Hearty Vegetarian Chili

This is a tasty and hearty vegetable chili that doesn’t try to mimic meat based chilies...it wholeheartedly presents its vegetables with no holding back and no apologies.

What you need –

1 small butternut squash
3 carrots
1 med onion
2-3 cans of diced tomatoes with chili’s  (or you can substitute plain or fresh tomatoes, just add a jalapeño.
1 can black beans
1 tsp cumin (+/- to taste)
1-2 TBSP chili powder

To prepare, start by cleaning your squash.  You need a good vegetable peeler to get through the tough skin.  I like to peel mine directly into the sink to make clean-up easier.

Then cut off the ends and the bulbous end.  All the seeds are in the fat end, so slice that in half and clean out the seeds with a spoon.

Dice it up into 1 inch cubes.  I had a rather large squash, so I only used the fat end, saving the rest to use in another recipe.  In the end, you want about 2 cups of squash.

Peel and chop your carrots, onion and your jalapeño (if you are using one). Note- hot peppers will burn you.  Use caution and consider wearing rubber gloves.  Also, most of the heat is in the membrane and seeds, so remove those if you don't want a lot of heat.

Drizzle your pot with some olive oil and add your veggies.  Sprinkle with a little salt and cook over medium heat until the veggies start to get tender.   You don’t want your veggies to turn to mush, but you don’t want them really crunchy either.  If you will be transferring to a crock pot or otherwise keeping the chili warm for a long period of time, you will want to cook your veggies a little less than if you are eating it immediately after assembly.

Once the veggies are tender, add the remaining ingredients.  Drain and rinse the black beans, and add as many as you want.  Sometimes I use the whole can, sometimes I only use ½ cup….it depends on what you like.  Add the tomatoes, juice and all.  The more cans of tomatoes you use, the soupier it will be.  Add your cumin and chili powder, let it simmer for a few minutes and taste.  Add more spices if needed.  You can also add some cayenne pepper or a splash of tabasco if you want more heat.

Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes and viola – a delicious ode to fall veggies!  Feel free to garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with some warm corn bread!

Mmmm, mmmm, good!

There is nothing better on a cool November weekend than a delicious and healthy batch of chili.  Enjoy!

-Tracy
Today, make nourishing yourself a priority.