Vegetarian Chili??? Sure!!  

Chili con carne (literally "Chili with meat", often known simply as chili) is a spicy stew made from chili peppers, meat, garlic, onions, and cumin. 

Sue throws out the carne and substitutes meatless meat... see below.  She uses a lot of zucchini and various beans.  Traditional chili is made with chopped or ground beef. Variations, either geographic or by personal preference, may substitute different types of meat and may also include tomatoes, beans, or other ingredients. The name "chili con carne" is a variation of the Spanish chile con carne, which means "peppers with meat." Chili con carne is the official dish of the U.S. state of Texas. It can be found worldwide in local variations and also in certain American-style fast food restaurants.

Did you know? - Many argue that chili was invented in Mexico during the 1840s as a replacement for pemmican . Some place its origin in Tijuana , Baja California , or Ciudad Juárez , Chihuahua .

Charles Ramsdell, a writer from San Antonio in an article called San Antonio: An Historical and Pictorial Guide, wrote: "Chili, as we know it in the U.S., cannot be found in Mexico today except in a few spots which cater to tourists. If chili had come from Mexico, it would still be there. For Mexicans, especially those of Indian ancestry, do not change their culinary customs from one generation, or even from one century, to another."

Chili is said to be the food of forgiveness and reconciliation. The Mexican origin theory holds that it was created as a complimentary dish served at cantinas , especially to please outsiders, who wanted something spicy and "Mexican" to eat (provided it was free or cheap). It was made with leftovers from the meals prepared in the cantina and served for free to drinking customers.

Did you know? - The tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica) is a plant of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, related to tomatoes, bearing small, spherical and green or green-purple fruit of the same name. Tomatillos, referred to as green tomato (Spanish: tomate verde) in Mexico, are a staple in Mexican cuisine. Tomatillos are grown throughout the Western Hemisphere.

The tomatillo fruit is surrounded by a paper-like husk formed from the calyx. As the fruit matures, it fills the husk and can split it open by harvest. The husk turns brown, and the fruit can be any of a number of colors when ripe, including yellow, red, green, or even purple. Tomatillos are the key ingredient in fresh and cooked Latin American green sauces. The freshness and greenness of the husk are quality criteria. Fruit should be firm and bright green, as the green colour and tart flavour are the main culinary contributions of the fruit.

We peel the husks off, wash them, and put them in a blender... Then we cook them into a sauce and freeze many quarts for cooking all year around!

Did you know? - Chili powder is a generic name for any powdered spice mix composed chiefly of chili peppers, most commonly either red peppers or cayenne peppers, which are both of the species Capsicum annuum.

It can be made from virtually any hot pepper including ancho, Cayenne, Jalapeño, New Mexico, and pasilla chilis.

The spice mix may simply be pure powdered chilis, or it may have other additives, especially cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and salt. Some mixes may even include black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, mace, nutmeg, or turmeric.[citation needed] As a result of the various different potential additives, the spiciness of any given chili powder is incredibly variable. As a rule, the purer the chili powder is, the spicier it is.

Chili powder is regularly used in traditional Indian cuisine.

Today they are especially popular in American cuisine, where they are the primary flavor ingredient in chili con carne. The first commercial blends of chili powder in the U.S. were created in the 1890s by D.C. Pendery and William Gebhardt for precisely this dish.

Did you know? - Morningstar Farms is a division of the Kellogg Company that produces vegetarian food. Many of their offerings are meatless variations of traditionally meat-based products, including some that are vegan. Morningstar is currently the largest vegetarian food producer in the United States.

Morningstar Farms was introduced by Worthington Foods in the 1970s. Kellogg purchased Worthington Foods in October 1999 at which point it acquired the Morningstar Farm brand.

Did you know? - Simmering is a cooking technique in which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept at or just barely below the boiling point of water (at average sea level air pressure), 100°C (212°F) and higher than poaching. To keep a pot simmering, one brings it to a boil and then adjusts the heat downward until just before the formation of steam bubbles stops completely. Water normally begins to simmer at about 94°C (200°F).

Simmering ensures gentler treatment than boiling to prevent food from toughening and/or breaking up. Simmering is usually a rapid and efficient method of cooking. Food that is simmered in milk or cream instead of water is referred to as creamed. Professional chefs debate the appropriate temperature and appearance of simmering liquids constantly, with some saying that a simmer is as low as 82°C (180°F).