Recipe: Oh So Good Vegetarian Chili

For years, I've been trying to perfect my chili recipe. I just wish I knew back then, what I know now -- skip the meat.

Yup, that's right.

I know for many it seems that chili just isn't chili without some ground beef or other type of meat added to it. I used to think that too. But since I started reducing my meat intake, I decided to try to make a vegetarian chili for the heck of it.

And boy was I surprised at just how tasty it was. Hubby was happy too -- win win!

To come up with my recipe, I did like I always do -- I searched around and looked at multiple recipes to create one that fits my tastes. This particular recipe I use hasn't changed too much from the one I found on food.com, so I feel it necessary to include a link -- check it out here.

But I did put my own twist on the recipe, giving it a little more kick. Check it out.

Ingredients:
1/2 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup cooking sherry
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup water
1 can chili beans, drained
1/2 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons vegetable base*
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:
In a stockpot on medium heat, add oil. Saute onions, garlic and green pepper for about 10 minutes until soft, stirring frequently.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sherry and water. Stir until completely blended. Let simmer and get beans together. For the kidney beans, after they are drained, put in a bowl and press them down with a potato masher. This will release the starch and will help thicken chili when they're added to the pot.

Drain and rinse the black beans. Only drain the chili beans because you want to retain the chili flavor from the juice as it will add a little more flavor to the chili.

To the pot add the beans, vegetable base, chili powder, cumin and cayenne. Mix well. Turn heat to medium high and let pot come to a slight boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it can simmer the better it is for all the flavorings to meld together.

*If you want to make this recipe vegan, just swap out vegetable base for vegetarian vegetable base.

Enjoy!