Jane's Vegetarian Chili

From myrecipes.com Calories:276 (11% from fat) Fat:3.5g (sat 0.3g,mono 1.3g,poly 1g) Protein:12.7g Carbohydrate:49.7g Fiber:14.7g Cholesterol:0.0mg Iron:4.2mg Sodium:587mg Calcium:107mg Everyone in my family liked this. My husband did complain about the lack of meat, but he said he liked it otherwise. I usually boil some kind of noodles separately...like spaghetti, elbow macaroni or penne...and add it to my chili. I've made this once, and wanted to stay true to the recipe, so I didn't add pasta to it, but I probably will next time. Altho it is good without it, that is just what we are used to. I made my grandma's cornbread to go with it and it was delicious and so easy to make.

• Ready In: 25 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 8 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 2  cups  chopped onions
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 4  cups water, divided
• 2  tablespoons sugar
• 2  tablespoons chili powder
• 2  tablespoons vegetarian worcestershire sauce
• 2 (14 1/2ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (15 1/2ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (garbanzo beans)
• 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 1 (16 ounce) can  other white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1⁄2 cup  reduced-fat  shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until tender.
2. Add 3 cups water and next 8 ingredients (through cannellini beans), stirring to combine.
3. Combine remaining cup of water and tomato paste in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir tomato paste mixture into bean mixture.
4. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
5. Ladle soup into bowls.
6. Top with cheese, if desired.
7. The prep time is estimated from how long it takes to chop 1-2 onions, open all those cans and mix up the tomato paste & water mixture.