It is the end of April and today’s weather is not Spring-like. Since this weather has been dragging, a friend of mine called it “sprinter” (spring/winter) LOL!

On Mondays, I try to cook a “meatless” dinner whenever possible. After sorting through my pantry and fridge, I decided to make vegetarian chili. And for that friend SL, I’m calling it “Sprinter” Chili 😉

“Sprinter” Vegetarian Chili for Meatless Mondays

approx. 6-8 servings

Homemade Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

• 1-540 ml can of Aylmer Accents tomatoes with celery and onions
  

  “Mise En Place” of the Ingredients

• 1 can of white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups of water
• 3 cups of V8 juice
• 1/2 cup of brown lentils, cooked in 3 cups of water
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 peppers, diced (I used 1 orange and 1 yellow pepper)
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1/2 of large onion, diced
• 1/2 of a fennel bulb, diced
• 1 jar of Molisana pickled mushrooms, diced and sautéed separately until crisp
• 1 shallots, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon of Emeril’s Essence, *recipe below
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder (more will be spicier)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt to taste (you’ll need quite a lot)

This will toast the spices and bring out their flavour.

Add carrots, fennel and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, or until they just start to soften. Add water, tomatoes and V8 juice and bring to a simmer.

Preparation

Simmering

Almost done!

Once the chili begins to simmer, reduce the heat to medium low. The chili should simmer on low with the lid off.
Continue to cook the chili, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Add beans, lentils and peppers and let the chili return to a simmer. Cook for 5-8 more minutes or until the peppers and beans have heated through. Generously salt to taste.

Serve on its own or topped with one (or all!) of the delicious toppings.

Homemade Vegetarian Chili with toppings

Alternative for the Non-Vegetarian:

Since my husband is a meat in his chili kinda guy, I took his leftover smoked meatballs from Sunday’s dinner, chopped them up with ground beef and cooked them in a little of the hot oil from Molisana pickle mushrooms and V8 juice until heated thoroughly.

Chopped Smoked Meatballs with Ground Beef