Meatless Monday

In an effort to eat less meat and to keep our waistlines in check, I’m going to try to go meatless at least once a week, if not more. However, vegetable anything in this house takes some creativity! Chili may not be the most creative recipes, but what this lacks in creativity it made up for in taste and healthfulness. The original recipe is listed below, but I made a few changes. I used a red bell pepper instead of the green, used only one jalapeno and used vegetable broth instead of water for more flavor. Even though there is a jalapeno in this chili, it barely had any heat. This is not the type of chili that is going to make your nose run and eyes tear up! I served this with some brown rice and homemade cornbread.

Here is a cute joke for you before you get cooking:

Q: What does a nosey pepper do?
A: Gets jalapeño in your business!!

I know, I know! It’s totally corny but it made me laugh.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 or 2 fresh jalapeño or serrano chiles, seeded, finely chopped

2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, drained, rinsed

2 cans (14.5 oz each) organic fire roasted or plain diced tomatoes, undrained

1 ½ cups water

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon coarse (kosher or sea) salt

1 cup frozen organic sweet corn

Optional

Sour cream or plain yogurt

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and chiles; cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.

Stir in black beans, tomatoes, water, chili powder, cumin and salt. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 5 minutes longer.

Top each serving with any optional ingredients you like. And for health's sake, the nutritional information is listed below.

1 Serving (1 Serving= 1 1/3 cups)

•  Calories 280 (calories from Fat 35)
• Total Fat 3 1/2g (Saturated Fat 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g),
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 390mg
• Total Carbohydrate 48g (Dietary Fiber 11g, Sugars 10g)
• Protein 13g