Veggie Chili

I never ate chili as a child. And to be honest, I bet my first encounter with the stuff was either on convenience store nachos or a fast food hot dog. Not exactly the most memorable experience, but I guess everyone has to start somewhere!

As you can see from my previous post, chili con carne is versatile and great served a multitude of different ways. Today, however, we are enjoying a different kind of chili. A vegetarian chili. Yup, that’s right. This one is not full of ground meat but rather with tons of veggies.

This spicy and hearty chili is great if you crave comfort food but you want to slim down. It has all the great flavors and textures of chili without the meat, which eliminates a lot of fat. Also, instead of using all the traditional garnishes like sour cream and cheese, garnish with spoon of yogurt and some scallions instead.

Veggie Chili

Makes 8 cups

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

3 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 Onion, diced

1 Chili, red or green, very finely chopped (do not omit this chili. If you don’t want your chili too spicy, reduce the chili powder)

2 cups Zucchini, chunks

1 cup Carrots, chunks

1 tbsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1 Bay Leaf

¼ cup Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped

3 tbsp Tomato Paste

625 ml Stock (vegetable or chicken stock)

½ cup Split Red Lentils

1 can Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed

1 can Corn Kernels

Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

In a large saucepan over medium high heat, add oil, garlic, onions, and chili and cook until they start to soften (about 2 minutes). Add the zucchini and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili, cumin, cinnamon, and bay leaf and let cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the parsley and tomato paste. Then add the stock and the lentils, bring up to a boil, and reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir in the kidney beans and the corn. Season to taste. Great served over rice or pasta and garnished with a dollop of yogurt.