Best Vegetarian Chili Recipe EVER!

Awesome recipe below, though this isn't technically a food blog.
I typically blog funny stuff, mostly about how I'm kind of a mess.
Please check out the archives and favorite posts on the right. Thanks!

Ingredients:

1 package of vegetarian taco filling

(Kiki says: SoyTaco rocks, as does MorningStar Farms' ground beef. I tried some stuff called GoLean last night, and it didn't break down very easily and required lots of fork mashing. In any case, the stuff that comes in a tube should do the trick.)

1 Large onion, severely diced
1 Green pepper, also severely diced
2 Cloves garlic, likewise diced up really fine
1 Jalapeno pepper, de-seeded and very finely diced
Ginger Root-- Diced to equal about as much as 1/2 of your thumb
3 TBS oil, I prefer canola
1/2 TBS Chili Powder
2 ts Cumin
1 (rounded) ts cayenne
1/2 TBS salt, adjusted to taste depending on the beans used
1/2 ts Cocoa Powder
1 (rounded) TBS ground Mustard Seed
1 can (the big ones) (@ 1 pound) tomatoes, I prefer the crushed kind
4 (15 oz) cans of Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
1 (6 oz) can of Tomato Paste
some water
some wine


Directions:

Open all the cans of beans, tomatoes and tomato paste. Set aside.
Drain and rinse the beans until all the canning fluid is gone. Set aside (typing 'set aside' makes me feel all cook-bookey...).

Heat the oil in a big ol' pot. A non-metal pot is best, really. (Kiki says: El_G is suggesting Pyrex/glass type pots because metals can interact with the tomato juices, but he also says that's being a bit particular. I use metal and it's fine.)

Dice up the onion, peppers, ginger and garlic. Dice them up as finely as is possible with a knife, although food processors do a great job of this as well.
Saute the diced vegetables on medium-low heat until the onions are clear, but not brown.
Add some red wine if you want to.
Add the crushed tomatoes and stir.
Add the tomato paste and some water. Stir.
Add the kidney beans.
Add the taco filling.
Stir, stir, stir.
If it looks too thick, add some more water.
Reduce the heat to a very low flame.
Add all of the spices.
Stir some more.
Put the lid on the pot and let it all simmer for at least an hour. More simmering won't hurt it, but I usually serve it once the onions aren't crunchy.

* * * * *
A Brief History

My ex, El_Gallo, put this recipe together ages ago, and re-emailed* it to me today. If you use the right fake meat, it thickens just like "real" chili, but is ever so much more healthful and scrumptious!

I had never liked chili -- hell, I'd never even liked beans before I tried this -- but for whatever reason (the weather, my mood, my newfound San Francisco open-mindedness) it just hit the spot lo those many moons ago.

Now, every year I make it when we're experiencing weather like this. Brrrr!

Enjoy!



*El_G has emailed me this recipe no fewer than five times. I thought I had it stored in my Gmail, but apparently not. So now I figure I am immortalizing it by putting it here. No matter where I am, I can Google "El_Gallo vegetarian chili" et voila! Bon appetite!