Leanout Day 3: Slooow Cookin'

As soon as I started the leanout challenge, I knew this recipe would be on the list! Vegan chili. Ready folks? This is going to be a good one.

Before I became vegan, I cooked with my slowcooker a LOT. I loved piling in meat, veggies and broth into the pot in the morning and returning home to delicious smells and an effort-free dinner. When I became vegan, I scaled WAY back on cooking, mostly because I didn't know what I was doing. Later I did develop some great recipes, but by then I'd gotten out of the habit of crockpotting. Several years later, our reunion is long overdue!

So here we go. Protein-packed, spicy vegan chili. Ingredients are pretty easy:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/3 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 28 ounce can tomatoes
• 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 2 cans black beans, drained
• 2 cans red kidney beans, drained
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

The "work" in the recipe takes just a few minutes. Sauté onions, garlic and red pepper flakes on the stove until the onions are soft (3-5 minutes). Add cumin and chili powder and sauté another 2 minutes. Once done, add this - along with all remaining ingredients - to your crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

The trick, I suppose, is leaving it alone and not eating everything else in your house in response to the amazing smells it fills with! haha. BUT, if you can manage it, the payoff is HUGE. NOM.

Enjoy!

Cheers,
Karla