Chili Cook-off - 2nd Place

The law firm I work for has been fundraising for the United Way, and, one of the events was a Chili Cook-off!  I got asked to participate because of course one time I told the person who happened to be organizing the event that I like to cook, as she had smelled my lunch that I was warming in the microwave.  Of course, I did not tell her that food had been made by my mom.  HA!  KARMA sucks.  So I'd never made chili before, and here I was participating in a chili contest.  Thankfully, over the weekend, S. had made his yummy chili, and I was able to watch and take tips from him.

S.'s Veggie Chili

 

I used the same basic method as S., but I forgot to buy some ingredients and therefore had to play it by ear.  Uh oh.  It was also my first time using a crock pot.  Double uh oh.  Thankfully, with some help from my mom and advice from S., the chili turned out great!  In fact, I managed to nab second place in the cook-off!  

My "Just Because It's Vegetarian, Doesn't Mean It's Not Good" Chili

 

And, an actual testimonial from a partner at my firm:

"I voted for yours.  In a million years, I never would have guessed that I would vote for veggie chili.  I’m going to need the recipe for that."

 

The thing is, I know what I put in it, I just never measured how much of what I put in it. I'll have to get back to him (and you) on that when I can sit down and figure it out. For the time being, I'll tell you the two "secret" ingredients were BBQ sauce and Thai Peanut sauce (thanks to S.). Also, the Boca Veggie Crumbles were a hit, and people actually thought I had lied by calling my chili vegetarian!  Go figure.