Spicy Raw Vegan Chili
This spicy raw vegan chili has been on my mind for weeks! Ryan and I made it a few times for our Detox Kitchen clients, and I’ve been dying to make it for myself. The cold veggies perfectly complement the spicy kick of the chili pepper sauce – which I love! The walnut provides a meaty texture and crunch.
My husband actually said while eating it: you could tell me it was meat and I would believe you.
Why walnuts vs. soy? First off, mock meat soy products must be cooked, which completely changes the landscape of this dish — which is 100% raw. But more importantly, walnuts are better because they’re natural. Fake meat made from soy, wheat, and oats (a.k.a. textured vegetable protein or TVP) is often made from genetically modified soy and because it’s highly processed, it’s chock full of undesirable ingredients (think chemicals like hexane, sodium and MSG, gluten, artificial flavor and coloring, etc.). If you prefer to use soy in this recipe, you may…but stick to real, whole soy products like organic tofu, seitan, and tempeh. Or skip the soy all together and just use beans or legumes.
You can pretty much use any veggies you want (onions, carrots, yellow squash, cabbage would be great) or even sprinkle on shredded cheese. I added chopped avocado to my bowl, but a dollop of sour cream, Greek yogurt, or creme fraiche would be delicious to turn down the heat a bit!
We adapted this recipe from the Raw & Simple cookbook. Here it is!
Spicy Raw Summertime Chili
Ingredients
For the Chili Sauce:
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 5-6 sun dried tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
- 2 dates pitted
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp Chipotle chili powder found in bulk spices section at Whole Foods
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp Celtic sea salt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 Tbsp cocao powder
- 1 tsp tamarind paste found this at Whole Foods in Asian section
- 1 garlic clove
For the Walnut Meat:
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 teaspoons Tamari or Soy Sauce
For the Veggies:
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 zucchini diced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels uncooked
- 1 avocado cubed (for garnish)
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients for the chili sauce in a Vitamix or blender until smooth. Set aside. Place walnut ingredients in a food processor and process until well combined, but a little chunky. Cut up veggies and place in large bowl. Add walnut meat and chili sauce, mix to combine well. Serve with chopped avocado for garnish.
