Insanely Easy Vegetarian Chili

MarlaM's Note:

I was browsing the All Recipes website for low fat recipes and found this. It was posted by by Tianne and she says you can throw anything that you have in your fridge into this chili. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds really good.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup carrot, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 3/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1 (28 ounce) can whole canned tomatoes, with liquid, chopped
• 1 (19 ounce) can kidney beans, with liquid
• 1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel corn, undrained
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Saute onions, carrots, and garlic until tender. Stir in green pepper, red pepper, celery, and chili powder.
3. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.
4. Stir in mushrooms, and cook 4 minutes.
5. Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans, and corn.
6. Season with cumin, oregano, and basil.
7. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium.
8. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reviews

[LizzyQ]

This was great! I didn't put the basil in, because I couldn't find it. I also added a bit of agave to it. I served it with cornbread. YUM.

[smellyvegetarian]

This is very good, and so quick and easy! I agree with other reviewers; I prefer not to eat the gunk that they put in canned beans LOL so I added veggie broth instead of the bean liquid. I also used frozen mixed veggies for the corn b/c I forgot to get corn. I think I'm a little funny about mushrooms in soup, but that's a personal preference thing. The spice level is just right, and it is quite flavorful despite the lack of lots of extra sodium. I can see why this made Starry's Best of 2008 cookbook :).

[Starrynews]

Delicious! And I love how flexible you can be with what you have on hand. It does make me think of a hearty soup moreso than chili, but what are semantics worth when it is so tasty? I used non-stick cooking spray to saute the veggies in, omitted the celery and red bell pepper (didn't have any)- so I beefed up on the green bell pepper and onion. I used fresh tomatoes and frozen corn. Like some other reviewers, I prefer to rinse and drain off my canned veggies, so I also added some chicken broth to sub for the liquid. This is a definite keeper! Thank you!