Chili - to add meat or not to add meat?

Chili

(to add meat or not to add meat that is the question..... )

I never even liked chili until I made this recipe. The original is the Rachael Ray's Veghead Chili  recipe. I have played with it and made it my own (as I so often do).

You can either add in a pound of browned ground beef drained or  following recipe and leave it vegetarian. Often, if I am short on beans, I will even cut back on the beans and use mostly ground beef. You can adjust the Vegetable Broth to accommodate the change in ingredients adding or not adding to get the consistency you like.

2 sweet peppers  diced (green, red or yellow)  I use whatever is cheapest
1 large onion diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
4-6 cloves of garlic minced
3 cans of beans (kidney, black or other)
1 cup vegetable broth (Pacific Organic Vegetable Broth is what I always use) Add to get correct consistency right before adding the spices.
1 Tbsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp salt

Cut up green peppers and onion. Sauté  in  large pot in a little olive oil over medium heat. Cook until onions are translucent. Add in garlic and cook for another minute. Add in diced tomatoes & beans. Stir well to combine. Add Vegetable broth as needed for desired consistency (add less for a thicker chili). Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add in cumin and chili powder and simmer on extra low until ready to serve.

We eat this vegetarian style over steamed brown rice for a complete protein. Or carnivore style without the rice and with the ground beef.

If you are doing this with ground beef. Brown your ground beef separately and add to your pot of onion and green peppers when you add the garlic. Then follow the steps from there adding in or not the beans if you want.

We love to eat this along with a fresh batch of Pamela's Cornbread muffins made with honey and sunflower oil or olive oil. (Of course Buddy usually has a hamburger and rice, since the chili has too many allergens for him. But he loves those cornbread muffins!)

Makes awesome leftovers and freezes well too. You can even freeze cooked brown rice separately to eat with it another day.

If I make this with ground beef, I simply set aside some plain beef for Buddy and fry a hamburger in a small pan on the side for him. Then he eats the brown rice and cornbread with the rest of the family and his choice of allowed fruit.