Vegetable Chilli

This creation will be traveling to Toronto this Friday.

A loaf of focaccia bread from Omg Baked Goodness will go great with it.

Step 1: Frozen Tomatoes!!!???

Yes Frozen, hard as a rock.

I plant lots of tomatoes. My 5 kids like to take some home with them with every summer visit. Problem is, when they are ripening there can be a glut. The wife and I used to can them. That is a long tedious process. So now we just cut out the stem end with a sharp knife and freeze them. No blanching, stewing etc.

To use them, run them under warm water, the skin almost falls off.

You will need enough to fill the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Today I used 17 of these beauties.

Items you will need:

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp hot pepper powder

1tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp beet powder or 2 large beets

2 medium onions

1 head garlic

2 cups frozen mixed veggies

5 large mushrooms

2 cups cooked cauliflower

2 cups dried kidney beans

1 small napa cabbage

Cutting board

Knife

Large frying pan

Ladle

wooden spoon

6 qt Instant Pot

I think that should do the trick

Step 2: Cook the Tomatoes

Add 1 cup of water to the pot of tomatoes and close the lid.

To set your Instant Pot, press manual then use the up arrow to set the timer to 60 minutes. Be sure that the vent is set to closed. It will beep when it is done.

For your info I timed things, you would normally set it and forget it. It took 32 minutes to start hissing then 2 minutes to seal up. That's when the hissing stops. 2 more minutes to reach pressure. So you will have an hour and thirty six minutes before the tomatoes are done.

As you can see they cook down a lot.

Step 3: Empty the Instant Pot

OK.We need the Instant pot to cook the kidney beans.

Remove 4 cups of liquid from the pot. Now transfer the rest of the contents to the large frying pan.

Step 4: Cook the Kidney Beans

Add the 4 cups of tomato juice to the Instant Pot then add the 2 cups of dried beans.

Close the lid and set the vent cover to closed. Now set the Instant Pot as you did previously to 60 minutes.

This will be quicker because the pot isn't full of ice cold orbs of tomato goodness. This time it should only take about 9 minutes to get to pressure and start counting down.

Step 5: Beet Powder?

As with the tomato situation, beets also get out of hand when maturing. In the past I have cooked then vacuum sealed and froze them. This year I dehydrated and ground them into a powder. It gives a gorgeous colour to soups and stews. So now we add the beet powder, Chili powder, salt and garlic powder.

Step 6: Now We Build the Base

1/2 tsp of my Danger Powder should do the trick.

It is a mix of:

JALAPENO

HOT HUNGARIAN

CHERRY BOMB

RED CHILLI

CAYANNE

HABANERO

Then the chopped onions. I use ones that have begun to sprout if there are any. I save the greens for salad.

Step 7: Garlic Is a Must

Break apart the garlic head. Cut off the hard bits at the base of the cloves. Wrap it in a paper towel and nuke it for 20 seconds. Now a tiny squeeze and the cloves will pop out of the wrappers easily.

Step 8: Smash, Chop and Add

With the side of your knife, smash down on the cloves. Now rough chop and add them to the pan.

Step 9: Prepare the Cabbage

This is more a heart of napa rather than the whole head. We like to keep a head in the crisper for salads. This is about 5 inches in diameter.

Chop the leafy end into bite size pieces. You don't want long sloppy leaves hanging from your spoon burning your chin when you are enjoying the finished product. Chop the stem ends into cubes.

Step 10: Add the Cabbage

Add the hard cubed bits first. Stir them in then spread the leafy parts over top and press them down into the sauce.

Step 11: Now for More Veggies

As in my previous instructables, I pull out my trusty bag of previously prepared and frozen chopped veggies. I dump around 2 cups of these in frozen, give them a stir and put the lid on the pan to bring it back to a simmer.

Step 12: Add the Fungi

What better way to enjoy cooking than to invite a fungi to the party.

These were beautiful mushrooms, the cremini this week were a dried up pitiful looking mess. I prefer them normally. They have a more solid texture that would have went well in this meat free dish. Alas this week it was not to be. I chopped each into 8 pieces and they were perfect. Now press them down into the mix.

Step 13: Now for the Leftovers

Leftovers are always a welcome addition to my cooking. Today it will be cauliflower with spinach. This is a delicate item,being already cooked, it could end up falling apart. There is 8 minutes left on the Instant Pot so I gently fold in the cauliflower, shut off the burner and cover the pan.

Step 14: Beep Beep Beep

OK OK already I hear the beep.

This instructable was created specifically to test the Instant Pot's ability to cook dried un-soaked kidney beans. I am quite relieved to get to this point. It worked perfectly! I don't have to run out for cans of beans. The weather today is treacherous here in the Niagara area. Any way, 1 hour in the Instant Pot creates gorgeous kidney beans. There is a satisfying pop when you bite them. Libbey's canned kidney beans are similar but I can't find them anywhere. Years ago I found them at Pupo's a local family run grocer. I've been searching ever since. Now my search has ended. Mind you Pupo's has a great selection of local produce and a wonderful meat/deli section. I'll still be found there on occasion.

Step 15: Time to Season

As this was cooking, the 1/2 tsp of Danger powder felt a bit to hot. Once the beans were added, it was perfect. You may want to start with less if you are spice sensitive. Now we add seasonings to taste. There is always something we want to add at the end. Just don't overdo it. You can always add to your personal bowl later.

Step 16: Enjoy

This is wonderful! But of course you will know that after you follow my instructable at home.

Enjoy!