Emo-free weight loss

I was completely vegetarian for several years. I was never a big fan of meat and had no problem giving it up. Except for bacon. Bacon is yum. That was the last thing to go!

A general moral opposition towards consuming animals was never my thing, though I do have a HUGE moral opposition to modern factory farming practices. You know the drill. Confined veal calves. Chickens in cramped cages. Hormones and antibiotics liberally applied. If more people realized the conditions their hot wings were raised in or their skim milk was milked in, there’d be a movement. An anti-massacree movement.

I’m putting on Alice’s Restaurant now.
Nowadays, I will eat bacon or chicken once in a while. I still don’t like beef. And I still refuse to handle raw meat (ick). In my full-veg days I picked up a few awesome cookbooks. This recipe for vegetarian black bean chili is adapted from Paulette Mitchell’s 15-Minute Single Gourmet.

It’s not a vegetarian cookbook (darn that chicken chapter) but it has dozens of vegetarian recipes. I used this book a lot more back in the day than I do now, since I cook larger portions and freeze what I don’t eat, but it still rocks.

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped bell pepper, any color
1/2 cup corn
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1 15-ounce can black beans
1 4-ounce packet Boca “ground beef” crumbles
2 cups water
6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon minced fresh
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Dash hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Heat oil in a large pan. Add onion and garlic; cook until soft. Add carrot, bell pepper, corn, and celery and cook for 3-5 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; simmer 5 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.

Options: Obviously, you can mix and match vegetables however you like. You can use whatever kind of beans you like. Sometimes I will put in 8 or even 12 ounces of fake meat.

And, as you see in the photo, I like to garnish mine with feta cheese.

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