Vegetarian Chili

Vegetarian Chili

I was looking for a vegetarian chili since my husband has decided to stop eating meat. I wondered if I should just do my regular chili recipe, which I love, and leave out the meat, or just explore. So, I decided to google. What did we do before google? Anyway, I adapted this lovely recipe from The Picky Eater. I loved the name of that blog. It describes me! Well, I’ve branched out a lot over the years, but I do still have things I’m particular about. 🙂  For the beans in this recipe, I usually use dried, and prepare them in my slow cooker. You can certainly use canned beans as well. If you go that route, rinse and drain them. And, feel free to use whatever your favorite beans are, I just happen to like a variety, I think it adds more flavor and more texture.

If you cook dry beans in your slow cooker, I would recommend you do it the day before, or sometime before hand. Depending on the variety of beans you use, they can take 6 hours. Rinse the beans and remove any pebbles. Place them in the slow cooker and cover them with about 3 inches of water. Set it and forget it. 🙂  Cook them on low for 6 to 8 hours. Check them along the way. They say never to open your crockpot while cooking because you will lose 30 minutes of cooking time, but, this is one of the exceptions. Well, one of my exceptions. Once I didn’t add enough water and I checked it and the beans had absorbed everything and were starting to dry out, so I added more water. You may also need to check and see if they’re done. You don’t want mushy beans! I’ve also cooked them on high for 4 hours and have had great results. Just depends on how prepared I am.

You can also make the vegetarian chili in the slow cooker. If you do, I would recommend still sauteing the onions and peppers. But you don’t have to, I just like the flavor better. Also, don’t try to cook dry beans in your slow cooker along with tomatoes or any tomato based product, they will not soften. Yes, I speak from experience!

My whole family LOVED this vegetarian chili! Please, let me know what you think!

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Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried Kidney beans
• 1 cup dried Black beans
• 1 cup dried Cranberry beans
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 1 orange bell pepper diced
• 1 jalepeno finely chopped
• 1 sweet onion diced
• 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 5 garlic cloves crushed in a garlic press
• 1 heaping tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp Ghirardelli cocoa powder unsweetened
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• Black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. If using dried beans, prepare them according to directions so they are ready before you begin.
2. Chop the garlic, onion, and bell peppers and jalapeno.
3. Saute lightly over medium high heat in 1-2 tsp olive oil.
4. Once the veggies have sauteed for about 5 minutes, add everything else into the pot.
5. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 min or longer as needed.

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