Healthy Vegetable and Bean Chili

 

I love a hearty vegetarian chili with beans and lots of healthy peppers.  I played around until I came up with the right mixture of vegetables, spices, and flavor.  This recipe yields 12 servings of chili at approximately 204 calories/serving.

Healthy Vegetable and Bean Chili Recipe

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 chopped yellow bell pepper
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped orange bell pepper
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped jalapeno pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 and 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 (16 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes (with celery, green pepper, onions)
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

First I chopped the green and red bell peppers.

Next I chopped the yellow and orange bell peppers.

Chop the jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Careful when handling the pepper. Remember to wear gloves. Even hand washing will not remove the potentially irritating juices from your skin. Remove the seeds and veins from the pepper before chopping.

I used my Kitchen Aid mini chopper to chop the yellow onions.

Add the pepper and onion mixture to the crockpot along with the fresh garlic.

Rinse and drain the black, kidney and pinto beans before adding to the crockpot.

Measure out the spices to add to the chili mixture in the crockpot.

Add the beans, stewed tomatoes, and spices to the pepper and onion mixture in the crockpot.

Stir to combine.  Cover and cook on the low setting for 8-10 hours or on the high setting for 6 hours.  Stir while cooking occasionally to break up the tomatoes.

This recipe yields about 12 servings at approximately 204 calories.  I added some fat free cheddar (1/8 cup) and fat free sour cream (2 TBS.) as a garnish which adds another 45 calories to each serving.  Enjoy!