Five-Bean Vegetarian Chili

By marck

This is a recipe I cut out of the Chicago Tribune, and we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. It was a little spicy when I tried it, so I would consider cutting back on the chili powder, maybe by as much as half.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 each, chopped: sweet onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper (we used one orange and one red bell pepper, actually)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 each, finely chopped: drained chipotle peppers, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (about 16 oz) each, drained: black beans, garbanzo beans, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, cannelini or butter beans
• 1 14-oz can vegetable broth
• 2 C water
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp each: salt, dried thyme leaves, red pepper flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add celery, onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring, until vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, one minute.

2. Stir in chipotle and sun-dried tomatoes. Add crushed tomatoes, beans, vegetable broth, water, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, thyme, red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste. Heat to a boil over medium-high heat; lower heat to a simmer. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.