Pale Ale Chili with Four Beans

I've been making this chili recipe for years, way before those great Boca crumbles came out. I used to chop up Boca burgers instead of beef and make this for parties, not telling anyone it was vegan. Even the biggest carnivores were fooled, and the veggies were nervous, "are you sure there's no meat in this?" I actually sorta prefer the way the chunks of Boca burger "meat" hold together after the hours of simmering. But, the crumbles are so much easier to just dump in, so I'll put both ways in the recipe and you can choose for yourself. You can serve this with any number of toppings: green onions, red onions, cilantro, avocado, hot sauce, cheese, sour cream, etc. Serve with chips or corn bread. Put leftovers on veggie dogs or burgers.

3 Tbsps EVOO

2 yellow onions, chopped

6 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 12oz package Boca ground crumbles OR 1 box Boca burgers (original vegan) chopped

2 12oz bottles pale ale (I use Sierra Nevada)

1 32oz can diced tomatoes, w/juice

1 16oz can kidney beans, w/juice

1 16oz can black beans, w/juice

1 16oz can great northern beans, w/juice

1 16oz can pinto beans, w/juice

6 Tbsps chili powder

2 Tbsps ground cumin

1 Tbsp ground pepper

Salt to taste

Heat oil in large pot or dutch oven and saute onion and garlic until golden. Add Boca "meat" and saute another minute or two. Deglaze the pot with 1 bottle of beer until foam disappears. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (through pepper) and simmer 2 1/2 to 3 hours, covered, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste and serve with various toppings on the side.

Serves 6