White Bean Chili with Pickled Radishes and Guacamole

It’s not really Fall nor chili season yet, but it IS pretty chilly right now for Texas. No clue what happened with this cold front that blew in this week, but we’ve been in the 80s here. What the WHAT?! Yep, 80s in October in Texas at last. Not just for a brief moment in time, but most of the week.

That sound you hear is my wallet crying with joy over saving on the AC bill. 😉 So in celebration of the savings and the cooler weather, there nothing better than making a batch of white chili. For some reason, I prefer the white chili over the tomato-based, red chili. Not sure why, but I always opt for it when making it or if I have a choice.

I made White Turkey Chili that has kidney beans in it, but this time I used navy beans. Got a bean at home that you like? Use it and don’t feel stuck with kidney, navy. Pop open a can of any ole bean and get to chili. Also to make things easy, go with prepared stuff in a pinch. I did that with the guacamole here and just used a packet of Wholly Guacamole instead of making my own. Time saved and life is easy. 😉

White Bean Chili with Pickled Radishes and Guacamole 

• 7 ounces 3-grain tempeh, crumbled (See notes for real meat alternative)
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• ⅛ tsp ground coriander
• Pinch cayenne, to taste
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 lime
• 1/2 cup (80g) radishes, sliced
• 1/2 cup (75g) yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 poblano pepper, seeds removed and diced (~35g)
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube
• 3/4 cup (175g) white hominy
• 15 oz can navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 corn tortillas
• 2 oz prepared guacamole
• Fresh cilantro and lime slices for garnish

Crumble the tempeh into small chunks and place in a bowl. Cut the lime in half and squeeze one half over the tempeh. Toss tempeh with the cumin, coriander, cayenne, and paprika. Set aside to marinate for about 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Thinly slice the radishes and place in a small bowl. Squeeze the other half of the lime over the radishes. Salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat. Set aside to marinate.

Dice the onions and peppers. Heat a pot over medium heat and spray with non-stick spray. Add the onions and peppers and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tempeh crumbles and stir to combine. Cook for another 3 minutes until the onion is softened.

Add 3 cups of water, the bouillon cube, and the hominy to the pot and stir well. Bring to a boil. Add the drained navy beans to the pot. Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Slice the corn tortillas into triangles or strips. Divide the chili into bowls. Top with the pickled radishes, tortillas, guacamole, cilantro, and lime slices.

Makes 4 servings at approximately 344 calories each – 21g protein, 47g carbs, and 9g fat.

Notes

I know there are plenty of you out there that want a carnivorous version of this recipe (AKA where’s the meat?!) so let’s make it happen. All of my recipes are flexible like that so don’t ever feel stuck to use a specific protein. Unless I indicate that you can’t use anything else, pretty much every ingredient can be fair game to be subbed for something else.

This chili is great with either ground turkey or ground beef in place of the tempeh. To use either of these, brown 1/2 lb of the meat in a pan until cooked thoroughly. Toss with the spices and lime juice, and marinate it just like I did with the tempeh. Follow the recipe along and then just toss the marinated meat in when I added the tempeh.

Voila, meat-based white chili. See how that works?! No strange hippie meat sub required, LOL. So tell me, do you prefer one chili over another? White or red?