This quinoa chili is vegan, healthy, easy to make, inexpensive and most of all… absolutely delicious! It has almost been the only chili recipe I’ve used for a year, and I can say that I make chili on a regular basis. I just don’t get tired of this one! I really like the fact that with the quinoa, it makes a complete meal of its own, and that there is a slightly sweet taste to it that makes it really different from all the other chilis I’ve tried. Plus, this meal can be prepared either on the oven or in a crockpot, which makes it really useful. In the slow cooker, it is a perfect unpretentious dinner to enjoy with some friends… As you can prepare everything in the morning, there aren’t dishes everywhere in the kitchen when the guests arrive. Wonderful!
I took this recipe on savvy vegetarian website, which I really like a lot. This site has so many great recipes! It’s been online for more than a decade(!) and I think it is so sweet that every member of this family participate in their own way to the website. Much love to them!
Now, I just realized after choosing my recipes for the “lunch series” that two of them included molasses. This is a coincidence. Maybe I just feel like molasses has a earthy autumn vibe that was appropriate for september. Either way, molasses is a really interesting ingredient cause it is sweet, it has a distinctive taste, but it is also healthy, as it includes good to excellent amounts of minerals like manganese, copper, magnesium, potassium and iron, and it is also a very good source of calcium. Interesting!
Ingredients :
- 1 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
- 3 cups water
- 1 can red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 cup unsalted tomato sauce OR 1/4 cup unsalted tomato paste + 3/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped onion (about 1 small onion)
- 1 celery stalk, diced (optional)
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (2-3 cloves)
- 2 tbsp minced jalapeño pepper (optional)
- 1/2 green (or any other colour) bell pepper
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried basil leaf
- 1/2 tsp dried marjoram leaf
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp light molasses
- 1 tbsp tamari sauce
- 1/4 chopped cilantro (for topping)
Stovetop Directions :
Rince the quinoa.
Heat the oil on medium-high in a large sauce pan. Cook the garlic, onion, jalapeño (optional) and celery (optional) until soft (about five minutes). Add the bell peppers and fry for another five minutes. Add the spices and herbs and stir for two minutes. Add the beans, water, molasses, tomato sauce (or paste) and quinoa.
Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked and most water evaporated. Add the tamari sauce and adjust seasoning.
You can serve this with cilantro (most of the time I don’t add cilantro if I take this chill in my lunch), or top it with avocados or (dairy free) sour cream. One time, I added a few drops of liquid smoke and the taste was pretty interesting.
Crockpot directions :
In a pan, heath the oil to medium-high and cook garlic, onions, celery (optional), jalapeño (optional) and bell peppers for five minutes. Add spices and herbs and stir for two minutes.
Put this mixture in the crockpot and add the quinoa, water, tomato sauce and beans. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
Add tamari sauce and molasses. Serve with cilantro and/or other toppings.
Don’t forget to remove the bay leaf and enjoy!
Veggie Pawa! 