There’s Vegetables in Chili?

“There’s Vegetables in Chili?!” This is the question I was asked while making my family dinner the other night…seriously…Ok I guess I should preface this by letting y’all know I’ve been a vegetarian for about 3 years, and that’s around the time I started really learning how to cook, so most of what I know is veggie friendly. My parents & soldier quickly informed me, however, that vegetables are not a regular occurrence in “normal people chili”. Although, I would like to point out that it doesn’t stop any of them from wanting to eat it…  I guess it just never occured to me that I made chili differently than anyone else? I mean I know I don’t put meat in mine..but doesn’t everyone put peppers, onions, and corn? Sometimes I even like to put zucchini! *gasp!*

I’ve noticed that a lot of vegetarian chili recipes lack the “chili-ness” (That’s totally a word, right?) that makes chili so comforting, but I stumbled on this recipe a while ago and it’s been my go-to recipe ever since! It’s so good I didn’t even get to take a picture of it before my family attacked it! Here’s the recipe from The Picky Eater Blog.

The Ingredients

• 1 can Kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (I actually ended up using 2 green peppers & it was still yummy!)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red onion, diced (I used a regular onion that I had at home)
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 heaping tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp Ghirardelli cocoa powder (unsweetened) (I think this is the real kicker to what makes this recipe awesome)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp (or a bit less) cayenne pepper
• A couple splashes of soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Black pepper and paprika to taste

Directions:

• Chop up your peppers & onions and saute them with some olive oil until translucent.
• While those are cooking, gather the rest of your ingredients together in a separate pot. (Make sure to rinse the canning liquid from the cans of beans before adding)
• Once the peppers & onions are ready, toss them in to the pot with the other ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to a simmer & cook for 3o minutes. (It’s really important to let it cook down during this part, it’s when all the flavors really come together).

Then enjoy!! It really is delicious, full of veggie goodness, and so comforting!