Green tofu-chickpea chili
David Huggins-Daines
stores and farmers' markets at the moment, and I ended up with a whole
bunch of them lying around in my fridge.
Since I always find roasting and peeling them to be a bit of a chore,
I thought I'd do something else instead, which seemed to turn out
pretty well (though I can't vouch for the accuracy of the measurements
in this recipe).
This is kind of loosely inspired by the chickpea chili at a local
restaurant (Mad Mex), though it doesn't have tomatillos in it, mostly
since I don't have any on hand. Instead, there's a good dose of lemon
juice to give it some tartness.
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1 pound green anaheim or poblano chiles
1 green jalapeno chile
1 small bell pepper
1 medium-sized bunch of cilantro
6 cloves garlic, peeled
3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (a big slosh of it, anyway)
salt to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 cakes (about 1 pound) soft tofu, frozen and thawed
2-3 cups cooked (or 1 can) chickpeas
Remove the stems from the chiles and bell pepper and chop them into
large pieces. Put the garlic, cilantro, chiles, bell pepper, lemon
juice, and salt into a blender or food processor and blend into a
thick puree, adding water if necessary. Set aside. (if you have
tomatillos, you can put in a few of them too, reducing the amount of
lemon juice slightly)
Heat the oil and oregano in the a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onion and carrots and sautee for a few minutes, until the
onions are tender. Add the mushrooms and sautee for another minute or
so.
Squeeze as much water as possible out of the thawed tofu and tear it
into small chunks. Add these to the saucepan. Add the chickpeas
(with their water) and the green puree. If you think the chili is too
thick, add some more water. (you can add more salt here too if you
like). Let it simmer for 15 minutes before serving, or until the
carrots are tender enough.