Recipe: slow cooker vegetarian chili with chickpeas and lentils

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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Other cozy recipes you might like:

Chickpea flatbread with onions and rosemary

Healthy spelt banana nut muffins

Kamut pasta with Roasted veggies

On the menu this week

Well it seems I'm sick as a dog with a cold of some sort. The kids and I have been relatively lucky with not getting sick this year. I remember getting sick like this before Christmas and that's about it really. I know lots of people who haven't been so lucky.

Anyway, I gathered up some strength to plan some meals this week. Last week was a bit of write-off because it was a short week from our trip to Florida.

Here's what I'm thinking for dinner this week:

Photo credits from top middle to bottom right: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

Monday
I wanted to make something green for St. Paddy's Day so I'll be Kale Pesto Pasta with Ricotta and Chili  from Heather Christo on Monday. I'm getting kale in my veggie box so I'm kind of hoping it comes early tomorrow!

Tuesday
20-Minute Chickpea Curry from Creme de la Crumb

Wednesday
Leek Fritters (and likely a salad of some sort) from A Thought For Food

Thursday 
Sweet Potato Enchiladas from Damn Delicious

Friday
Swiss Chard and Ricotta Pizza from Real Simple

Ok now I'm hungry. Mark's making burritos tonight and I'm starting to get my appetite back!

What are you cooking this week?

kamut pasta with roasted veggies

I have a few food posts coming up so I'm deeming this food week! Why not? First up - the easiest, yummiest, go-to pasta ever: pasta with roasted veggies. I actually typically make this with quinoa but last week I wanted pasta so that's how I made it.

I use kamut pasta a lot because it's considered an ancient grain so not overly processed, it's organic and also has loads (loads!!!) of protein (13g per 85g serving [!] which is about 0.35927 cups in case you were curious :)).

NOTE: this pasta isn't gluten free but it works with any type of GF pasta!

Here are the steps and oh are they hard!

Step 1: Cut veggies in chunks & slices. Here I used eggplant, zucchini, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, a pint of cherry tomatoes, garlic and onions.

Step 2: Mix in oil of choice. Add salt, pepper, oregano, basil and whatever else you fancy.

Step 3: Throw them on a tray and then onto the BBQ (or oven). Roast for 15-20 mins at 400 degrees.

Step 4: Cook your pasta according to directions. 

Step 5: Do a taste test for your veggies and add more spices if needed.

Step 6: Add pasta to your fancy pasta bowls and top with veggies, goat cheese and pepper. If you're vegan use this vegan parmesan. I keep some in my fridge and use it all the time.

Step 7: EAT IT.

Step 8: Eat more if you want!

That's it! Enjoy!