I wanted to get my two favorite chili recipes up pronto because the weather is turning and I tend to think of chili as a cold-weather meal. (How could you not? It's pronounced the same as "chilly.")
I realize I've posted a lot of meals involving beans lately. But this is a meat-free blog, so you probably expected that. I'll work on it, though.
Quinoa Chili
First:
1. This is adapted from Six Sisters Stuff (link here) by my friend Liz. Her M.O. is to add lots of spices to meatless meals to make things more interesting. I love her adaptations and only make it her way.
2. If you don't like quinoa, but still want to incorporate this superfood into your diet, this recipe is for you. All the flavors drown out the nutty taste. The nutty taste doesn't do it for me, either, but I love the texture of the quinoa in this chili.
3. This will make you dinner for three days. Perfect for company, or for a week you don't want to cook much. The leftovers are awesome as vegetarian taco fillers in a whole wheat tortilla with sour cream and cheese.
(The first time my toddler climbed into his chair and buckled it himself was when we were going to eat this. Coincidence? Doubtful.)
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with Italian spices (undrained)
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained (or use the empty bean can to measure out frozen corn, that's what I do)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups of chicken stock or broth (I will use chicken or vegetable broth - whatever I have on hand - but the only veggie broth I love is the Pacific stuff. It's the best).
A little red bell pepper, chopped
Some baby carrots, chopped
A half or one minced onion
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili powder
Throw in a handful of spinach. Why not? Adds more color and you can never get through that Costco bag in time, anyway.
Directions:
Place everything in a 6-quart slow cooker and cook 5-7 hours on low. Keep warm until ready to serve. Garnish with cheese and/or sour cream.
*The nice thing about the quinoa chili is if you use veggie broth, you get to pretend you're vegan for a few minutes...until you load in the sour cream and cheese.
Vegetarian Chili
(Adapted from this recipe, but really, do it my way. And that photo doesn't even look like it.)
Ingredients:
1 can (about 15 oz) Amy's Organic Black Bean and Vegetable Soup
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can vegetarian baked beans (do NOT drain...and I vote you get Busch's. I really like their vegetarian beans.)
1 14.5 oz can chopped or diced tomatoes in puree
Frozen corn, eyeball it
Half an onion, chopped
Some green bell pepper, chopped (eyeball it)
2 stalks celery, chopped (optional, just as good without)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
Dried parsley
Dried oregano
Dried basil (it calls for a tablespoon of each spice, but that's waaaay too much. Eyeball it. Maybe half a tbs? Really. Eyeball it. I trust you.)
Directions:
Combine all in crockpot, and cook 3 or 4 hours on high. The original recipe says 2 hours, but your vegetables will still be crunchy if you only do 2. So don't listen to those allrecipes powers that be. Listen to me. It's delicious with cornbread, too. Tastes even better as leftovers.
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