bean, veggie and sundried tomato crock pot chili

Sunday calls for slow food. A little bit of cooking in the morning equals great rewards for the rest of the day. Some of my favorite Sunday crock pot meals are hearty soups, mushroom and tomato sauces for spaghetti, and of course chili. My recipe for chili changes every time I make it, and when I cooked up this last batch, I was out of a few things, but the improvisations were a success!

Ingredients

• 3 15 oz. cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or cooked dried beans)
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed (or cooked dried beans)
• 2 tbsp. grapeseed or coconut oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 yellow or orange pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup carrots, shredded or diced
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup diced fresh parsley
• leaves of 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 3-4 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tbsp. cumin
• 2 tbsp. coriander
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 cups liquid (filtered water, beer, wine)

Directions

1. In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat and saute diced onions and peppers for a about 5 minutes
2. Add mushrooms, zucchini and carrots and saute for another 5-10 minutes
3. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander, sea salt and cayenne powder and stir into veggies being careful not to let the veggies stick to the pan
4. In a crock pot or dutch oven, add beans, cooked veggie mixture, tomato paste, sun dried tomatoes, fresh parsley, fresh thyme and mix well
5. Cover the chili with about 3 cups of liquid, substituting up to a cup of gluten free beer, or a cup of good red wine
6. Cook at least 6 hours on low, up to 10 hours

Chili is a dish that improves the longer you cook it, chili on day two is even better than day one. I love to serve it over organic brown rice, topped with sliced avocado, cilantro, lime juice and some pepperjack daiya cheese.

This is what we were doing while the chili was simmering all day.