White Chili with Tofu and Pintos

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced
1 calabaza squash, cut into triangles
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 staks celery, diced
Handful of mushrooms
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 lb pepper Jack cheese, grated
6 cups water, mixed
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp scallion, chopped
1 small handful cilantro, chopped
2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 block firm tofu, torn to bite sized pieces
1 cup TVP
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup half and half
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of cumin
1 tsp habanero powder or cayenne (or more to taste)
1 small can hatch chiles
1 small container sour cream
Jalapeno peppers, minced,for garnish

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a stock pot and add onion, garlic, pepper, carrot and celery. Saute until onion is translucent, 4 minutes. Add zucchini and mushrooms, toss, and cook another 3 minutes.

Add water, nutritional yeast, beans, cumin and habanero, herbs, chilis, TVP, salt, and sugar – stir well and simmer 20 minutes, until all veggies have softened. At this point, add your tofu – I fried mine in a little vegetable oil and drained it before tossing it in the pot for texture, but either way works just fine.

Remove the pot from the heat. Add the frozen corn. Toss your cheese with the cornstarch. Add in handfuls at a time and stir to melt. Ladle a small bit of broth into a measuring cup and mix your sour cream into it until well-blended, then pour into the pot. Add half and half a little at a time until the chili is the right consistency and taste for salt and heat.

Garnish with cilantro and chopped jalapeno.

From nofaceplate.blogspot.com