Vegetarian Chili

My husband is from a family of meat-eaters. SERIOUS meat-eaters. I love me a good piece of steak, and bacon is my favorite food, but his family doesn't eat ANYTHING without meat in it. So when we started trying to lose weight and eat healthier, he was pretty skeptical about a meatless chili. If it didn't have beef then what was the point? It took me weeks to talk him into being OK with trying this and when he came home from work the night I finally made it he hummed and hawed over it. It smelled alright but he was just sure it wouldn't have the right texture. Or the right flavor, or the right ingredients, and it DEFINITELY still didn't have any meat . . .

I finally got him to try it, mostly because we have a rule in our house that neither one of us is allowed to demonstrate pickiness in front of the kids. (I'm convinced that pickiness is learned not inherited.) He cleared out three bowls at dinner that night and the pot of chili that was supposed to feed 16 people was gone by breakfast the next morning. It's supposed to freeze well,  but we haven't gotten the chance to find out yet. It's become the only chili we ever eat and I get requests for it a couple times a month now that the weather has cooled. It's a whole lot lower calorie than the meaty versions and higher in fiber because of the barley, which makes it a very filling, very healthy weight-loss kind of a comfort food.


Vegetarian Chili

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoons chili powder (2T if you like your chili hot)

1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with liquid, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can green chilies
2 ½ C water
½ C barley

1 tablespoon cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the garlic, onion, and carrots in the pot until tender. Mix in the green bell pepper and red bell pepper. Season with chili powder. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until peppers are tender.

Stir in the tomatoes with liquid, black beans, kidney beans, green chilies, barley, water and corn. Season with cumin, oregano, basil, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, Or simmer in a crock pot through the day.
Serves 16