A Vegetarian Vote

Did you vote today?

I didn’t.  I have to admit, I pay zero attention to politics.  ZE-RO.  Please don’t hate me!

Instead of taking advantage of my right to vote, I took advantage of the fact that we are having some gorgeous running weather in Philadelphia as of late.  I ran the bridge x2 again with Stella!  Loving my new 6-mile route.  Not loving when Stella projectile vomits water because she ate a pound of grass with her dog friends after our run…ick.  I guess I SHOULD be counting my blessings tonight, since once I came home from work and she was in her crate covered in poop.  I was too mortified to even take a picture, but I only laugh when I think about that day now…gotta love puppies and EVERYTHING that comes with them.

Okayyyyy hopefully I still have readers after that one.

Chili was on my mind all weekend, and I finally cooked a batch last night!  I am chili queen lately…I just love it for fall and winter!  I usually make chili with ground meat or shredded chicken, but I decided to whip up a vegetarian version for the week.  November is vegan month, but I am not that skilled or equipped with all-vegan recipe ingredients, sooo VEGGIE is a compromise!  This recipe makes an enormous amount of chili and it is CHEAP.  I added Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, and a buttered buttermilk biscuit to my chili tonight.  Yeah, the whole veganizing is so not my thing.  I love cheese too much.  And butter.  And ice cream.  I had an orange habanero pepper sitting in the fridge from my CSA share last week and finely diced it to add some pizzazz.  You wouldn’t believe how much spice that little sucker added!

Spiced UP Vegetarian Chili

Serves 6-8

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3, 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes with juice
• 1, 7-oz can diced mild green chilies with juice
• 1 orange habanero pepper, seeds removed and finely diced (DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYE!) – omit if you are not down with spice!
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2, 15-oz cans dark red kidney beans (or any combination of beans)
• 2 green bell peppers, diced
• 1, 16-oz package frozen sweet corn kernels

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions begin to soften.  Add tomatoes, green chilies, habanero, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and salt and cook about 15 minutes.  Add kidney beans, bell peppers, and corn and reduce heat to medium low.  Cook an additional 30 minutes and you’re ready to EAT!