Kitchen Sink Chili

The beauty of this recipe, according to Chef Molino is that you can utilize all the veggies in your fridge and vary it as you like, depending on what you have on hand. It’s so freeing to cook like this!

Makes 6 servings

Ingredient List:

• 1/2 pound bag pearled barley
• 1/2 pound farro grain
• 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1 – 24oz can chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup vegetable stock or water
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 poblano chili, diced
• 2 cup mini sweet peppers
• 3 small dried chilies
• 1 golden beet, diced small
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 6 ribs celery, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 yellow squash, diced
• 1 cup Brussels sprouts, quartered
• 6 tablespoons dairy free sour cream
• 6 tablespoons vegan shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
• sea salt Cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sriracha
• 1 cup purple Chinese rice

Step By Step Instructions:

Rinse barley and farro well under cold running water.

Bring 5 cups salted water to a simmer in medium sized stock pot. Add barley first and allow to cook for approximately 10 minutes.

Add farro now and cook for an additional 5 minutes. The goal here is to retain the firmness of the grain.

In larger sized stock pot, sauté celery, carrots, onions and garlic until translucent.

Add dried hot chili, poblano and half of the smaller mini sweet peppers.

Add the other half of the mini sweet peppers and sauté briefly under high heat in a skillet with olive oil and some sliced garlic and char lightly. These peppers will be used as garnish when your dish is ready to be served. 

Add remaining veggies and season with salt, pepper and chili powder to taste.

Sauté briefly for 5 minutes to allow veggies to start to caramelize. Add chop tomatoes, barley and farro grain. Add sriracha and coconut sugar.

Allow ingredients to simmer for 15 minutes and adjust heat level to your personal preference with hot sriracha.

If chili gets too reduced add some warm vegetable stock or water to desired consistency.

This dish is quick and super easy because you want to retain the bite and nutritional integrity of the grains and veggies.

Serve vegetable chili over steamed black Chinese rice and garnish chili with whole mini pan charred sweet peppers, a dollop of vegan sour cream and some shreds of vegan cheddar.

Cook’s Tip: Make a big pot of this as it freezes beautifully.