Easy Vegetarian Chili - Recipe

Since going to a second meatless day this week, I decided to start out with something easy and just tweak it a bit. It calls for textured vegetable protein, a soy product used in place of meat.

1/2 c dried black beans

1/2 c dried pinto beans

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

1 8-oz can tomato sauce

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves roasted garlic, minced

1 bell pepper, diced 

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup vegetable broth

2 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

dash cayenne pepper

dash red pepper flakes 

1/2 cup TVP + 1/2 cup water

1. Cook the dried beans according to the directions on the package.

2. In a medium to large soup pot, sautee the onion, bell pepper and garlic in the olive oil. Add tomatoes, vegetable broth and chili powder and stir.

3. Reduce heat to medium low and add beans. Stir occasionally and cook for at least 20 minutes. Add TVP and water 10 minutes before done cooking. Of course, the longer you cook chili the better, but if you're pressed for time, 20 minutes is fine.

4. For a spicier chili, add extra cayenne and red pepper flakes. Makes 6 servings.

Per Living Cookbook, each serving has 289 calories, 7 g fat, 50 g carbs (15 g fiber), 14 g protein. 5.5 WW points/Core friendly.

I cannot tell you how delicious this dish is!!! My husband raved about it and didn't even notice that the "stuff" in it was not hamburger!