I’ve been wanting to do more vegetarian dinner options and remembered that I had an amazing quinoa chili for lunch one day a few months ago. It was so good, I decided to whip up a batch of my own creation with some locally grown veggies. I was surprised at how easy it was and quite frankly how great it tasted. It made so much we had my parents over for dinner later in the week and froze the rest for a quick and easy meal. It was a big hit with everyone and that is a big deal among this meat and potatoes family! We ate it up and froze it before I remembered I should take a picture – woops. We accompanied it with a simple salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers with lemon, olive oil & dried mint dressing. This sure was yummers and healthy! I hope you enjoy it too!
UPDATE: 10-30-12
We finally unfroze the Quinoa Chili and it was just as amazing as when cooked fresh – so you can freeze for at least 10 months! And we were finally able to take a photo {see above}.
Quinoa Veggie Chili
1 cup Great Northern Beans, Dry
1 cup Quality Red Kidney Beans, Dry
1 cup Black Beans, Dry
1 medium Onion (about 1 cup diced)
2 large Carrots
1/2 large Green Bell Pepper
1/2 large Red Bell Pepper
2 Jalapeno Peppers
3 cloves Garlic
1 tsp. Sea Salt (to taste)
1 tbsp. Pepper, Black (or to taste)
2 tbsp. Chili Powder (or to taste – we like more)
2 1/2 cups organic Diced Tomatoes (2 cans)
3/4 cup dried organic Quinoa
Instructions:
- Soak beans in water overnight, then rinse and drain.
- Dice onion, carrots, green & red bell pepper and jalapeno.
- In a crock pot add beans, onions, carrots, jalapeno, spices and canned tomatoes. Cover with water (about an inch or two above ingredients, then cook on high for 4-5 hours.
- When the beans are tender (after about 4-5 hours) cook quinoa as directed on package.
- Add cooked quinoa and raw bell peppers to crockpot and continue cooking on high for another 30 minutes.
Makes (15) 1 Cup servings. Nutritional facts created by Livestrong MyPlate Recipe Maker so this is an estimate of true nutritional facts.
Notes: We use fresh, local and organic as much as possible in our ingredients. You can also add whatever beans or veggies you want, but this recipe is low sodium, low fat, zero cholesterol, high fiber, high protein AND yummers! This recipe also make a lot – we froze half of it and still had plenty for two dinners. You could halve the recipe easily enough.