Veggie Chili

I have been wanting to whip up a veggie chili for a while now and I finally forgot about the weather outdoors (high in the 90s yesterday, yes October 19th) and hunkered down to make it. We plan to whip this up for October's family dinner later this month so we tried out our own version of veggie chili. I might make a couple small adjustments for that version... we shall see. Siblings, don't put your nose up yet. I think you might actually enjoy this stuff. If not, we'll have tortilla chips on hand! ;o) 

I got the idea for using zucchini from a pin I recently put up on Pinterest for Spicy Vegan Chili by acozykitchen.com. I guess this is vegan chili as well if you don't use the cheese topping! Credit for the idea to use RO*TEL to spice things up goes to another pin for Chicken Tortilla Soup by shopchopnserve.blogspot.com.

Ingredients:

1-2 T vegetable oil

1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise, then sliced thin

1/2 white onion, rough chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 can original RO*TEL (tomatoes with green chilies)

1 can petite diced peeled tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

a few shakes of cumin

a few shakes of chili powder

dash or two of salt

dash or two of freshly ground pepper 

Warm vegetable oil over medium heat in large pan or medium pot. Throw in garlic and onion to start things off. After the air is potent and you are getting hungry, add in the green pepper and zucchini. After that cooks and slightly browns for a couple minutes, add in the canned goods (tomatoes and beans) and the spices. Let simmer on medium low heat for approximately 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. From first chop to last bite it was a total of one hour! We were able to enjoy this on a busy night. 

Top with: cheese, diced onion, cilantro, sour cream... the options are endless. We stuck with just some shredded medium cheddar cheese and served with tortilla chips.

Makes approximately 4-6 servings depending on the level of starvation.

I really liked the spice that the RO*TEL added to the dish. This was a winner in my book!