Veggie chili

I try to make a vegetarian meal at least once or twice a week. It keeps us healthy :) I love this recipe because it is so versatile and you can use anything that you have in you cupboard/fridge. I'll tell you how I made it, and I will give some other options. You can be as creative as you want with it! It is so easy because you just chop some veggies and then open some cans. And you can use whatever veggies you want. Yum.



Some people don't like beans, but even so, you'll like this. Chris doesn't like beans, but he likes this recipe. He gave it 2 veggie thumbs up. Oh, and if you want to make it a little more filling, you can eat it with crackers, tortillas, tortilla chips, cous cous, noodles, etc...

Oh and hint to those of us who live in Fort Collins... the cheapest place to buy canned goods is Sunflower Market. For those of you who don' t live in Fort Collins... bummer. You should consider moving :)

Husband rating: Chris gave this one 2 ratings: 10 on a veggie scale and 8.5 on a general scale (he would always rather have beef). So that's pretty good!

Time: 50 minutes (only 15 minutes of real work though:))
Feeds: 3 or 4 or 2 with leftovers

Ingredients


- Olive oil (eye it... I think about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 garlic cloves- crushed
- 1 onion- chopped
- 1 yellow squash- cut in half and sliced
- 1 medium zucchini - cut in half and sliced
- 1/2 green pepper- chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- Oregano (about 1/4 tsp) (I always add extra spices so I used more than this...)
- Basil (about 1/4 tsp)
- Cumin (about 1/4 tsp)
- Chili powder (about 2 tsp)
- 1 can of garbanzo beans- drained
- 1 can of kidney beans- drained
- 1 can corn- drained
- 1 can of diced tomatoes- drained
- 1 can of tomato sauce
- 1 cup of veggie broth (I use Better then Boullion Vegetable Base and mix with water).

Directions:
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, about 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and continue to saute, about 5-10 minutes. Then throw in your spices and stir. Then throw in all of the canned ingredients. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium and simmer. About 30 minutes. Just make sure that the carrots are tender enough. Enjoy!



Variations
- You can use any veggies that you want. This is the first time that I have ever used carrots and green pepper. Be creative!
- You can also use different kind of beans. Don't have kidney beans and garbanzo beans??? Use black beans, pinto beans or whatever you do have. It's all delicious and beans are a great source of protein.
- Try different kind of tomatoes if you don't have diced... how about stewed??
- For the liquid you can be creative. What about beef broth, chicken broth or just water. Or, you can throw in another can of tomato sauce. Or skip the liquid all together for a thicker chili.
- Mix up the spices- add more or less depending on your taste.

Does anyone have other suggestions or ideas????