Vegetable Chili — The Kind You Bring When a Brother Needs a Meal and a Moment

2018 started the same way 2017 ended: with Caleb doing the work. He is at twenty weeks now. He has moved out of Terry's house and into a small apartment on the north side — a studio, furnished basically, a place to be himself without being under his mother's watch, which is a necessary step and one the counselor in his program specifically recommended. He drove me to see it last Saturday. A studio with a good window facing south and a small kitchen and a bathroom with a leaky faucet he had already fixed, because that is what Caleb does now: he fixes things.

I brought food to the apartment warming. Chili, cornbread in a Dutch oven, a six-pack of Coors Light. Not a party. A brother and a brother and some food and the satisfaction of a space that is Caleb's. He put the chili on the stove to warm and we sat at the card table he had gotten from somewhere and ate off paper plates and he seemed comfortable in a way I had not seen him seem in years. Not happy in the obvious way. Comfortable. Like the apartment fit. Like he fit in the apartment.

The pipeline project is moving to Osage County in February. New section, longer drive, more complex geology. I have been on enough projects to know that Osage County means hilly terrain and limestone substrate and the kind of welding conditions that remind you that every site is different and the work does not repeat itself even when it looks the same from the outside. I have been welding for eleven years. I am still learning things about the ground.

I made sofkee again this week, the properly nixtamalized version, the third attempt. It was better than the second, which was better than the first. Hannah tasted it and said it tasted like what she has been serving at the nutrition program workshops, which is to say it tasted like the standard she has been working from. That is the highest possible benchmark I have access to and I have matched it. That is enough for now. I will keep making it until it is not a recipe I am following but a recipe I own, the way kanuchi is a recipe I own now. That takes years. The years are happening.

The chili I brought to Caleb’s apartment warming was this one — nothing fancy, nothing that required a grocery list longer than what I already had on hand, which felt right for what the night was. You don’t bring a showpiece meal to a card table with paper plates; you bring something that reheats well on a small stove, something that fills a room with a smell that says someone who loves you made this. Vegetable chili has always been what I reach for when I want the food to hold steady in the background and let everything else — the conversation, the ease of a brother who finally seems to fit somewhere — come forward.

Vegetable Chili

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Optional toppings: shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced scallions, hot sauce

Instructions

1. Sweat the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
2. Build the base. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and cayenne if using. Cook the spices in the oil for 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Add the vegetables and beans. Add the zucchini, corn, black beans, and kidney beans. Stir to coat everything in the spiced base.
4. Add the tomatoes and broth. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and vegetable broth. Stir well and bring to a boil.
5. Simmer low and slow. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30–35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili has thickened and the flavors have come together. Season with salt and black pepper.
6. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top as you like. It transports well and reheats even better — the flavor deepens by the next day.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 265 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 12g | Sodium: 540mg