Veggie Chili Recipe

One of the benefits of having a boyfriend who likes to cook is that we often cook together. And then there are those nights when I can’t even begin to think about what’s for dinner when he takes matters into his own hands. It happened last with this veggie chili recipe.

I’d had a whirlwind day followed by a Junior League meeting. Those are the nights I don’t expect to get home before 9 p.m. I’d thought we’d exchange texts about how we’d piece together dinner that night using what we had in the fridge so you can imagine my surprise when he told me it was covered and he was making this veggie chili recipe. I’m a lucky girl!

David has a coveted gift of being able to whip up a few special dishes without a recipe (yet another reason why I love him) and this is one of them. After a few people begged on Instagram, I was able to coax him into putting his veggie chili recipe in writing. Just keep in mind some of this is based on estimated measurements.

Ingredients

• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 cup red quinoa, rinsed
• 1 cup water
• 2 jalapeno peppers, sliced
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• Olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsps. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce (no sugar added)

Directions

1. Chop onion and garlic and add it to a large stock pot with olive oil and sea salt. Cook for 5-7 minutes on medium heat until soft

2. Add all the vegetables to the pot and cook for 15 minutes

3. In a separate pan, bring to a boil 1 cup of red quinoa and 1 cup of lightly salted water. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the water is absorbed

4. Add the cooked quinoa, black beans, kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce to the pot along with the chili powder and cumin.

5. Gently stir and leave to simmer for 30-45 minutes.

6. Serve with crusty bread (or my favorite, a baked sweet potato)

Voila, Dave’s Veg Chili <——- His words, not mine