Chili for a Chilly night

It has been getting colder lately. That usually means my propensity to make soup goes way up. I don't really like eating soup when it's hot out. I made vegetarian chili last night. I started making veggie chili from a recipe from one of my first cookbooks  "Express Lane Cookbook: Fast, Healthful Meals with Minimal Cleanup" by Sarah Fritschner after graduating college. Instead of meat for heartiness, the author used cracked wheat to give the chili that texture that meat-eaters crave in a chili. I've had several people tell me they didn't even realize it was vegetarian until I told them.
Since my early "bachelorette" days, I've used that recipe as a base and made many variations  - Beer chili, black bean chili, white bean chili, chili using the Trader Joe's soy chorizo instead of the bulgur, chili with summer squash. They've all turned out great! The original recipe called to use cans of tomatoes, beans and green chilies which is easy and fast, but I've moved on to using as many fresh ingredients as possible. I was glad to use up more CSA veggies (onion, all the peppers, tomatoes, carrots, celeriac). Also the garlic I used came from my garden. That is one of the easiest "vegetables" to grow. I'm definitely planting more for the next season - which I need to get on soon!

Tonight's variation Black bean CSA Chili:
1 cup boiled water
1 cup bulgur aka cracked wheat (put in the boiled water, cover and set aside for later)

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic diced
cook onions and garlic in oil until soft then add

2 carrots chopped
1/2 med/large celeriac bulb (usually the recipe calls for 2-3 ribs of celery)
cook until veggies have softened then add the spices and cook for about a minute more.

~1 teaspoon oregano
~1 tablespoon cumin
~1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I use an Indian hot chili pepper powder that is AWESOME)

Add the rest of the ingredients including the steamed bulgur that had been previously set aside, bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 15-20 min or so or until everything is thoroughly cooked.
1-1/2 red peppers cored and chopped
1 red chili (or jalapeno)
~4-5 tomatoes chopped (I also used a bunch of cherry tomatoes from my garden that I had previously frozen)
2 cups plus beans - I used black beans this time
4-6 cups water

salt & pepper to taste


I also made some cornbread with the chili. I just use the recipe on the "Aunt Jemima" cornmeal box:
1-1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 sugar
pinch salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
mix, pour into greased pan (I used a ~5" x 9" pan), bake at 400degF for about 20-25 min or when a toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden-ish.

Lovely meal for a lovely evening! What's your favorite chili recipe?