Vegan Chili

Chili is perfect for summer cookouts and dressing your black bean burgers and veggie dogs, but this vegan chili is a great recipe to hang on to for the colder months, too. We keep several cans of beans and diced tomatoes in the pantry so we can whip this up any time.

2 cans of beans (Pinto beans or black beans are great for chili, and you can use more than one type of bean.)
1 can of diced tomatoes (or 1 fresh tomato)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp olive oil (to sauté the onion)

All of the spices are to taste, and you can add more or less to suit your spiciness comfort level.

In a large sauce pan, sauté the onion over medium-high heat until the onions are transparent. (Give it time. I always try to rush this part. It’ll happen!) Add the cumin, stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Next, add the beans, and keep stirring for two minutes. It’s time to stir in the tomato and the spices.

Raise heat to high and allow the mixture to reach a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. In 20 minutes, you will have vegan chili!

I like to scoop some vegan chili over a baked potato any time of year. If it’s a little spicy, I like to cool it down with vegan sour cream. When we made this on Monday, I threw in a few cut up chunks of a baked sweet potato to make it a full meal and then packed up some sweet potato slices covered in vegan chili for my Tuesday lunch. I occasionally even add some vegan grounds to it to make it a "meaty" chili.