Texas Chili

Dedicated to that great Texan Jim Hightower

 

This dish is rather different. It neither looks nor tastes like Texas Chili (Chili with meat and no beans) very much but is a fine substitute. It is a modification and addition to the Chili recipe in Sergei and Valya Boutenko’s book “Fresh. The Ultimate Live-food Cookbook” 2008. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley. My favorite raw foods recipe book.

 

Ingredients:

  

Meat:

• Walnuts (1/4 cup)
• Cumin (Heaping tbs)
• Braggs (5 tbs)
• Olive oil (3 tbs)
• Sea Salt (If you like)

 Chili:

 

• Fresh Tomatoes (3 medium)
• Sundried Tomatoes (1 cup if you can afford it or less)
• Basil (1/4 cup fresh or any dried Italian seasoning)
• Raisins (10-12)
• Olive Oil (1/4 cup)
• Lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
• Cumin (2 heaping tbs)
• Garlic (3 cloves)
• Hot pepper (any kind, any size depending on heat wanted)
• Water (0-1/4 cup depending on thickness desired)

 

To make the meat, put all the ingredients in a food processor except the oil and blend. Add the olive oil for the last 3 seconds of blending. Form into grape size balls and put in a bowl. For the chilli, blend all the ingredients except the oil. I do not soak the sundried tomatoes first. This leaves them chucky. You can soak for an hour if you like a smoother chilli. I add no water which makes it paste like. You can add water to thin it out. Fresh basil is not available this time of year so i just use a spoonful of Italian seasoning. Most raw Chili recipes call for more raisins. I like about 8-10 or it overpowers the dish. You may like more. Olive oil is added for the last 3 seconds of blending. Pour the chili in the bowl with the meat and stir. This makes enough for only one person so if you are making it for 4 then it can get expensive as a first course. You can make less meat or omit the meat all together. As always when you are poor, cut back on the amount of sundried tomatoes and add more regular tomatoes. Any kind of tomatoes will work, especially heirlooms. Roma’s are usually recommended but not always available at the market. I prefer very very ripe tomatoes for this. Salud.