One of the simplest meals you can make is chili. It is hard to mess it up, you can improvise and add more veggies, but the recipe below is the basic simple vegetarian chili I always make.

I was sitting on the couch one day trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I had beans on my mind and the first thing I thought about was chili. I had never tried to make a vegetarian chili before but for some reason that is what I craved.

You can play with the veggies, add more, add some bone broth to make it more liquid. But it will always be a perfection. The secret to making it better is the cooking time. It can be done in 40min, you can also make it in the pressure cooker. But the longer you let it simmer, the better it tastes.

I usually make it on the stove using a big pot, but lately I have been cooking it in my favorite appliance – the Ninja Foodi.

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Ingredients

• 2 Tbspextra-virgin olive oil

• 1 medium yellow onion

• 1 bell pepper

• 4 stalks celery

• 3 medium carrots (optional, add some shredded carrots for texture)

• 4-5 cloves garlic

• 3 cans fire roasted tomatoes (15 ounces each)

• 1 can black beans (15 ounces each) 

• 1 can kidney beans (15 ounces each) 

• 1 can white beans (or pinto beans) (15 ounces each) 

• 1-2 Tbsp chili powder

• salt

• black pepper

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

• Toppings

• shredded cheese

• chopped green onions

• greek yogurt

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Directions

• Chop the onion, celery, bell pepper and carrots. I also like adding shredded carrots, it makes the texture better.
• In a large pot over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add the onion, celery and carrots. Sauté until soft about 5min. Add the minced garlic and bell peppers. Cook for additional 3-4min.
• Add the cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder. Stir well.
• Drain the beans and add them to the pot, together with the diced fire roasted tomatoes.
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let it simmer for at least 40 minutes. I usually cook it for about 60-90min.
• When done, turn the heat off and add the chopped parsley. Stir to blend.
• Serve in a bowl with some shredded Mexican blend cheese, a spoon of greek yogurt and some chopped green onions.
  
• Enjoy 🙂