This is a great dish for the winter and can be served plain or with bread, rice, or noodles (my personal favorite)! This recipe is a combination of a few found in various places on the internet and my own personal tastes.
Ingredients: I'm going to list what I used, but really any vegetables you like will work!
1 large tomato (or canned tomato if you prefer)
Beans, any type, either canned or dried (I use black beans)
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A few sprinkles of oregano
A pinch of cayenne pepper
First, chop your vegetables and garlic. It's important to get this all done before you start cooking, or you'll be scrambling to get it all done during and something might burn! Also, if you're using beans that need to be cooked (dried) make sure you do that before you start the chili because they take a long time.
Heat some olive oil in a large pot. When it is hot, add the garlic, onion, and chili powder. Stir and cook for about five minutes or until the onion is a little browned.
Add the other things that generally need to be sauteed. In this case it's the peppers and mushrooms. At this point also put in the things that will take longest to cook, in this case it's the carrots. I've also made this dish with acorn squash, which also needs a bit longer in the pot. Stir and cook for about five minutes.
Note: Don't worry if at this point your chili doesn't seem very chili-like (i.e. it's dry) the tomato takes care of that.
Add the oregano and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook for a few minutes.
Add the tomato and salt and stir and cook for about ten minutes.
At this point your chili should be getting liquidy. If it's too watery for your taste, slowly add flour until it reaches your desired thickness.
Add the beans and cook until they are warmed through.
Serve with cheese and whatever side you like!
This recipe is easy and fairly quick, depending on how long it takes you to prep the food, and it makes quite a lot of chili (I'd say enough for five or six people if you're serving it with rice or pasta), so it can serve as lunch for the rest of the week and save you some money!
Enjoy!
Savannah
