Brrr. Take the chill off this winter with a bowl of delicious chili.  This healthy and tasty meal comes together in well-under an hour and uses a combination of fresh produce and pantry staples. If you don’t have barley, you can substitute brown rice (add an  add’l 2/3 cup of broth/water and extended the cooking time by 15 minutes).

Quick Vegetarian Chili with Avocado Salsa

Six servings

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles
• 2/3 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 6 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
• 6 lime wedges
• 18 baked tortilla chips
• Avocado Salsa (recipe below)

Directions

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Add chili powder and next 4 ingredients (chili powder through green chiles); cook 1 minute. Stir in barley and next 4 ingredients (barley through broth); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until barley is tender. Stir in cilantro. Serve with sour cream, lime wedges, chips, and Avocado Salsa.

Note: Store chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup chili, 1 tablespoon sour cream, 1 lime wedge, 3 chips, and and about 2 1/2 tablespoons avocado salsa)

CALORIES 313 (29% from fat); FAT 10.1g (sat 2.2g,mono 4.8g,poly 1.6g); IRON 3.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 6mg; CALCIUM 100mg; CARBOHYDRATE 50.4g; SODIUM 814mg; PROTEIN 9.6g; FIBER 9.5g (Totals include Avocado Salsa)

Avocado Salsa

• 1/2 cup finely chopped peeled avocado
• 1/3 cup chopped seeded tomato
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients; toss mixture gently. Serve salsa immediately.

Yield: 1 cup (serving size: about 2 1/2 tablespoons)

CALORIES 59 (79% from fat); FAT 5.2g (sat 0.8g,mono 3.2g,poly 0.7g); IRON 0.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 3.7g; SODIUM 54mg; PROTEIN 0.8g; FIBER 1.9g

Recipe Source: Cooking Light, MARCH 2002 via www.myrecipes.com

Stay warm and enjoy!

Enjoyed this post? See these:

1. Favorite Thing: Pace Salsa Verde
2. Quick and Delicious Guacamole
3. Thrifty Thursday - Quick and Healthy Taco Salad

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Tags: avocado salsa, quick and easy meal, vegetarian chili

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 6:30 am and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.