Homemade Vegetarian Chili

Who doesn't love a nice bowl of chili?  It can be warm, spicy and delicious!  Vegetarian chili doesn't have to be a boring pot of beans!  Here is my delicious veggie chili that even the meat lovers would like!   I used a few soy products and it hearty, just like a beef chili.  It even has a very similar texture to ground meat and it's full of healthy vegetables.  So, without futher ado, here is my yummy vegetarian chili!

First step was to chop all the veg.  This can be a little time consuming but personally, I like that part.  I find it almost relaxing to just chop veggies.  I guess that's the foodie in my ;)

 

Diced onion, celery, carrots and bean sprouts.  I added the bean sprouts because I scored a big bag from the farmer's market last weekend.  Yes, I know bean sprouts aren't typical in chili but I needed to use them, plus this is a veggie chili!

 

First I sauteed a portobello mushroom.  Since Gareth wasn't eating my chili I was able to use mushrooms.  I removed it from the pan and sauteed the veggies a little, then removed them as well.

 

Next I sauteed the 'meat'.  I used a combination of soyrizo, left over tempeh bacon(I made myself), and Gimme Lean® Sausage.   I think that was a great combination for chili.  The soyrizo adds a lot of flavor and just enough heat.  

If you've never tried soyrizo, I highly recommend it!  It's a great meatless product.  It has lots of flavor, spicy and a nice meaty consistency.  It's great for breakfast with eggs or even mixed in grits.

Any ways, enough product whoring and back to the chili...

 

Next I added the spices.  I don't have correct measurements because I usually don't measure things when I cook, I just go by what feels right and tasting.  I would say I added at least 2 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 tablespoon of ground cumin, 1 tablespoon of garlic powder(I didn't have any fresh), and salt and pepper.  I let the 'meat' and spices cook together for a bit.

 

Then I added all the vegetables,  a can of drained cannellini beans, and diced tomatoes and water.  The tomatoes were frozen.  I opened a can for something else and froze the rest in ice cube trays.  I used white kidney beans because that was all I had plus I'm not a big fan of those big, fat, dark red kidney beans.  I like the white ones so much better!

 

I also added leftover steamed broccoli from the night before.  Then I just let everything simmer together for about 30 mins or so.  I made the chili a few hours before dinner so it had time for all the flavors to hang out and mingle.  All I had to do later was turn the stove back on and let it warm back up.

 

Once it was warm, it was ready to be eaten!  I recommend a nice dollop of sour cream and some grated cheese.  A cornbread muffin would have been a nice addition!  

The finally product was delicious!!  If I didn't tell you there wasn't meat in it... you'd never know the difference!  I have plenty of leftover and some of it will be frozen for later!  The final product has just under 1300 calories for the whole batch.  If you divide it into 8 servings, it only has around 160 calories, 3g of fat and 23 carbs per serving.  Not too bad!  This recipe is definitely a keeper and I would totally make it again.