Have I ever told you about that time I entered a chili cooking contest?

It was 2012 and I’d been vegan for about 3 years. A friend was holding a chili cook-off as a fundraiser for their local fire department and the judges were the firefighters themselves.

Even though I didn’t cook with meat and this was a “normal” standard-American-diet chili party, I decided I’d enter a veggies-only chili. I went a little crazy preparing for it by creating and testing several chili recipes of my own design and deciding which one I thought was the most tasty. 

Over the course of two weeks, I ate a lot of chili.

After some experimentation, I selected the recipe that I thought was the best and named it “Give Peas A Chance.”

On the big day, there were about 25 chili entries and, except for mine, they were all loaded with various types of beef, game, chicken, bacon, sausage or a combination of all of it. As you can imagine, I didn’t expect to win anything.

But I did! My “Give Peas A Chance” chili shockingly won second place!

I couldn’t believe it. Everyone thought my plant-based creation was delicious.

I’ll always remember that experience because it taught me that people really like yummy food, even if it doesn’t have the exact ingredients that they’re used to. What matters is the flavor.

Before I started eating a vegan diet, I wasn’t that interested in cooking. I started playing around in the kitchen because that’s what you do when you suddenly start eating differently than everyone else.

That whole period of my life was revolutionary. I tried so many things and broke so many food rules. Most of these rules I’d invented for myself like: you can’t pair some things together or use certain ingredients in the same dish.

I’m not kidding you, I thought everything I made was insanely good. It was like I couldn’t mess up!

And really, I couldn’t. It turns out that plant foods are very forgiving and always satisfying once you learn how to use spices and seasonings.

That’s the reason that ethnic food is so delicious. Much of it is perfectly seasoned “peasant food.” 

Today, cooking is my favorite part of being vegan.

If you’re hesitant to try plant-based cooking because you’re afraid it won’t be tasty or satisfying, try amping up the spice. I think you’ll love the results!