Fast Summer Soup with Bacon
Vegetable Chili. Meat Welcomed as Well
This recipe is a vegetarian offering that contains potatoes, corn, black beans, diced tomatoes, and green onions or scallions. The potatoes need to be cooked for either version, but the chili that results can be either hot or cold. If you would like some meat added, some crispy bacon is perfect and that is discussed in the preparation steps below.
Hot chili on a cool spring or summer late-night might be just the right dish for you and a friend. During a hot summer's afternoon, a cool bowl of flavorful vegetables in a chili is refreshing as it is delicious, with a palette of tastes to interest your tongue.
Paprika Potatoes
I like to use paprika for seasoning potato cubes, because my favorite potatoes ever were diced hash brown potatoes with paprika cooked to order in the Toddle House Restaurant in Bexley, Ohio. I must have been eight years old and seated at the counter, I could watch the grillman cook and I could smell the appetizing aroma.
The Toddle House no longer exists in Bexley, but the memories of the counter, the grillman, and the food are still great!
How to Avoid GMO Corn
GMO is a big public concern now, but some markets sell non-GMO corn. The best way to avoid the stuff is to grow your own with heritage seeds.
If you cannot grow your own corn, check local farmers' markets for non-GMO crops and products. Meanwhile, you might try shopping at over 3,200 stores that participate in the Non-GMO Project across the United States.
Not all of the 115 participating retailers in Ohio sell corn, but many do sell corn. In addition, some sell some very interesting products, like those following:
- The Bexley Natural Market: This is an inner suburb of Columbus, Ohio at 508 N. Cassady Avenue. The store is always well stocked with a variety of fresh goods. www.bexleynaturalmarket.org This grocery store is a nonprofit co-op that sells healthy locally produced foods of many kinds. Handmade pies are available as well and are delicious.
- Cherokee Valley Bison Ranch Farm Market: 12320 Lonesome Rd, Thornville OH 43076. Many heirloom vegetables are kept in stock. wild-wooly-horny.blogspot.com/
- Dorothy Lane Market: Dayton, Ohio and several suburbs.
- Earth Fare: Several Locations, headquartered in Fletcher NC.
- Heinen's grocery store chain: Dozens of locations, headquartered in Cleveland OH.
- Phoenix Earth Food Co-op: Toledo, Ohio.
- Whole Foods Markets: Several locations in North America; offices in Austin TX.
Check the local farmers markets in and around your city and you'll likely find some heritage corn, too!
Hot or Cold Veggie Chili for Spring and Summer - Please rate this recipe!
This dish forms the central offering in a low-prep meal that you and your family and friends can enjoy.
Cook Time
For cold chili, the time needed for refrigeration is about 30 minutes. For the hot chili, cooking time once all of the ingredients are together in a pot is about 20 minute.
- 1 15 oz. can Whole kernel corn, drained, or 2 cups fresh or frozen kernels
- 1 15 oz. can Black beans, drained, or 2 cups leftover cooked black beans
- 1 15 oz. can Diced tomatoes with spices or jalepenos, or a large fresh tomato, diced and seasoned to your liking.
- 2 to 3 Cups Cubed potatoes, washed and cubed skin-on
- 3-4 Green onions, or scallions; sliced thin: all of the white and part of the green
- Sea Salt or Garlic Salt to taste
- White Pepper to taste
- Paprika to taste
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- A sliced green onion and 1/4 Cup chopped parsley (optional), to use as a garnish
This dish is good with the addition of some crisp bacon and I like cut up sausages for the hot version. You might also try some of the small frozen turkey meatballs you find in the freezer case at the grocery store - or you may be a cook that makes your own meatballs and keeps them in the freezer.
- In a large frying pan, pour a tablespoon of olive oil, heat over medium heat, and sauté green onion slices for two minutes. Hint: if you want to add bacon, then cook a few strips of bacon in the pan without the oil until crisp, remove it to a paper towel to drain, and cook the onions in the bacon drippings. In either case, spoon out the onions with a slotted spoon into a large bowl.
- Add two tablespoons of olive oil to the frying pan and add the potato cubes, cooking until tender-firm. While cooking, add sea salt of garlic salt, white pepper, and paprika to taste. I like th potatoes to have the red cast of the paprika.
- Remove potatoes to the large bowl with a slotted spoon.
- If you choose a cold chili, turn off the stove top burner. Add corn kernels, black beans, and tomatoes with juice to the large bowl. Stir, taste, and re-season to your liking. Hint: the small amount of heat from the poatoes will help flavors of the entire chili to meld. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and sit the bowl in the refrigerator until contents are chilled. Before serving, add fresh green onion slices to the top of the chili as a garnish.
- If you choose hot chili, place the potatoes, onions, bacon, corn, beans, and tomatoes in a large pot on the stove top over medium-high heat and cook until warmed through and fragrant, Add some tomato juice or water if the mixture becomes too dry. Serve in bowls with green onions and/or parsley as a garnish and consider a dollop of yogurt of low-fat sour cream.
- With either cold or hot chili, serve your dish with your favorite bread and some jam, butter, or peanut butter.
© 2015 Patty Inglish MS
