Vegetarian Chili

Vegetarian Chili with Eggplant

The cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as good

cooks go, she went.  Reginaold (1904)

There I was cooking dinner, as always, and my son was sitting at the well-worn table, reading. He suddenly slammed down his book and looked up at me as if I’d done something wrong.

“Mom, do you really like to cook?” he asked partly in disgust and partly in disbelief.

What an interesting question, I thought. Cooking is something I do every day of every week of every year, but do I like it?

Pondering the question I realized that cooking fills a creative urge that resides within me. It’s like a hunger pain that doesn’t go away until it’s fed. 

The other reason I cook is because I know that eating the right foods is good for our bodies. When we cook at home, we are eating whole foods that are full of nutrition, vitamins, minerals, fibre etc. 

When we cook at home we don’t eat take-out or pre-packaged foods, which are nutrient-poor, over-refined, high in sugar, salt and fat. I feed the family so that their bodies can function optimally, the way they were originally designed to do. Cooking is a daily function, for me, similar to taking the dog for a walk everyday,  I just do it.

Do I like to cook? Well, sometimes but sometimes not. Truthfully, I wish a robot could be invented who would cook for us, plus do the shopping, plus clean the house, take the dog for a walk, do the laundry, drive the kids etc.etc.

Do you like to cook?

Vegetarian Chili

Vegetarian Chili

I like this vegetarian chili because it uses only black beans and not the standard red kidney beans often found in traditional chilis. It also has eggplant, which, again, is not typically found in a chili. If you have fennel seeds, I suggest you try them to give this meal another dimension.

Serves 6

2 tablespoons canola vegetable oil
1 eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon cumin
Pinch of fennel (optional)
1 28-fl oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oil on stove and sauté eggplant until soft in a medium-sized saucepan. Add a little water if the pan gets too dry.

Add mushrooms and onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add carrots, celery and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes.

Add spices and stir 1 minute. Add tomatoes, black beans and corn. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add more water if too thick. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

Other Recipes To Try:

Curry Veggies with Chickpeas

Black bean Quesadillas

Veggie Risotto