Black Bean Chili

I'm always on the lookout for good hearty vegetarian recipes.  I'm not sure how happy my husband is about this, but I do have quite a few meatless recipes that don't get any complaints.  I especially love this one because I can cram lots of different vegetables into it, it's very filling, and oh so satisfying. Warning: if you don't like chopping vegetables you will not like this recipe! I find all the slicing and dicing to be kind of soothing, it's also made me a better chopper :) 

Black Bean Chili (serves 6)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil 

1 onion

2 red bell peppers

1 jalapeno pepper

10 mushrooms

6 roma tomatoes 

1 cup corn kernels

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

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

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth or whatever you have on hand) 

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium high heat.  Saute the onion, bell peppers, jalapeno, mushrooms, tomatoes and corn for 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. 

2. Season with black pepper, cumin and chili powder. Stir in black beans and broth, bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and let simmer 5-10 minutes. 

4. Remove from heat.  Blend to desired consistency using a stick blender. 

(This is my favorite part because of this awesome kitchen tool I got for Christmas last year.)

I heart you hand blender

If you don't have a stick blender, you can remove about 2 1/2 cups of the soup to a blender or food processor instead. 

5. I usually serve with a dollop of sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt in this case) and some avocado slices.

Enjoy!