Chunky Vegetarian Chili

Health nuts seem to agree - striving for "Meatless Mondays" is where it's at. I know plenty of people who take pride in their meatless meals, and who actually take this on, as a huge challenge. For me, it's a little different. I love cooking vegetarian meals, and we are meatless for several evenings a week. My kids love beans and vegetables, and Kevin and I love the complexity of flavors that come with vegetarian meals. In my world, meat is boring.

So, here is a vegetarian chili that has several things going for it. First and foremost, it's easy peasy. So many of the ingredients come out of cans, and you can swap them out for things that you already have in the pantry, if you don't have everything handy. Also, this is a one pot meal. Don't you just love it, when you only have one pot to clean? And lastly, the flavors in this chili are mild, but really lovely and perfectly tasty. I would definitely say that it's a tad more sweet than it is spicy, and that's always disconcerting to me at first, when it comes to chili, but in the end, this dish is a keeper. It makes a ton, too, so get ready for some lunchy leftovers!







Chunky Vegetarian Chili

This vegetarian chili recipe a great way to get kids to eat fiber-rich foods. It can be taken on camping trips, and in school lunches in a thermos.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)


1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 (16-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell peppers, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add sugar and remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

CALORIES 257 (9% from fat); FAT 2.7g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.5g,poly 1.2g); IRON 4.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 150mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.8g; SODIUM 876mg; PROTEIN 12.8g; FIBER 14.2g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2003