A warm vegetarian chili recipe

We’ve been fighting sleet and freezing rain in Charlotte, NC for the past 24 hours.  We are supposed to get snow again today and have record cold weather for the rest of the week.  As a Southern girl, I’m struggling with this.  I haven’t been outside in quite a long time – and I miss it!

To warm us up, I decided to make some chili.  Cold nights just call for chili.

I used a recipe I received by a fellow health coach, but made some tweaks.  My husband does not eat beans of any kind, so I had to leave those out.  But I substituted the beans with hearty veggies and they worked out perfectly.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 27-ounce box of diced tomatoes
• 15 ounces of tomato sauce
• 1.5 tbsp. of chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1.5 tsp paprika
• 1.5 tsp sugar
• dash of cayenne pepper (can add more to taste)
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 large zucchini, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced

Instructions

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions.
2. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add garlic and let it cook for 30 seconds – 1 minute, being careful not to let it burn.
3. Add in cooked quinoa and the rest of the ingredients.  Add in 1 cup of water and mix to combine.
4. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Serve and enjoy!

This was a winner in my house!  The recipe makes a lot of chili – I have a serving in my fridge for lunch later in the week and 2 servings in the freezer for a busy day dinner.