Sweet and Spicy Chili, Backyard Barbecue Chili and Orange and Thyme-Scented White Bean and "Sausage" Chili

I love soup and especially chili when it gets cold. Plus I got a new cookbook (Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson) with several new chili recipes. So, it's no surprise that I cooked up three pots of chili in the span of about one week.

The first was Sweet and Spicy Chili.
Delicious! Not as good as the chili from Passionate Vegetarian but this chili was fast and easy to make. Plus it was a good, solid chili. Not too spicy but with enough flavor to keep you interested. I made a few alterations; Four cloves of garlic instead of two, four oz. of tomato paste instead of six and only one teaspoon of olive oil. I ate this served over jasmine rice.

Stats:
Vegan
Total Calories: 1970
Makes: about 8 cups
Cooking Time: About an hour
Find it: On page 321 of Vegan Planet
Taste: Good. I'll make it again when I want chili fast and easy.

Next up was Backyard Barbecue Chili.
I was excited about this one because I LOVE BBQ sauce. Sadly, this chili was only okay. It did not fulfill my dreams of the love child of BBQ sauce and chili. I did eat it all but it was more of a 'I'd better eat this so it doesn't go bad'.

STATS:
Vegan
Total Calories: 1584
Makes: about 6 cups
Cooking Time: About an hour
Find it: On page 324 of Vegan Planet
Taste: Passable. But with all the other awesome chilies out there, I won't be making this again.

Last, Orange and Thyme-Scented White Bean and "Sausage" Chili
Not good. Which is too bad cause it sounded so fancy. It even says in the description that it's 'sophisticated enough for company'. But I would not serve this to company. The tastes were all very strong but didn't seem to meld. Ever. Even after extra simmering and a few days. I hate to waste food so I did finish it, but it was a struggle.

STATS:
Vegan
Total Calories: 1234
Makes: About 6 cups
Cooking Time: About one hour
Find it: On page 325 of Vegan Planet
Taste: No thanks. I won't be making this again.

I meant to make all the chilies in this book but since the last two were less than wonderful, I think I need to reset my chili tasters and make the Neo-Chili from Passionate Vegetarian.