The base is like chili with a light sauce only simpler. I mixed beans and vegetables together with traditional chili spices and the juice of 1 lime, and spread it out evenly in a baking pan. Then I top it with a simple cornbread recipe and bake.
Any cooked bean you would use to make chili works in this recipe. I've happily made this with black beans, red kidney beans and Romano beans. Pinto beans or cranberry beans would also be fantastic. If you use canned beans, try to find no-salt-added beans. Some stores even sell bags of precooked, no-salt-added frozen beans.
I give amounts for my favourite mixture of spices for chili. To make it even easier, replace all the spices listed with 4 teaspoons of your favourite chili seasoning blend and 1 Tablespoon of dried oregano.
For the cornbread topping, I mix cornmeal, masa harina, and baking powder with sour soy milk, ground flax seed, and apple sauce. Masa harina is a prepared corn flour used to make corn tortillas; Maseca is a popular brand. It adds a nice texture and corn flavour to the cornbread. Feel free to replace the masa harina with any other flour or flour blend, if you prefer. I mix ground flax with apple sauce for extra binding power and sweetness. If you don't like your cornbread sweet, mix the flax with water instead.
I like to bake this in a glass or ceramic baking dish. I like that I don't have to grease it or line it with parchment paper. The edge of the cornbread will stick, but the base won't. Simply run a knife around the edge of the pan to release the cornbread when serving. The downside is that these dishes take longer to heat up so the cooking time is longer. If you want to use a metal pan you will have to line it with parchment paper and check to see if it's done after 25 minutes.
Just a reminder: my recipes are gluten-free as I make them. If you have Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance, please, make sure that all the ingredients you use are gluten-free.
makes 4 servings
Beans:
2 cups cooked or 1 can beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 small potato, diced
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground Ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
juice of 1 lime
1 cup frozen corn
Cornbread:
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened soy)
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
3 Tablespoons apple sauce or water, room temperature
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup masa harina or other gluten-free flour or flour blend
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt (optional)
Mix the non-dairy milk, water, and rice vinegar together then set aside. Combine the ground flax seed and apple sauce (or water), and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the sour non-dairy milk with the flax and applesauce mixture. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix well.
To your health and happiness,
Beans and Rice