Recipe: Vegetable Chili

In dietary penance for the past couple of posts, today's recipe is totally healthy, fresh, and sugar-free. I call it chili, mainly because I dump tons of chili powder into it, but its relatively low on beans and completely lacking in meat so perhaps that's not the best name. At any rate, its simple, delicious, low-fat/calorie/carb/etc., and for the vegetarians out there it packs a good amount of protein (you can also add vegetarian ground beef if you wish). I often double the recipe and then freeze some of it so I have it around for awhile. The mechanics of the recipe are simple so feel free to experiment with different beans and vegetables.

Vegetable Chili

Ingredients:

• 2 onions, chopped
  
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 14-oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 14-oz can chopped tomatoes
• 2/3 cup passata or tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon each hot chili powder, ground cumin, and ground coriander (I usually double this... sometimes triple...)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the first 5 ingredients (the green stuff) in a large saucepan and mix together

2. Add the next 5 ingredients (the red stuff)

Add the spices, season with salt and pepper and mix well

Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes (this may vary depending on how finely you chopped the vegetables)


Serve with a sprinkling of cheese or a spoonful of plain yogurt sprinkled with cayenne pepper
It's not very photogenic, but I promise its delicious.