Vegan Chili by Amy

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (19 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 (12 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• ¼ cup dry red lentils
• ¼ cup uncooked quinoa
• ¼ cup chili powder
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons water, or more as needed

Step 1

Gently heat some oil in a medium-sized Dutch oven over medium heat. Toss in the chopped onion, green and red bell peppers, and garlic. Cook everything together, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are nice and soft—about 5 minutes.

Step 2

While that’s cooking, mash half of the black beans in a small bowl. Add the mashed beans along with the rest of the whole black beans to the pot. Next, pour in the diced tomatoes and 2 cups of water. Stir in the corn, lentils, quinoa, and all the spices: chili powder, brown sugar, paprika, salt, turmeric, oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Give everything a good mix.

Step 3

Turn the heat up so the chili comes to a boil, then lower it to a simmer. Let it cook gently, stirring now and then, for about 2 hours so all those flavors develop.

Step 4

To thicken things up, mix the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl until it’s smooth. Pour this slurry into the chili and keep it simmering for another 15 minutes until the chili thickens up nicely.

Step 5

Finally, mash the chili a bit with a potato masher to get the texture you like. Give it a taste and adjust seasoning if needed, then dig in!