The Best Vegetable Chili

Photo courtesy of Cooking Light

Is there a vegetarian dish more cliche than vegetarian chili? It seems like an easy enough task to make a good vegetarian chili - just throw together some beans, some spices, some vegetables. Or so it appeared... Yet for a good long while, my husband and I have cooked our way through recipe after recipe for meatless chili and failed to find a version that both of us could tolerate, much less enjoy. One chili nearly choked us with an ancho chile overdose; another included imitation "ground meat" and was truly awful: bland with a stomach-turning texture.

When I saw the high ratings and positive reviews for this recipe from Cooking Light, I saw a light at the end of the bad chili tunnel. We made this for company and ended up scraping the bowl clean - it was fantastic! The flavors melded so well together that we didn't even miss the meat. It comes together in a jiffy as well. We will surely be using this recipe again and again.

Chunky Vegetable Chili

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 (16-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

Preparation

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell peppers, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add sugar and remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.