Farmer's Market Chili Verde

Once again, I really can't resist a cooking competition.  Two guys at work were having a Texas vs. South Boston chili showdown which turned into an office summer social event.  So I found myself spending the weekend trolling the farmer's market and vegetable stands for peppers and other chili fixin's.  Since I'm already the odd one out with my vegan chili, I might as well up the non-traditional factor even more.  I'm really going for that you-definitely-didn't-get-this-from-a can kind of flavor profile.  

Here's my offering of a Chile Verde topped with corn tortilla chips, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, cilantro, papalo, green onions, avocado, chile lime crema, and chipotle mayonnaise.

For some reason, I didn't have a crock pot so I broke down and bought this travel ready version which did the trick.  

Ideas from friends, surfing the internet, and fresh local ingredients were the inspiration for this dish.  Just don't call it soup.  This is chili.  It started off too spicy for main stream, but the beans really did soak up a good amount of the heat.  It still had a nice kick and I had some Serrano chilies on the side in case anyone complained it wasn't hot enough.

Everything that could come from the farmer's market or CSA did.  There's no point in using exact measurements.  Just use what you've got and as much as fits in the pan.

Chile Verde:

Tomatillos

Onions
Garlic
Carrot
Cubanelle Peppers
Poblano Peppers
Bell Peppers
Beer

Green Onions
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Corn
Tequila
Chili powder

Cooked Kidney Beans
Cooked White Beans
Cooked Black-eyed Peas

Peel husks and wash tomatillos.  Cut a cross mark on the bottom of the tomatillos and place cut side up on a foil lined baking sheet and broil for about 5 minutes.  Turn off oven and let sit about 10 minutes.  Blend to the consistency of crushed tomatoes.

Saute the onions, garlic, carrot, peppers in some vegetable oil until they start to really get brown.  Then deglaze with beer and let stew.  Salt to taste.  Blend until well combined.

Chop green onions using as much white part and green part that you can.  In food processor chop zucchini and yellow squash into fine pieces about the size of a corn kernel.  You could also use a grater.  Slice the corn kernels off the cob.  Saute the onions, zucchini, squash, and corn in vegetable oil, sprinkle with chili powder, salt to taste, and add tequila to deglaze pan.

In a large pan or crock pot mix together the tomatillos, pepper mixture, squash/corn mixture, and add beans.  Taste and adjust seasonings and heat thoroughly.

Top with corn tortilla chips, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, cilantro, papalo, green onions, avocado, chile lime crema, and chipotle mayonnaise

Chile lime crema
Mix together:
Vegan Sour Cream
Green Tobasco Sauce
Lime Juice

Chipotle Mayonnaise
Mix together:
Vegan Mayonnaise
Chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, seeds removed, and chopped finely

I won 2nd Place!  Yay!  OK, so there was a tie for 1st, and then the tie-breaker was a tie, but I'm still calling it 2nd.  :-)  A fun time was had by all.