Scooter's Vegan Chili with Tempeh

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 carrots, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 (8 ounce) package tempeh (such as Trader Joe's® Organic 3 Grain Tempeh), crumbled
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Step 1

Heat some olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the carrots and cook them until they start to get tender, about 5 minutes. Next, toss in the onion and chopped garlic, stirring occasionally until everything smells fragrant, around 3 minutes. Sprinkle in the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, and cumin, stirring for about a minute to toast the spices and bring out their flavor.

Step 2

Then, add the tempeh along with the red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. Stir everything together so the tempeh gets nicely coated with the spices, cooking for about 5 minutes. Pour in the canned tomatoes, black beans, cannellini beans, kidney beans, corn, and a little brown sugar. Give it a good stir, lower the heat to a gentle simmer, and cover the pot. Let it cook slowly for about 30 minutes, allowing all those flavors to blend beautifully.