Four Bean Quinoa Chili & GIVEAWAY WINNERS!
Well, hello there! Happy Friday!
I have LOTS of leftovers around here! This always winds up happening to me…I have the intention of making a small pot of chili, or soup, or anything really, and it turns into a humongo amount. Lucky for me soup freezes well and I have an extra freezer in the garage.
I know some of you out there probably think I’m totally crazy for making chili on a 95+ degree day, but it’s not like I slaved over it in kitchen. I let the crock pot do the majority of the work for me.
Here’s how I did it…
I chopped up the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and lightly sautéed them in a small amount of olive oil on the stove top for 5-7 minutes (more detailed instructions below). I then transferred the veggies to the crock pot along with all other remaining ingredients except the beans. I used canned beans and I didn’t want them to get too soggy and/or mushy by adding them too early.
I actually let this whole concoction sit together overnight only because I knew I wouldn’t have time to throw this together in the morning, but you could most definitely do this all the morning of.
Since I did let this mingle overnight, it allowed for my quinoa to soak for a long time before cooking, which can aid in digestion. Again, this is a step you can skip if you would like.
The next day I gave it all a stir and turned the crock pot on low at 12:00 pm (this is still without the beans and chiles). This mingled in the crock pot for four hours.
Then I added the beans and the chiles (you could add the chiles to the ingredients that were already in the crock pot, I just kind of forgot/got too lazy to open up the can I guess!
Three hours later when we arrived home, I did some final taste testing, added some additional seasoning, and gave it one last stir.
I chopped some cilantro and fresh avocado to top off the chili.
I got’er all served up!
You can add any other toppings you like—cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt, green onions, etc!
So pretty, right? Call me crazy but I can eat chili any time of the year no matter how hot it is. Now, if I didn’t have air conditioning, we would be talking a whole different ball game.
Four Bean Quinoa Chili | Print |
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 3 cup chicken broth**
- 2½ Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ tsp smoky paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- sprinkle of garlic powder
- **you could substitute vegetable stock and make this recipe 100% vegan
- sprinkle of onion powder
- 1-15 oz can black beans
- 1-15 oz can chili beans
- 1-15 oz can red kidney beans
- 1-15 oz can white kidney beans
- 1-4 oz can of diced green chiles
- cilantro (optional topping)
- avocado (optional topping)
- Lightly saute onions, garlic, carrots, and celery on the stove top for 5-7 minutes.
- In a large crockpot, add the sautéed vegetables, quinoa, broth, and all spices. Stir, cover, and turn crockpot on low. Let this go for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours add in the beans and chiles and stir. Recover and let cook for another 2-3 hours.
- Give it one last stir and taste test to make sure seasonings are spot on. Add additional seasonings if desired.
- Serve in pretty bowls and top with cilantro and avocado!
- Enjoy!
What do you think? Am I crazy for making hot chili on a super hot summer day? Do you ever eat soup in the summer?
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Now, to those of you hanging around to find out if you are the winner of the Dara Torres meet and greet, spin class, and free ear buds, your wait ends here.
The two winners are:
1. Katie @ Daily Cup of Kate
2. Stacy Elling
Congrats you two! I will get an email out to both of you with the details of the event!! Thank you all of you who entered!
HApppppppppyyyy Friday!!