Mondays are my veggie box days from MamaEarth Organics which means that before the box comes to the house, I don't have a ton of food in the fridge. I tend to organize my meals around the box, so Mondays are typically make whatever I can find in the house days.
This Monday was no exception. It was damp and a bit chilly so I was craving chili, only I didn't really have any beans in the house and I was lacking a few staple vegetables like carrots. Not to worry, I combed through my freezer and found some chickpeas and frozen corn and went to my pantry for some lentils. A dash of this and a squirt of that and I had super yummy chili! I was a bit worried but it turned out fantastic so I thought I'd share. Feel free to mix it up!
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili with Chickpeas and Lentils
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Half of a red onion, chopped
1-1.5 cups of canned or cooked chickpeas
1-1.5 cups of dried green lentils (soaked over night)
1 cup of frozen corn
1 cup of celery, diced
1 cup of salsa
1 can of whole or diced tomatoes
1 pepper, diced (yellow, red or orange)
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
A few dashes of liquid smoke
Cooking oil of your liking
Salt and pepper to taste
Slow cooker
Directions
1. Sautee onions and garlic in a tablespoon oil for about 5 minutes, adding 1 teaspoon of chili powder to the pan. Transfer to the slow cooker.
2. Add all the other ingredients to the slow cooker, mix and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
3. Serve with greek yogurt and shredded mozzarella for extra yummyness.
Notes:
- I used dried lentils and didn't make time to cook them so I soaked them over night and threw them right into the slow cooker. You can obviously use canned if that's what you have.
- Also as mentioned above, I didn't have any carrots, but if I had had them I would have used them here.
- I cooked my chili all day and it was a perfect consistency by the time we ate it (about 10 hours). I left it extra long to make sure the lentils were cooked since I didn't precook them.
PS- The chili tastes even better the next day! I even ate a bit for breakfast in a breakfast burrito with eggs.
Happy cozy eating friends!
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