SuperDuper Vegetarian Chili

First, prepare your dried chiles: in a large, cast iron skillet heat your chiles on all sides, charring them. You may want to do this outside on your grill, because charring chilies can get a might bit smokey. Once they're charred all over, cover them with water and let them soak for about an hour.

Now, while your peppers are soaking, in a Dutch oven heat about half a cup of oil, and working in batches, "brown" your imitation meat crumbles. Season them liberally with cumin, Mexican oregano, chili powder, and one packet of imitation ham flavoring. After the fake meat has browned and seasoned, remove the "meat" from the oven, and then saute your onion, green pepper, and garlic in the remaining oil until tender.

Once the veggies are soft, return the fake meat to the pan and add the tomato juice and the beer. Then add the rest of the dried ingredients, including the jalapenos and/or serranos. Now, your soaking dried peppers are probably ready to puree. Drain the water from them, remove their woody stems, and put them, seeds and all, into a blender. Add about a cup of water and puree the peppers. You should have a thick reddish paste when you're finished. Stir this stuff into the chili.

Once all the ingredients are in your Dutch oven or large pot, simmer for about three hours on low heat. If you would like a thicker, creamy texture to the final product, you can add the masa harina (or even flour) close to the end, which will act as a thickening agent.

Serve topped with cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, a dollop of sour cream, some pico, and maybe even avocado cubes! Or better, use this chili for a chilidog or chili cheese omelet! Now that's SUPER DUPER!