Can we be done with winter now?! <br />After three ice or snow events in the last month, this North Carolinian is ready to see the end to the madness. One winter storm is rare enough, but three has tested my patience to the point that I'm considering buying a house in Ecuador and never even travelling north of the equator for the rest of my life. But enough of this rant. <br />What puts the warmth back in your bones after having to scrape ice off your car? Or even walk to your car? Chili! <br />Last summer I bought ten pounds of heirloom tomatoes from the farmers stand and fire roasted them, chopped some, pureed some, froze some whole, bagged them and froze them.Even though it feels like it will never happen, spring is indeed on the way, so I need to make all the room I can in my freezer for the coming season's haul. What better way of using up a couple of pounds of tomatoes than a gigantic pot of chilli? I can't think of one. <br />I don't buy ground meat from a supermarket -ever- and I plan on freezing most of this and taking the other half to work. I just started a new job, and don't get me wrong I love it, but I don't know my co-workers well enough to share my venison with them. I wonder if I'll ever know them that well. Thus, we arrive at meatless chili. <br />But, why stop there? Let's go totally vegan on this one, not tell anyone, and see if they even notice. This recipe calls for canned or frozen heirloom tomatoes, dried california chiles, tri-color quinoa, brown rice, garbanzo and black beans. As you can see, what it lacks in meat it makes up for in vegan protein and flavor. The chiles add a sweet, tangy spice, the heirloom tomatoes speak for themselves, and I've got a special trick for the beans that will pack them with flavor.

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