Vegan Black Bean Chili

It’s Monday folks…so perfect timing to talk about Joan, Ring Bros. GM, making this “Meatless” Vegan Black Bean Chili from the Fork Over Knives website. She did some tweaking along the way, I’ll explain later, but let me tell you…as someone who was lucky enough to have a bowl all to myself…IT.WAS.DELICIOUS.! To those of you who can’t imagine chili without your beloved beef, try it. I’m convinced with this recipe, you’ll never miss it.

So let’s get down to business…

5 medium tomatoes, diced, or 3 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, with their juice (5 cups)

2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into ½-inch dice (2 cups)

½ medium red onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

4 small garlic cloves, roughly chopped (2 teaspoons)

4 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (3 cups)

3 large celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch dice (1½ cups)

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped (1 cup)

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

½ bunch kale, stemmed and roughly chopped (2 cups) ***Joan used

¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon chili powder, or to taste

Sea salt

I know it looks like a lot of ingredients…but the tradeoff is that there are few steps.

Step 1. In a large stew pot or dutch oven, place the tomatoes (Joan used fresh), red bell peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, and cumin, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes (the juices from the onion and tomatoes will be enough to keep the sauce from burning).

Step 2. Remove from the heat & let it cool for 10-15 minutes. In a blender in batches or using a hand blender, blend the sauce until smooth. Return to the pot.

And now the part that makes it look like chili!

Step 3. Add the black beans, celery, green bell pepper, corn, kale, cilantro, lemon juice, paprika, chili powder, salt to taste, and 2 cups water to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the greens are tender and the chili thickens, 10-15 minutes.

Now, Joan likes lots of flavor so she added some taco seasoning. I feel like doing that really added to it. While I didn’t taste the chili before she made the addition, I have to believe she made the right call just because of how much I loved it. I’ll be adding it myself for sure when I make it!

Step 5. Serve hot over steamed grains or with warm tortillas. Gotta get those carbs in! 🙂

Let us know what you think…Enjoy!