Thai-Style Chili

As much as I hate to say it, winter is definitely here. Ice-crusted cars, snow, wind and highs in the teens. Fun.

Every year at this time I start swearing I'll do one of two things:

1. I'm moving closer to work.
2. I'm going to stop renting and buy a house with a garage.

I do neither. Instead I hole up in my apartment as much as possible and eat soup.

The other night I tried this Thai Chili from Clean Eating Magazine. I liked that it was meatless and used some of the red curry paste I still have sitting in my fridge door. I also liked the addition of bulgur.

The recipe still needed a bit of work, in my opinion. I added a bit of salt, hot sauce and needed to thicken it up in the end. It came out WAY too soupy to be a decent chili. It's amazing how just three simple things turned a chili that was just so-so into something delicious and filling.

Thai-Style Chili
Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine
Serves 4

1 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
2 cups peeled, cubed sweet potato
2 cups chopped bell pepper (any color)
2 cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup light coconut milk
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
About 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Hot sauce (such as sriracha) to taste
Chopped scallions for garnish

In a large dutch oven, add curry paste, cumin, salt and pepper and dissolve in a bit of broth until it's no longer lumpy. Add the rest of the broth, bulgur, sweet potatoes and bell pepper. Bring to a boil.

Cover tightly and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add beans, coconut milk and crushed tomatoes; cook uncovered for 7 minutes or until the bulgur is tender.

If the chili isn't thick enough at this point (mine wasn't) dissolve the cornstarch in a couple tablespoons of water to created a slurry. Add the slurry to the chili and stir. Let simmer a few minutes or so until the chili thickens up. Add hot sauce to taste and garnish with chopped scallions.