If you are like me, you don’t like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen to make a meal. I decided to let you all in on my personal recipe for vegetarian chili. The video is a bit vintage as it’s from a YouTube channel that I made long before Boy Versus World. You may also hear me reference myself as “Sprouts” in the beginning of the video as that was a part of the name of my prior blog. Don’t let that distract you…hahah.
Nonetheless, this recipe, as you can tell, is easy to make and doesn’t have a huge amount of ingredients. This recipe is low in sodium and super delicious.
Here are the basic ingredients for the quick recipe for vegetarian chili:
1- 14.5 oz. can of Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1- 15 oz. can of low sodium regular black beans (drained and/or rinsed)
1- 15.25 oz can of low sodium dark red kidney beans (drained and/or rinsed)
1 tablespoon of coarsely chopped garlic
1 packet of McCormick low sodium chili seasoning (can substitute with 1-2 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 tablespoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder) Obviously season to your own taste.
1- 12 oz. package of Boca or Morningstar brand crumbles
1 small yellow onion coarsely chopped
1/2 cup of water
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil or olive oil
1-2 jalapeno peppers (roasted and coarsely chopped)
If using beef or chicken or “real meat”, cook the meat first and cook to the required temperature in a large saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium, then add all the ingredients into the pan. Stir to make sure none of the ingredients stick to the bottom and if the chili looks too dry add water accordingly. Stir well, reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer for 10-15 minutes with occasional stirring to prevent burning. Remove from heat and serve with tortilla chips of your choice.
Of course, everyone makes chili different so the ingredients that were used were just my personal preference. Feel free to add or subtract to meet your own tastes.
As mentioned in the video, I try to keep many of my recipes low-sodium to show that adding salt is not necessary since many times it covers the flavor of many of the more natural or organic flavors and aromas of many dishes. Since this is my own personal recipe, I do not have hardly anything negative to say about it. In general when it comes to spicy dishes, I can tolerate mild to XX-hot. When it comes to chili, please season it the way you like it. In this recipe, McCormick’s low sodium chili seasoning and two roasted jalapeños were used to bring the heat. In the past I’ve used from ancho chilis to chipotles to habañeros, so add one type of pepper at a time and taste. Also, when roasting any pepper make sure you do not touch your eyes without first very thoroughly washing your hands!!
In regards to the taste of this chili, I’ll just go ahead and toot my own horn and say it tastes amazing! You do not have to just eat chili on cold days. Chili can be for any occasion, any time of year for just a snack, or if you want, as a quick meal for a family on the go. Even though the chili simmers and all the flavors meld together, there is still a very distinct flavor of onion, jalapeno, garlic, and even a hint of cinnamon. As mentioned, sometimes I add a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin but decided not to use it this time.
I also love that this recipe should not take very long to make. You may have to add a little time to make sure you cook your meat to the temperature required to not get food poisoning. Be aware that even if your use Boca Crumbles or Morningstar Crumbles they still have to be cooked to a temperature of 160 degrees F. Anyway if you are like me and do not have a lot of time after you get off work to make something that is quick and scrumptious, try this recipe. I do not want to toot my own horn about this chili recipe so please comment on how this turned out for you in the comments below or send me a tweet on the Twitter page. I hope you all enjoy.
