Vegetarian Chili

Cozy up this fall with a vegetarian chili!

So I’ve been testing out vegetarian dishes lately because I’m gearing myself up for a two-week vegan challenge. I keep postponing it just because I think that I’ll fail lol but I still want to try it out. I took to Pinterest to find some ideas on how to prepare a meatless chili and wasn’t too hard to find. I’m simply substituting the ground meat and adding more beans.

This was the first time I made chili and it turned out really good! I used canned black beans and red kidney beans as the base of this chili along with an assortment of vegetables I had at the time. My chili didn’t turn out too thick but the thing with chili is you can adjust the consistency to your liking (blend more for creamier texture or blend less so that it’s more chunky).  I decided to add lime juice to add on a citrus flavour that balanced out the combination of spices.

I ate the chili with avocado but it would taste equally as good with a side of tortilla chips, rice, or bread.

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 large tomatoes, chopped (or a large can of diced tomatoes with juices*)
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 stalks of scallion, diced
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp. of flax meal
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp. of olive oil
• Garnish (optional) diced parsley, avocado, 1 tsp of lime juice

Directions

1. In a cast iron pot or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the chopped scallion, bell pepper,  celery and salt. Stir to combine and then cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender (about 3 to 5 minutes).
2. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika and oregano. Stir to combine for about 1 minute.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and their juices, the drained black beans and red kidney beans, vegetable broth, flax meal and bay leaf. Stir to combine and let the mixture come to a boil. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and reducing heat to a simmer for 30 minutes.
4. To make the chili into a thick texture, blend the chili briefly with an immersion blender (or mash the chili with a potato masher until it reaches a thicker, more chili-like consistency.) Remove from heat.
5. Divide mixture and serve in separate bowls. *(This is where I added garnishes like diced parsley, avocado and freshly squeezed lime juice.)