Caryn Loves This Chili!


This recipeis not so much a recipe. It's one of the many dishes we call "Cheri Surprise!" It constantly evolves depending on what we have coming in from the vegetable garden. I never make it the same twice! But it's always healthy, and always delicious. My standard base for the chili is below, though sometines I add a tidge of maple, cocao, or garlic for variety. 

Some people cook their chili for hours to infuse the flavor; I never do that. I like to keep the ingredients as intact as possible so they retain as much nutrition as possible and so it's a thicker result. It's actually one of my quick-to-make dinners! There is no "right" amount of time to cook this, as long as everything is brought to boiling. 

We love this over a piece of cornbread; or sometimes on top of a simple pile of plain corn chips. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bag of mixed vegetables: frozen peas, carrots, corn, and green beans
3 onions
2 BPA-free cans black beans
1 BPA-free can kidney beans
1 BPA-free can vegetarian refried beans
2 16-ounce BPA-free cans diced tomatoes (You can up this if you want the chili to be more soup-like.)
Homemade taco seasoning (We keep this on hand, but you can make a recipe in a separate bowl if needed.)
1 bag of chopped spinach
(salt and pepper to taste)

Directions: 

1. Cook the bag of mixed veggies on the side by cooking in a small pot with a little water until veggies are boiled and cooked to slightly soft.

2. In a large pot, cook chopped onions with a splash of olive oil. (If you're using any meat, now is the time you would also cook that in the same pot with the onions.)

3. Once onions (and optional meat) are thoroughly cooked, dump cans of beans and tomatoes, along with taco seasoning, into the pot. Bring all ingredients to a boil, stirring occassionally. 

4. Add frozen bag of spinach (this will cook in extremely quickly) and the small pot of mixed veggies.

5. Sitr and cook down for as long as you like. Salt and pepper to taste!