Hearty Vegetarian Chili

Photo from Taste of Home

Before you get confused, this is still a baking blog!  Because I have a category called Contest Recipes, every now and then you may see a recipe that is savory, not sweet.  I created this vegetarian chili recipe to be entered in Taste of Home's healthy cooking contest.  To my surprise, it was a runner up!  The recipe was published in the December/January 2011 issue of Healthy Cooking by Taste of Home.

My daughter has a friend who is a vegan and I wanted to create a recipe that contained no dairy or animal products for her when she came to visit.  This chili is packed with flavor from sun-dried tomatoes, portobello mushrooms and chili beans.  The reviews for this recipe are very positive so far, which pleased me.  I have always been more interested in baking, so it was a nice surprise to have one of my savory recipes recognized.  Here is the recipe from Taste of Home:

• 1-3/4 cups chopped baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 package (12 ounces) frozen vegetarian meat crumbles
• 2 cans (16 ounces each) chili beans, undrained
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) no-salt-added diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 4-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and finely chopped
• 9 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream

• In a Dutch oven, saute the mushrooms, onion, sun-dried tomatoes in oil until vegetables are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add meat crumbles; heat through.
• Stir in the chili beans, tomatoes, water, broth, chili powder, brown sugar, celery salt and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Ladle chili into bowls. Top each with avocado and sour cream. Yield: 9 servings (2-1/4 quarts).

I hope you will enjoy this recipe. It only takes 30 minutes to make and youwon't miss the meat. There are lots of other fabulous recipes in the Healthy Cooking series, so check them out.   Most important of all, after eating something savory don't forget dessert!

Happy eating,

Pam