Killer Veggie Chile (vegetarian)

1 can Pinto beans with liquid
1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can carrot slices in water, drained and rinsed
1 package Morningstar Recipe crumbles (frozen)
Half a medium onion
2 cloves of garlic or 2 tbsp of garlic from a jar
1 tbsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
.5 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Spray a large saucepan with Pam. Dice your half an onion, and saute on medium heat until tender. Add carrots and spices, and saute until aromatic (a couple of minutes). Add the canned tomatoes and all of the beans and bay leaves. Simmer for five minutes. Add the entire bag of recipe crumbles, folding it into the mix. Allow this to cook on medium heat for the remaining twenty minutes, covered. Stir occasionally, making sure that the bottom does not burn. If you notice it sticking, reduce the heat. I served this over 1/4 cup of long grain brown rice (from one of those 90 second microwave packages, they really save my life), and my husband LOVED it! He's pretty tolerant with my meat free lifestyle, but this was definitely something he liked just because it tasted good. It would work really well with whatever beans you favor, and the crumbles actually taste fairly meaty (texture is a bit off, but not too bad). I considered adding some beer for flavor, but being on a diet I decided to forgo that step.

Other items that would work really well in this - bottled salsa instead of canned tomatoes, bell peppers, tomatillos, a few splashes of vinegared peppers, sofrito instead of the canned tomatoes, TVP reconstituted with veggie broth, taco seasoning instead of chili powder, portobello mushrooms instead of the crumbles. The skies really the limit on chili!

Enjoy!

; )

Number of Servings: 6

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MVP_ACTRESS.