{"id":29291,"date":"2021-12-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/?p=29291"},"modified":"2024-11-12T16:39:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T00:39:29","slug":"veggie-chili-recipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/blog\/veggie-chili-recipes\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Veggie Chili Recipes: Swapping Beans for Beef"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n Jump to Recipes<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n

Carroll Shelby was a man obsessed with speed. A celebrated race car driver<\/a> and designer (portrayed by Matt Damon in the 2019 film Ford vs Ferrari<\/i>), he competed in the grueling 12 Hours of Sebring race seven times, winning twice (as well as failing to finish five times, thanks to mechanical problems and, once, an illegal refueling pit stop). He designed the Shelly Cobra and the Ford Mustang, two of the most iconic cars of the 20th century. He was married seven times, including one marriage that lasted just a few weeks.<\/p>\n

So, you might not think that this guy who lived his entire life in the fast lane would also be known for promoting one of the slowest foods on the planet: Texas-style chili. But as instigator of the first World Championship Chili Cookoff<\/a> in Terlingua, Texas, in 1967 \u2014 and co-founder and CEO of the International Chili Society (ICS) three years later \u2014 Shelby started a movement that continues to this day. In 1991, a joint resolution of Congress named chili the official food of the United States. To this day, chefs compete in chili cookoffs, stewing their creations for hours until they achieve prize-winning flavors.<\/p>\n

A Chili Obsession<\/h2>\n

From chili dogs to summer chili cookouts, the US is clearly still obsessed with chili. Texans claim it as their invention, despite the potentially inconvenient historical fact that chili con carne (chili with meat) probably originated in northern Mexico. Today, many regions have their own versions, and aficionados argue passionately about which ones are best and most authentic. According to the International Chili Society, cattle drivers<\/a> in the Southwest likely created and popularized chili. And “chili queens” set up chili stands in Military Plaza in San Antonio, Texas during the 1880s.<\/p>\n

The ICS speaks for meat-loving chili purists, insisting that authentic chili<\/a> does not include \u201cfillers\u201d like beans or pasta, and consists entirely of ground meat (typically beef) flavored with chili pepper and other spices. Only in their \u201chomestyle\u201d category are such additions permitted (and, in the case of beans, required).<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a pity, because it\u2019s additions like beans and veggies that not only contribute to a tastier and more interesting chili, but also turn it into a blazing health food. In this article, we\u2019re going to explore how to make chili better<\/i> by eliminating the meat. Not only will your recipes be healthier, they\u2019ll be better for the planet as well.<\/p>\n

And when you\u2019re done reading, you\u2019ll have five delicious veggie chili recipes to try!<\/p>\n

Why Eat Chili?<\/h2>\n
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Chili is basically a red stew that traditionally contains meat (usually beef) along with spices, tomatoes, and sometimes beans and vegetables. But as we are learning, there are serious health and environmental problems with consuming beef. It\u2019s associated with many cardiovascular<\/a> and inflammatory diseases<\/a>, and livestock are a primary contributor<\/a> to environmental destruction and to climate change.<\/p>\n

If you wanted to design an inefficient way to produce protein, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to outdo cattle feedlots. They\u2019re basically protein factories in reverse, turning vast quantities of soy, corn, and other feeds into relatively small outputs of meat. In fact, a 2016 Environmental Research Letter<\/a> found that only 3% of the protein and calories that go into raising cattle make it onto consumers\u2019 plates. The remaining 97% turns into hoof, hide, bone, manure, body heat, and the energy that the animals expend just by being alive.<\/p>\n

A 2017 study found that if Americans traded their beef for beans<\/a>, 42% of US cropland currently under cultivation for feed crops would be freed up for other uses, including growing crops directly for human consumption, rewilding, reforesting, and replanting of meadows and prairies.<\/p>\n

Even if nothing about our energy infrastructure or transportation system changed \u2014 and even if people kept eating chicken and pork and eggs and cheese \u2014 swapping beans for beef could get us a major chunk<\/a> of the way to meeting our greenhouse gas reduction targets.<\/p>\n

Beans vs Beef<\/h2>\n

So you know where I\u2019m going with this, right? I hereby proclaim the ICS restrictions on beans in all but \u201chomestyle chili\u201d null and void. In fact, maybe I\u2019ll start the Benevolent Environmentally Awesome Network For Altering Recipes Transformatively (BEANFART) to promote swapping beans for beef in chili and other traditional meat dishes. (On second thought, unless I can do better on the acronym, maybe I shouldn\u2019t.) But all humor aside, that small change can benefit your health, the animals, and the environment. Oh, and at one-fifth the cost (or less, depending on whether you used canned or dried beans), you can get a lot more bang for your buck as well.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not a big lift just to leave the meat out of a chili recipe that already contains beans. But if you\u2019re hankering after that chewier eating experience, you can also replace ground meat with plant-based meat analogs, or whole plant foods that resemble the texture of meat.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples (you can follow the links to our articles that explore each one in detail):<\/p>\n