Baby It's Cold Outside

Lately the weather has been cold, gray, and rainy. Nothing warms me up on a blah day like some great homemade veggie chili. I found a recipe online as a starting point and added lots of tasty good-for-you stuff like veggies and quinoa. I mean, how could you not feel virtuous making something with all of this?

The finished product is super good and relatively good for you (I like to add some fat free sour cream and shredded cheddar to mine). I made a huge batch and gave some to the neighbors and froze some for later.

Noms! Here's the recipe, loosely based on a version by Cooking Light magazine:

Chunky Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 small chopped onion

- 1 chopped green bell pepper

- 1 chopped yellow bell pepper

- 1 chopped red bell pepper

- 2 diced carrots

- Any additional veggies you like (I used a zucchini, a large turnip, a sweet potato, some broccoli, and a few big handfuls of fresh spinach)

- 3 or 4 garlic cloves, minced

- 1 tablespoon brown sugar

- Spices to taste (I used lots of chili powder, cumin, and a few tablespoons of curry powder, dried oregano, dried parsley, red pepper flakes, and salt/pepper)

- 1 18 oz can of diced tomatoes

- 1 little can of tomato paste

- 6 cans of rinsed beans (any kind, I used a mix of kidney, black, and pinto)

- 1 1/4 cups of dried quinoa

1. Heat oil in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 2 minutes, then add garlic, peppers and any other firm veggies (like sweet potato, carrot or turnip) and saute for another 5 minutes or so until they start to become tender.

2. Add sugar and spices, along with canned tomatoes and remaining veggies. Continue simmering, adding additional spices to taste. Add in the beans and quinoa and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Dig in! I like to garnish with sour cream, shredded cheddar or pepper jack and some scallions. It refrigerates and freezes well also.