Another recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian book.
I can’t find a link to this recipe online, but it’s basically just a vegetarian chili with kidney beans (I used borlotti, which are more pinto-ish, because I already had some soaked and cooked,) served over polenta which has a bit of butter and parmesan cheese added to it. Very yummy dish, but I do feel a little embarassed, as a Texan, to call this “Tex-Mex Chili.” I mean, really…there were no Fritos or onions or grated orange cheese over the top of it. And, HELLO??? There was NO MEAT! And there were LENTILS in it!!! It was good, but this really should be called polenta topped with bean stew or something. I will make this again (with the polenta subbing for the Fritos, it’s kind of an upscale Frito pie,) but will probably adapt my own vegetarian chili recipe to use more Tex-Mex spices and maybe add some textured vegetable protein, to at least make you FEEL like there could be meat in it. I like the combo of polenta and chili, though. Creamy and soft, mixed with warm and spicy.