Chili Mac!

For the past week I wanted to make a box of vegan mac + chreeze that I stashed away since my arrival in Missoula.  The only problem with boxed mac + chreeze is: it requires a stove top.  And if you did not read my last post, well, frankly I am in no hurry to use the dormitory kitchen.  With my luck, I would manage to set off the fire-alarm just by boiling macaroni shells. -_- 

On inspiration of what my Dad and brother do when they go back-packing, I decided to doctor up the boxed mac + chreeze as chili mac. The all-purpose, stick to your ribs, complete meal.  Also, the end reasult resembles mush, which I find appealing on many levels.  (I was obviously not the child who insisted on partitions between the peas and potatoes on the dinner plate.)  Recipe makes about 2-3 portions. 

Ingredients:

1 box of vegan Mac + Chreeze (I used Road's End, not the GF kind or you will end up with sawdust chili mac)

1/4 onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 heaping tbsp chili powder

1tsp cumin

1 14oz can chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 cup water

1 cup cooked beans (I cooked approx. 1/2 dried adzuki beans, but any small dark bean would be good.  Go crazy with experimenting! A mix of black, red beans, or even garbanzo would be yummy)

cilantro and tomatillo salsa, optional

Directions:

The goal here is to create a chili-chreeze sauce that the pasta will slowly cook in.  Turn the crock pot onto the LOW setting and pour the olive oil in to warm up.  Meanwhile, chop the onion if you haven't already. (Shame on all you who don't do your prep-work [insert scowl]).  Add the onion, chili powder, chreeze packet from box and cumin to the warmed olive oil.  Toss around the mixture a bit with a spatula to fully incorporate.

Dump the can of tomatoes, 1 cup of the water and the pasta into the crockpot, stir well. It will look rather unappealing at this point, but that means you are doing everything correctly.  Cover the crockpot and keep it on LOW for about 2-3 hours--or turn on HIGH for about 45minutes to 1 1/2 hours.  About 20 minutes before serving, stir up the mixture, to "un-stick" from the side of the crockpot.  Add the last 1/2 cup of water--or more as needed--and cooked beans.  Stir to fully incorporate. Cover for the last 20 minute to fully heat the beans through.

When ready to serve, top off with a handful of cilantro and about 2-3tbsp of tomatillo salsa.  I ended up eating everything before I could take a picture with the tomatillo salsa and cilantro on top. But, I strongly urge all chefs to not skimp on these ingredients.  They make the chili-mac taste more "farmers’ market fresh" and less "camping in the backwoods with canned veg."

Happy dormitory camping!

Cheers, kaite ;]