Fall certainly has hit the east coast, leaving me craving warm and hearty meals in the evenings when the cooler temperatures roll in. Today I decided to make a vegetable chili! Growing up my mom would always make a beef and bean packed chili with a side of corn bread and lots of cheddar cheese for topping. This was always a staple dish come winter months, and often one making you leave the table feeling 10 pounds heavier! My vegetarian veggie packed chili can also be boosted by adding lean ground turkey or chicken, however today I made this as a meatless Monday meal!
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium diced onion
- 1 large carrot (or 1/2 cup) cut up into bite size pieces
- 1/2 cup diced red and green bell peppers (any color variety is great!)
- 1 medium organic sweet potato cut into small cubes
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup crumbled cauliflower florets
- 1 large 28oz can of diced or whole plum tomatoes (san marzano are great, can mash up the whole tomatoes if you buy that variety)
- 1 can bean of choice, rinsed (I used no salt added Kidney beans)
- 1/2 cup dried red lentils
- 1 cup spinach cut up (about 2 large handfuls)
- 1 fresh corn off the cob
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- Optional: Ground lean turkey or chicken
1. In large pot with lid, heat up the olive oil over medium- high heat. Add the onion, carrot and peppers for about 3-5 min. Then add in the sweet potato, cauliflower and garlic. Cook this down for about 5-10 min on medium heat with lid.
2. Once veggies have cooked down a bit, add the large can of tomatoes with its juice, can of low sodium beans , dried lentils, corn , spinach and all the spices. Let this cook over medium heat with lid on until it starts bubbling. Then turn heat to low and let simmer for 1-2 hrs.
** IF you want to add the ground meat to this, add it in to the veggie mix BEFORE you get to step 2 (before added the tomatoes etc.). Let the meat cook til its 75% cooked through then add in the rest and let it cook entirely with everything else when it simmers.
I serve this with homemade corn bread as well as plain greek yogurt and (optional) cheddar cheese for topping! Enjoy!
