Vegetarian Chili
I am currently mad at my brother-in-law for suggesting the documentary, Forks Over Knives to Blair. He is entirely convinced that he should now be vegan and we should eat a plant-based diet. Yeah, no thanks. I mean after watching Food Inc., I was totally gun-ho about buying solely organic, that was until we bought a house. You have to cut somewhere when you make that kind of investment and for us, one of the places was organic meat. I don’t believe every documentary that we watch and I am really hoping that someone comes out with the opposite opinion very soon that way Blair can get off this crazy kick he has going on. Doesn’t he realize that I write a food blog?! Think about the readers!!
Alas, I am being dramatic. Blair is still eating whatever I put in front of him, but we may be looking into taking our one vegetarian meal a week and upping the amount to two, I can handle that. I do thoroughly enjoy cooking and finding new meatless meals to make each week. We also have the old standbys that have served us well.
The temperatures plummeted here in NJ a few weeks ago and all I could think about was soup and chili. I went grocery shopping and after bearing the cold, I just had to make this chili immediately. I scrapped the meal plan for the night and went with this dish instead. I am so glad I did. Not only does it come together in under 30 minutes, but it packs a lot of flavors. It may just be my new favorite chili recipe. It has some Mexican flair to it, which always wins me over, and has the perfect amount of heat. So when the cold temperatures come to get you, curl up with a bowl of this!
Vegetarian Chili
Ingredients:
- 1 (28 ounces) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large yellow onion or 2 small ones, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (15.5 ounces) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15.5 ounces) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
- Salt and pepper
Lime wedges and chopped avocado for serving
Directions:
Pour tomatoes into the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until coarsely ground (I skipped this step and used petite diced tomatoes instead). Set aside.
In a large pot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, saute onions until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and garlic, and cook until fragrant.
Pour in drained beans, minced chiles, and prepared tomatoes. Simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in frozen corn, and cook until heated through approximately 2-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the chili is too thick, add in a few tablespoons of water to thin it out. Before serving, top with cheese or avocado.
