Tips for making vegan chili

Full Circle Farm Sanctuary chili cook-off coordinator Anne Landry offers the following tips for bringing your best game when it comes to making amazing vegan chili:

1. Choose your basic approach. Will your chili be red, white or green? Or you can get really creative and go yellow or orange! (Hint: Last year’s chili cook-off grand champion winner was a white chili.)

2. Choose a flavor profile. Do you want sweet and fresh, mild, hot, smoky, rich and fruity or something completely different?

3. Choose components. Possibilities include beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, seitan, barley, potatoes, sweet peppers, chili peppers and more. Prepared vegan meat-like products are good options too, such as chickenless strips, vegan sausages, beefless crumbles, etc.

4. Think of ways to kick it up a notch or add a unique twist. Additions such as beer, wine or other types of alcohol; exotic vinegars, unusual spices, cocoa or liquid smoke are a few ideas. Think umami.

5. Taste your creation and enlist friends and loved ones to test it as well.

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