Pace Picante has a great chicken chili recipe. No other tomatoes in it.

 

[Shayla]

Oh! Okay. I'll look into white chili. Thanks!

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

You can also make a green chili by substituting green salsa for the tomatoes. You can find green salsa at supermarkets and a lot of times (depending on your area) you can find low sodium varieties. Just check the labels. Green salsa, chicken, cumin, coriander and your beans and you should be pretty good to go.

 

[Snip 13]

You could make Creamy Curried Beans. Fry some onion, celery and carrots that are finely chopped. Add a spoon or two of good curry paste. Then add the cooked beans and a some cream or sour cream. Gently simmer till done. Serve with rice or Naan bread.

 

[Robo410]

beans, veg broth, green chilis or green chili salsa, very easy very tasty

 

[Zhizara]

I like pinto, ranch, and black.

What would I do about consistency if I left out the tomatoes?

You know what my other problem is: I'm looking for really simple recipes.

Just sift out some of the cooked beans, mash them and add back to chili. Just do a cooking spoonful at a time until you get the consistency you like.

 

[dcSaute]

if it's the "heavy" tomato sauce taste - you should try making your own tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes - they're 'in season' now - and you can make/freeze.

takes a little time but it's duck simple: heavy pot, cut up tomatoes, cook down in pot on low, then when they're juicy, simmer to boil off the excess water. the finer you cut up the tomato the quicker it will cook down. you can make anything from really chunky style to a smooth sauce (run it thru a sieve/stick blender/whatever.

I make my own and freeze all the garden excess - we eat on it throughout the winter - and now-a-days nobody in the house, including visiting kids, will eat pizza unless it's homemade sauce.... the home made is much lighter/cleaner tasting than commercial stuff.

 

[CraigC]

Have you tried using dried chilis? I love the combo of 1/2 New Mexican, 1/4 Guajillo and 1/4 Pascilla. Stemmed, seeded and rehydrated. Pureed in the blender with garlic, onion, fresh ground cumin and Mexican oregano. S & P to taste with maybe a little sugar. Sometimes I'll through in some Chipotles as well. Use this instead of chili powder(s). No tomatoes at all.

Craig

 

[Claire]

New Mexico Green Chili.

 

[Brook]

I know I am late...

I am no chef, not an expert in chili, just someone that loves cooking.

I was at a company picnic and couldn't join in the Chili Cook off they were having because... I just don't make very good chili.... so I set out to learn. I know my chili was ok, canned chili is ok and my kids didn't care if I made it or they ate it from a can.

I read so many recipes and even tried a few. I wasn't wowed.

Then I happened upon a site talking about "the chili queens" and was excited to read the history of chili! now that was interesting! and there are several sites that talk about the Chili Queens - this one has recipes at the bottom
History and Legends of Chili, Chili Con Carne I do hope you enjoy the history of chili... "no tomatoes were harmed in the making of chili!"

Just one recipe for the Chili Queens recipes
#1 Original San Antonio Chili : NPR
other old recipes Antique Chili Recipes

The next site I found was this one! I read every thread on chili and every post here for chili and found this discussion to be a real opportunity to better understand how to make chili. http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f62/authentic-texas-chili-3649.html - Authentic Texas Chili. (I wish Audeo and Lifter would come back because I would have loved to throw a question in here and there)

What I found is, it doesn't matter if you use meat only or beans only or a combination of both, what matters is the "Gravy"! I didn't know that. I know beans were not used in the original chili recipes because they would have been hard to come by. Meat would have been easier to find. I can see though, how beans would have been introduced into chili for many reasons, cheaper, easier to store, and easier to obtain, just as good nutritionally, and filling.

It seems that the Gravy was made from... Chilis! and all this time I thought all chilis were hot.. oh how wrong I was! I eat pickled peppers and love the flavor and hotness. But

I diced all my meat as the chili queens described... I can see now why ground meat is used!!!!! I have decided while I love the texture the diced meat brings to the chili, I will use a combination of both... ground and diced... I have a meat grinder so I do grind my own. Some of it I will hold out for dicing.

I bought whole chilies and soaked them in hot water then blend them up in my blender.... it worked fine but found some of the skin of the pepper when I ate it. Not a big deal but next time I will try grinding the peppers first.

I did add Cherizo and liked the flavor it brought to the chili.

No where is there tomatoes in these chili recipes. Hope this helps you create a great chili recipe. I am still working on mine but oh does it get better each time I make it. With Winter upon us... and all this talk of chili... I am hungry!

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Never too late to chime in Brook. And those are some cool links.

 

[jennyema]

Have you tried using dried chilis? I love the combo of 1/2 New Mexican, 1/4 Guajillo and 1/4 Pascilla. Stemmed, seeded and rehydrated. Pureed in the blender with garlic, onion, fresh ground cumin and Mexican oregano. S & P to taste with maybe a little sugar. Sometimes I'll through in some Chipotles as well. Use this instead of chili powder(s). No tomatoes at all.

Craig

Thats what I do. No tomaotes.

Plus I add unsweetened chocolate.

Thicken with masa

 

[CraigC]

Thats what I do. No tomaotes.

Plus I add unsweetened chocolate.

Thicken with masa

MOLE'!

Craig