Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

 I love chili recipes...and I think this is officially the best Vegetarian Chili I've come up with so far...  Of course I can never leave well enough alone so there will be more versions.  I made this one and wanted to share it with another family so I doubled the following recipe!  Yikes, it didn't quite fit into one crock pot!  So, I mixed in and then ladled half of it out into another pan, and then decided to put in another crockpot...which was the best idea because then I could deliver it in the crock pot.  So, when experimenting in the kitchen, sometimes it takes some adjustment!







Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

1 C of quinoa, rinsed

2 C of water

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 medium zucchini or 2 small yellow squash

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced (keep the dice small so they cook quickly)

2 15-oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 15-oz cans of diced tomatoes

1 15-oz can of tomato sauce

3 Tbsp of chili powder

1 Tbsp of ground cumin

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Optional toppings:

Sour cream or greek yogurt

avocado, cubed

shredded cheese

green onions chopped

black olives

baby spinach stirred in right before eating

In a saucepan place the quinoa and water and bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed, set aside.

In a large cast iron skillet, heat the oil on medium heat add the onion and a pinch of salt, cook for 3-4 minutes and then stir in the garlic, jalapeno, carrots, celery peppers, squash and sweet potato, season well with salt and pepper. Cook about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender. 

 Make sure you rinse your canned beans and drain well.

To the crock pot add the beans, cooked quinoa, tomatoes, sauce chili powder, cumin, and the sautéed vegetables. Stir to combine and cook on high heat for 2-3 hours or on low from 4-6 hours.

AND, this is what a double recipe looks like in a large oval corckpot!  Yikes, too full to cook...so ladled some out into a saucepan, then got smart and went to the basement for my spare crock pot!  So it cooks much better when not overflowing!  Yep, always trial and error in the kitchen...so get in there and have fun!