Monday, April 13: Cheesy Vegetarian Chili with Cornbread Muffins

Chili night! Made a tasty, cheesy vegetarian chili (with red onion, bell pepper, zucchini, a trio of beans, fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles, lots of spices, shredded cheese, and more), served with homemade cornbread muffins and salted butter. Hearty, healthy, delicious!

For the chili:

In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat, saute one diced red onion, one diced bell pepper, and one diced zucchini in a few TB olive oil with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes. Add your spices: 1-2 TB chili powder, 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and a few shakes of cayenne. Saute and stir for a few more minutes.

Add 1 8 oz can tomato sauce, 1 14.5 oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles (or just plain diced fire-roasted tomatoes), 1 15 oz can black beans, 1 15 oz can kidney beans, and ~1/2 (or more) of a 15 oz can fat-free refried pinto beans. Season with a big pinch of salt and stir to combine. (At this point, I also added about 1/2-1 cup water, knowing that a lot of liquid will boil away and I didn’t want it too thick/dry.) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more liquid (water or broth) if it gets too thick. Taste and adjust salt and spices.

When ready to eat, turn heat off and stir in a few handfuls (1/2-1 cup) shredded cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, or a taco blend) until melted and combined. It will get creamy and so delicious!

Serve with additional cheese to sprinkle on top, plus any other favorite toppings you have (scallions, sour cream, jalapenos, etc.). And don’t forget the cornbread muffins!

For the cornbread muffins:

See Budget Bytes recipe here. I followed her instructions for making into muffins. Very good spread with salted butter!