As promised, here is the recipe for the vegan low-carb (well, relatively - this obviously will contain carbohydrates) chili... with tofu brought to within an inch of its life. I will give you a more normal amount of ingredients than what I made, though.
Three-and-a-half-bean vegan Chili
soak dry beans over night:
65 g kidney beans,
65 g white beans,
65 g pinto beans,
30 g chickpeas
For the tofu crumbles:
400 g tofu, finely crumbled
for the marinade:
2 tblsp ground ginger (dried)
1 tblsp garlic, finely chopped
cayenne pepper
6 tblsp. tahini
2-3 tblsp. maple syrup
50 ml soy sauce
water as needed
olive oil
and the rest:
20 g dried tomatoes
1 small onion
2-3 packets of tomato puree or tomato pieces (finely chopped)
1 small bell pepper, cut into small pieces
1 can of corn
salt, cinnamon, cocoa (the dark unsweetened stuff for baking), maple syrup, chili
Mix marinade together and mix in the tofu; let sit for about 2 hrs (or longer). Soak dried tomatoes in water. Boil the soaked beans until done, about 45 min to 1 hr should do the job (do not add salt!).
Place tofu onto a baking sheet with generous amounts of olive oil and put into the oven (fan assisted, 170°C). Turn every 10-15 mins, until tofu is really brown and crisp.
Fry the onion in olive oil until nicely browned, add tomato puree. Cut dried tomatoes into small pieces, add together with their bath water. Add salt, cinnamon, about 1 tblsp cocoa powder, about 2 tblsp maple syrup, and chili to taste. Let simmer for at least one hour. (For the large batch, I simmered the chili in one packet of tomato, on the side - that allowed to add in as much of the spicy tomato stuff as needed later on, and avoided accidental too-hot-ness.)
Drain the cooked beans, add drained beans and tofu to the tomato sauce, add drained corn and the bell pepper. Mix well, re-heat, enjoy.
