Recipe Post: Stovetop Chili (vegetarian)

I have tried many, many vegetarian chili recipes. Most are good, but this one was fantastic. It will become a standard in our household. It has a kick to it, but you could forgo the jalapeno if you're not a fan of spice (however, I think the spice is part of what makes this chili so good). This is another recipe from Good Housekeeping's Vegetarian Meals: Meatless Recipes Everyone Will Love. It's a one-pan meal--which I'm always a fan of.

Prep: ~ 20 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes (we actually left this cooking on the stove while we went for a glass of wine. So it cooked for about an hour with no problem)
Makes about 11 cubs or 6 main-dish servings.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion (I like red onions best)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, crushed with garlic press (I always up the garlic. I used three cloves)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 can whole tomatoes (we always use the sodium-free, organic variety)
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half (I didn't measure the beans, just grabbed what looked like a good amount from the produce section)
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1.5 lbs), peeled and cut into 1.5 inch pieces
1 tsp sugar
2 cups water
2 cans black soybeans or black beans, rinsed and drained
Can be served with sour cream (I used plain yogurt. I typically replace sour cream with plain, low-fat yogurt in recipes)

1. In nonstick 5 or 6 quart dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander, garlic, and jalapeno; cook, stirring, 1 minute.

2. Add tomatoes with their juice, green beans, sweet potatoes, sugar, and water; heat to boiling over medium-high heat, breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.

3. Add soybeans/black beans and heat through, about 2 minutes longer (we just added the black beans in step #2 with no problems).
Serve with low-fat, plain yogurt.

Each serving: About 275 calories, 14g protein, 45g carbohydrates, 5g total fat (1 sat), 0 mg cholesterol, sodium depends on your canned goods.

Recipes (a contest of sorts)

I love healthy recipes--especially ones that use a lot of fresh spices (and are easy to prepare). As you know, I've been posting some of my favorite ones as I try them out. Now I want to offer that opportunity to Fit Life fans. In the end, I hope to offer a healthy, online cookbook on the Fit Life, LLC website that categorizes the recipes into "heart healthy," "cholesterol-friendly," "anti-inflammatory," etc.

To start, I just need to start collecting recipes. That's where you come in! I challenge you to send me your favorite healthy recipe to be included in the Fit Life, LLC cookbook. Please include your name, city and state so you can be credited for your recipe. I will leave your actual recipe untouched; however, I may suggest healthy substitutions under your recipes if I know of any (or suggestions to lower salt, cholesterol, processed foods, etc.). If you took your recipe directly from a cookbook, please credit that cookbook when sending your recipe.

I will send either a Fit Life t-shirt or jump rope to the first 15 people who send me healthy recipes (so please be sure to email me your t-shirt size or height if you prefer a jump rope, along with your mailing address).

Recipes can be sent to: jj@thefitlife.us or you can post it as a comment to this blog. As I get more recipes I will start developing an electronic cookbook off my website.

So bring on the recipes! I can't wait to see them!