After devouring all the festive food , its high time we focus on the new year dress. It’s time to buckle up, cut down those calories that we happily put on feasting all month long. Yes it’s time for some soups and salads. After eating such good food , its difficult to transition to the healthy one’s right. Starving and dieting was never my thing. I always believe in healthy lifestyle and a little bit of everything in limits doesn’t hurt. Soups are fine, but salads in this cold weather !! its below 20 degrees f and I am just not motivated to eat cold salads . So there is one more reason to make this recipe . Today I am sharing a recipe which is a soup and salad in one – Vegetarian chili . It’s a vegetarian version of Mexican chili or should I say a Tex-Mex version.And its vegan too. I call it as a dump soup – With loads of veggies, beans and toppings , extremely customizable . A complete hearty meal in a bowl. It is not only nuitrtious but also delicious to the core . And making it ahead of time earns more brownie points. Vegetarian chili can be made and eaten more than one way so that you do not get bored of it. So I just swap one meal of the day with a big bowl or two of vegetarian chili, this always works in my favor for my body type and I have always been successful in loosing those extra pounds without dieting or starving – I hope I have answered the questions asked by many readers- “you cook such sinful food and how do you maintain your weight ? “ – the secret is out guys. On a serious note – if you haven’t tried it yet , please do even if you do not want to loose weight. It’s a very healthy meal option. Ok let me slow down here, I get really excited when it comes to sharing. As I mentioned before its like a soup and salad in one. It has thicker consistency compared to other soups. There are hundred’s of recipes available online for vegetarian chili , what am I doing different? Generally vegetarian / vegan versions of chili have tomatoes as its base , my version uses beetroot . Yes ,Beetroot is the hero of this version of vegetarian chili. Why beetroot? I love to use veggies which aren’t consumed often and which needs to be included in our diet . Beets come with plethora of benefits but isn’t getting due importance in our diet. It has always been in sandwiches or just plain soup which I make like once a month. Hence beetroot is the base of this version of chili . In a nutshell , what is this soup made of Loads of veggies – both – purée and chunky. Beans – for extra protein Herbs and Spices – that only makes this soup more and more delicious.
Make a big batch ahead of time – A batch that can last me for a week hopefully. Make ahead of time tips! Store in the fridge for upto 3 days Vegetarian chili freezes well – freeze in 1 time use portions. Makes a great lunch box too. So how do I eat it entire week without getting bored – Everyday I just make changes in the toppings and add ons, so no boredom – yayy!! I made this 3 days back and this is how I am having it – Day one Simply 2 bowls of hearty and piping hot vegetarian chili with light sprinkle of cheese topping was my dinner. Day two Changed up things a bit . Added sour cream , sprinkled some cheese , added ½ cup bulgur wheat, some pan roasted sweet corns as topping – my lunch Day three Today I will be adding in some barley , some flaxseed meal , avocados and cashew cream . Day four. Thinking of brown rice , edamame and sour cream . Day five Will add cooked cracked wheat, pan sautéed peas and spinach with sesame seeds and top with avocado dressing. I hope you have enough ideas and come up with your own bowl of goodness. This soup keeps you fuller for a very long time, if I have it for lunch, I am actually not hungry by dinner and I just land up eating half of my dinner portion. So win win every time. Feel free to have this soup any time of the day , for lunch, dinner or light snack . Highlights vegan base make ahead of time keeps you fuller for a long time flexible customizable gluten free base I like to make vegetable stock/ broth at home whenever possible, you can use store bought too. You can even use plain water , but I highly recommend using broth as not only it enhances flavors , it also makes it more nutritious.
Home made vegetable broth 4-5 cups water 1 cinnamon stick 1 bay leaf 2-3 peppercorns Tomatoes, onion, carrots or any vegetable peels Approx 2” long Roughly sliced ginger chunks Fistful of coriander stems Just boil all the above for 2-3 minutes. Switch off the gas .Do not drain it immediately . Let the peels and spices steep in the water for 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on time on hand. Drain and use as needed or store in the fridge up to 2 days.
Step by step pictorial tutorial.
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