Vegetarian Chili

Recipe adapted from The Supermarket Diet Cookbook.

I've officially gotten through the treacle of old backposts and can start fresh! In case you haven't been following my blog religiously until now, I've recently made a minor (though you may disagree) change in my diet: I no longer eat farm animals/birds/other mammals. Some people have asked, "Well, what DO you eat?" Seafood and um, everything else of course!

My reasons are my own and I'm not going to preach about it (except perhaps, the nutritional ramifications, as should be expected from this blog!), and I don't care what anyone else does in their kitchen. Oh yeah, and before you all ask, I'm not forcing Sean to eat this way either, even though he is being supportive. BUT, there will clearly be some changes to the blog material from here on out!

Don't panic, dear readers, everything I post will be an already vegetarian dish, a seafood dish, or an easily-adapted-to-include-meat dish. But best of all, I will still use the Healthy Calendar, and since I'm adapting most of the recipes, I am going to be able to post the recipes and instructions without paranoid fear of plagiarism from transcribing an entire book!

Okay, let's get down to business. This chili recipe has been my favorite recipe for years now, so it only makes sense to kick off the new age of Twirling Towards Freedom with it! You'll never even notice that it's meat-free and ::gasp:: insanely healthy and cheap! Here is my version:

Vegetarian Chili

4 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium butternut squash (2-3 pounds), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced/crushed
2 cans crushed tomatoes, low-sodium
3 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced (I use one bell pepper if I forget the chiles)
1 cup reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
cayenne pepper
black pepper
chips!

1. In large nonstick soup pot, heat half the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add squash and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Transfer squash to bowl, set aside.

2. In same pot, heat remaining oil. Add carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in chili powder and garlic; cook, stirring, one minute longer.

3. Add tomatoes with their juice, peppers, broth, sugar, and salt - I also give it some cayenne and black pepper; stir and heat to boiling. Stir in beans and squash; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Serve with chips or whatever you like with your chili!