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One Year Blog-A-Versary!

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Happy Birthday to The Healthy Apron! I’ve been officially blogging for a year now and I honestly cannot believe how quickly that went. I have tons of excellent ideas for future posts, thanks to my wonderful readers! I truly appreciate each and every one of you and I hope you continue to follow me through another year!

Today I wanted to share another chili recipe that I cooked up this weekend. I was looking for something light and healthy to make Sunday since both Brandon and I had pretty heavy dinners on Saturday night for our Valentine’s Day celebration.

  I ventured over to Cooking Light’s website and chose to make Jane’s Vegetarian Chili! I have to say I’m LOVING this recipe: it contains HUGE chunks of tomato, 4 different kinds of beans, and LOADS of sweet and tangy flavor. The Worcestershire sauce was the key ingredient in this recipe, adding a bit of zing and flair (and yes I know it contains corn syrup).

Brandon rated “Jane’s Vegetarian Chili,”  a 9 out of 10!!! If THAT doesn’t make you want to run out and make this recipe, how about the fact that 1 1/2 cups is a mere 280 calories and almost 15 grams of fiber! Talk about satisfying!

I know there are plenty of vegetarian chili skeptics out there but I PROMISE if you just try to make it meat-less once, you will be hooked on the idea! You really don’t NEED meat to make a hearty bowl of chili; ask my husband!! As a guy who used to turn his nose up to beans, after actually being exposed to a million different bean recipes, he enjoys them! He’ll even eat my homemade veggie burgers!  Just goes to show you that with an open mind and the right recipe, you TOO can enjoy meat-less dishes!

I recommend THIS recipe as a meat-less starter chili, simply because it contains sugar and Worcestershire sauce, which are added to a lot of meaty chilis. You get the flavor with out the meat!

If you are looking for the perfect recipe to warm you up on a frigid weekend or keep for leftovers through out the week, this is the ticket! I promise you won’t even miss the meat!!

Jane’s Vegetarian Chili

Courtesy of Cooking Light

  • 1  tablespoon  olive oil
  • 2  cups  chopped onion
  • 3  garlic cloves, minced
  • 4  cups  water, divided
  • 2  tablespoons  sugar (probably don’t NEED sugar but I included it)
  • 2  tablespoons  chili powder
  • 2  tablespoons  Worcestershire sauce
  • 2  (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1  (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
  • 1  (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  (16-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1  (6-ounce) can tomato paste
  • 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, (optional if you want it for topping)\
  • spinach and onion, optional toppings

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic; sauté until tender (~2-3 mins). Add 3 cups water and next 8 ingredients (through cannellini beans), stirring to combine.

“Combine remaining cup of water and tomato paste in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir tomato paste mixture into bean mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with cheese, spinach, and/or onion, if desired.”

I always heat my chili on the stove and then let it simmer in the crock pot for about 2 hours, this really helps develop the flavor!

Nutritional Profile: 276 calories, 3.5 g Fat (0.3 g sat), 12.7 g protein, 14.7 grams Fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 4.2 mg iron, 587 mg sodium, 107 mg calcium

 

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February 15th, 2011 | Category: Uncategorized

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