This is totally random. I’ve been having ratatouille lately. Ratatouille basically means “stew with eggplant.” It’s great stuff, and has added further fuel to my passionate love for the eggplant. It’s the coolest veggie in the world. It can substitute for anything.
So I have an idea: the next time I make chili, I’m going to substitute one eggplant, cut into 1 inch squares for every can of beans the recipie recommends.
Wish me luck…
neumatikos 
A word from The Great Experimenter, a title recorded on at least one recipe card:
How about if you substitute for just one can of beans and see how it turns out. Consider some of the properties of beans compared with those of eggplant. B and E may have similar densities, but that may be where it ends.
Eggplant may be a better sub for some tomatoes, or it may work well as yet another participant rather than a sub.
And, ummm . . . you don’t plan to have chili this summer, do you? Ice cream in the winter is ok, but chili in the summer? I don’t knowwww…!
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chili is fine any time of year. eggplant tho…
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No Chili in the Summer? What did cowboys eat before there were hamburger joints?
And there can never be a substitute for tomatoes!!!
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Hamburger joints? Why would a cowboy want to eat a hamburger joint?
OK. Go ahead and eat chili all summer long. And defile it with eggplant but not in place of something else. Just add it. I’m sitting here shaking my head. I just can’t see a lasting place for eggplant in chili.
I would stick with ratatouille and eggplant parmigiana. It would be really tasty in pasketti, too. I’m just not seeing it in chili.
And that’s all I have to say about that for now.
Next time you talk to the Italy-visiting cabinet painting Tennessee slug, tell her hello for me.
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besides, isn’t summer when people have chili cookoffs?
I’m not liking bloglet. it doesn’t notify about a new post immediately when you put something up, by the time I get anything from bloglet, i’ve seen your post for quite a while.
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Hmm. MT has a built-in version, but it has the drawback of not being able to unsubscribe without emailing me.
I may set that one up and see if it works better… later
KB
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this might help — if you’re not into soy [I’m neutral but my Maker’s diet says no–not sure why]go ahead and try this with the regular ground beef:
Laszlo’s Eggplant-Soy Chili
12 ounces dried red beans
3 bay leaves
8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
3 large onions, diced
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 eggplants, unpeeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
2 cups dry red wine
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups tomato paste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup liquid smoke
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hot pepper sauce
2 cups texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
Combine beans and bay leaves in enough water to cover beans. Soak overnight in refrigerator. Drain and add fresh water to cover. Cook beans for 45 minutes; remove from heat and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, sauté one-third of the garlic, one-third of the onion and one-third of the tomato over high heat. As tomato softens, add one-third of the eggplant. Stir gently, then cover and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Next add one-third of the wine and one-third of the stock. Simmer until eggplant is soft, then transfer to a large stockpot; keep warm. Repeat previous steps until all garlic, onion, tomatoes, eggplant, wine and stock are added to stockpot.
Remove bay leaves from beans; add beans to stockpot. Add any remaining bean liquid along with tomato paste. Stir well and cook chili on medium heat.
Pour oil into a small saucepan and heat on medium-high. Mix in cumin and quickly fry into a paste. Add to chili, stirring well.
Add liquid smoke, soy sauce, hot pepper sauce and TVP; stir well, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water as needed. Serve over rice, if desired.
Makes 12 servings.
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