Veggie Chili

This is a simple and great tasting recipe to get started with. Usually I make chili in the fall/winter, but the weather was a little cooler this week and it sounded good so we had it for dinner last night. There are two ways to make the chili, either cooked on the stove or in the crock pot. I prefer to make everything in the crock pot, it really is my favorite thing in the kitchen. I often work in the afternoons and it is great to get home at 5 or 5:30 with dinner already basically done. I will give directions for both methods though.

This chili will have a nice flavor, a little spicy, as chili should be, but not too spice for those who like more mild flavors. It’s also great because it can be frozen, it saves in the refrigerator for a few days and reheats well.

Ingredients

1 TBL oil (I use olive oil and you really just need enough to cover the bottom of a pan)
1 onion
1 green pepper
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 can tomatoes whole or diced 28 oz (or two 14 oz cans)
1 can pureed tomatoes 15 oz (I used a can of diced tomatoes that I put in the blender)
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp oregano
2 TBLS brown sugar
2 TBLS cilli powder
2 TBLS ground cumin
1 can kidney or pinto beans 15 oz (I like kidney beans, sometimes I use two cans or I use beans that I have soaked and cooked myself)
salt and pepper (to taste)
rice (whatever kind of rice you like, I made brown rice)

What to do

First the onion, green pepper, and garlic need to be prepared to cook. Peal the onion and garlic, then chop everything as big or small as you like. I have a great tool that I use for cutting the garlic, a microplane grater, awesome!

Heat the oil in a pan, and sauté the veggies until the are tender (if you are putting it in the crock pot and you have all day to let it cook you can skip this step. The chili will need to cook a lot longer for the onions to get soft in the crock pot. I also like the flavor a little better when the veggies have be sautéed, but totally up to you).

Now is were the directions are different if you are doing the chili on the stove or in crock pot.

If you are using the crock pot, you are going to put everything in the crock pot at this point. Veggies, green chilies (drained), tomatoes with juice (if using whole tomatoes, cut them or crush them in your hand), pureed tomatoes, spices, brown sugar and beans (drained).

Cook on low for about 3-4 hours. The crock pot is very forgiving, it can cook for longer and will be fine. If you did not cook the veggies before you added them then the chili will have to cook about twice as long in the crock pot.

If you are cooking on the stove, add the green chilies (drained) to your veggies. Then add all the spices, stir and let cook for a minute.

Now add the tomatoes with juice (whole tomatoes should be chopped or crushed in your hand), pureed tomatoes, brown sugar, and beans. Stir well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.

Cover and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the chili is done, no matter which method of cooking you used, taste it and add salt and pepper as you like.

This chili is meant to be served over rice. Rice and beans are a great combination for meatless protein. I recommend brown rice but any kind will do. Rice is easy to cook, just follow the directions on the package.

Optionally, if you eat dairy, you can also top with shredded cheese when you serve. As you can see we had one with cheese (for my husband) and one without cheese (for me).