Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

Good afternoon everyone,

How are things going with you? I haven't received too many frantic calls from the parentals about my unfortunate bike incident yesterday, so I'm assuming all is well in the world ;)

Workout

Since I didn't bike into work this morning - my brakes weren't feeling so solid after my little tumble - I decided to go for a run during my lunch break.

It's a good thing that I did because about an hour after I got back to the office, we unit received the (almost) daily email about which baked goods our colleague's wife dropped off for the day [she is taking a Cordon Bleu baking course and drops off her good for us to eat instead. We kindly accept the challenge indulge] with the following subject line: cake. lots and lots of cake. 

I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy fighting off the office crowd for a piece of delicious rhubarb & nut cake medley. Such a wonderful afternoon snack :)

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

As promised, here is a recipe for a vegetarian chili with quinoa. I thought that the quinoa was a nice little addition, it doesn't change the consistency at all, and it gives an added boost of protein to the mix. Win-win situation, if you ask me.

Again I am so surprised at how easy it is to make this recipe - the hardest part is the prep. Which isn't hard at all, it is more time-consuming than anything else.

But I am a big fan of blasting the sweet beats and having a little zen time in the kitchen. I never believed that this could be possible - for anyone who knows me well *ahem* my old roomies *ahem* they know that I have not always been a natural in the kitchen and would generally just settle for a mixture of chickpeas and a side of cucumber. Minimal effort and basically no cooking involved.

But, hey, practice makes perfect :)

Okay...maybe not perfect, but at least it will help you make delicious chili to enjoy on a cool fall evening. Let me know if you try it out! Tell me what you think :)

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

Inspired by Two Peas and Their Pod’s recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water

½ cup quinoa

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

1 zucchini

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 carrot

2 stalks celery

1 tbsp chili flakes

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can whole tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

Salt and pepper

Dash of sriracha (optional)

Greek yogurt (optional)

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a smaller pot and add quinoa, and then let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until all water has evaporated. Set to the side.

Chop all veggies to desired size [I usually leave them a bit chunkier, but they will cook faster if you chop them into smaller pieces].

Sauté onion in coconut oil in a large pot for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic, zucchini, pepper, carrot and celery and mix occasionally for about 10 minutes or until veggies have started to become softer.

Add black beans and kidney beans (rinsed), quinoa, tomatoes, tomato paste and chili flakes and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until veggies are soft and chili has reached desired consistency. [Note: I didn’t actually have tomato paste, so I left it simmer for closer to 45 minutes so that it was less watery].

Serve warm with a couple dashes of sriracha (optional), a dollop of greek yogurt (also optional).

Enjoy!