Vegetarian Chili

So, I realized that I haven't posted in nearly a month. WOW that went fast! But, I am back, with something wonderful. Vegetarian chili. It is perfecto. Super simple and in a crockpot. Full of veggies and delicious. What more can you ask for? Well, I found the recipe and procured the necessary items. I did ASK my boy to do the actual cooking. I came home to the house smelling lovely and I had a wonderful meal. I used tortilla chips for dipping and added some shredded cheese.

There are several variations around, but this is the one we went with.

Slow Cooker Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, not drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (16 ounce) can vegetarian baked beans
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chopped tomato puree
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced chilies
• 1 -2 jalapeno, chopped  
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon cilantro (optional)

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, saute the onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and celery for about 5 minutes.
2. In a slow cooker, combine black bean soup, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, baked beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, bell pepper, zucchini, jalapeno, chilies, and celery.
3. Season with garlic, chili powder, cumin, parsley, oregano, basil (and cilantro if using).
4. Cook for about 6 hours on low.

ENJOY!!!

Vegetarian Pasta E Fagioli Soup

Soup! We love soup around here! The other day we made a vegetarian version of Pasta E Fagioli Soup. It is really easy and done in a slow cooker. So, you might be asking yourself, why does the soup in the picture not look, well, soupy? Because I got home late and let it cook for too long. It looks a bit different, but it tastes the same. And I just told the family it was Italian Chili!

Chop up 3 carrots, 4 celery stalks, and 1 onion. We used whole petite baby carrots. Put the chopped veggies into the slow cooker along with 2 (28 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes, 2 (16 ounce) cans 1 of red kidney beans and 1 can of white kidney beans, 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce and 30 ounces of vegetable stock. Add in 3 tsp oregano, 2 tsp pepper, 5 tsp of parsley and 1 tsp of Tabasco sauce. Allow to cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. About 30 minutes before time to eat add in 8 ounces of pasta, I like the multi color rotini, but you can use what you like. Also, the recipe states that the Tabasco sauce is optional, but I think it is necessary. Actually I add extra to mine.

Now, if you don't want to go the veg route, you can always use beef stock instead of vegetable and add in 2 pounds of browned ground beef.


And that's it! Time to eat. I made it one morning before I left for work and we came home to the house smelling lovely and dinner being only moments away. I like to serve it with nice crusty bread for dipping, you know for all the brothy goodness...

Super close up because I love this soup chili soup chili soup!

Lentil Sloppy Joes

After several failed attempts to make a vegetarian version of Sloppy Joes, we tried the recipe that follows. I have come to the decision that there isn't a version that can replace the traditional hamburger sloppy joes. We did, however, find a yummy recipe that we all love. The recipe is good for you and is made in a crock pot. It's super easy too! Use whatever type of lentil you like, we used red since that's what we had on hand.

Lentil Sloppy Joes

1 tbsp oil
1 chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2cups cooked lentils

Heat the oil, add onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, cook 1 minute.
Stir in ketchup, water, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard.
Transfer to slow cooker and add lentils. Stir well.
Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3.