I’ve been slowly reducing my meat consumption over the last couple of years, because I know it’s better for the environment if we all eat less meat. My boyfriend is a big fan of beef, though, and one of his favourite dishes is chilli. It’s been hard to transform his favourite chilli recipe into a vegetarian chilli recipe, but I think we finally found something he likes and it’s so easy to make. It’s so delicious and hearty that neither of us misses the meat, and I wanted to share it here to encourage all of you to try eating less meat in 2019.
In a saucepan, sauté 2 large diced carrots, 2 diced onions, and 3 chopped cloves of garlic in some oil. Once the vegetables are tender, add in 2 chopped bell peppers (the colour doesn’t really matter, but we usually use green or orange), 3 chopped up stalks of celery, and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.
After about 5 minutes, the vegetables should all be quite tender. Next, add in a 28 oz can of peeled tomatoes, some sliced mushrooms (add in as many as you like!), a tin of kidney or romano beans, and a tin of corn. Or don’t add the corn, maybe you’re feeding a picky eater like my boyfriend! At this point, I like adding in ½ a cup of any salsa I have in the fridge, lately it’s been mango salsa and that stuff is amazing in this! You can also add textured vegetable protein at this point as well, in case you want something more meaty in this.
Season everything with a pinch of cumin, and some oregano, and bring your chili to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, then simmer the lot for 15 minutes. Serve over rice, or in big bowls with some delicious crusty bread.
