Good Tuesday Friends!! Hope you all had a nice 3 Day Weekend 🙂 Talk about rainy days around here! It has been raining like crazy non-stop and isn’t predicted to stop for a while. Definitely breaking out the ol’ rain boots!
I am thrilled to share this ultra healthy chili recipe with you today. Perfect for this time of year, especially rainy cold days! Packed with vegetables, beans and my new favorite healthy product….quinoa! I just love cooking with it lately. You seriously don’t even miss the meat in this recipe. With that said, if you feel like adding chicken, turkey or beef, it would be great as well. Your call!
Take a peek, hope you’ll give it a try. Total comfort food!
quinoa! I love you.
Saute those babies until nice and tender then add your chicken or vegetable broth
Stir in the ol’ cooked quinoa, beans and seasonings!
Simmer and….EAT
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Chunky Vegetable Quinoa Chili
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 5 stalks celery chopped
- 5 medium carrots peeled and sliced
- 6 sweet peppers chopped
- 1 zucchini quartered and sliced
- 2 yellow zucchini quartered and sliced
- 4 cloves fresh garlic minced
- pinch of kosher salt
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
- 2 cans white beans drained
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- kosher salt fresh cracked pepper, Lawry's Garlic Salt with Parsley
- fresh Cilantro leaves chopped
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside. Heat oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onions, celery, carrots, sweet peppers, and zucchini. Stir and cook for 5-8 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic and cook for 60 seconds. Season with a pinch of kosher salt.
- Pour in chicken broth, cooked quinoa, tomatoes, beans, cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and lime juice. Season with kosher salt, pepper, and Lawry's according to your liking. Add some then give a taste until you are satisfied 🙂 Stir in fresh cilantro leaves.
- Simmer on low until ready to serve. We like to crush tortilla chips over top, mmm!
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Have a great new week! See you soon 🙂
Welcome to my online kitchen! Picky Palate is where you’ll find family friendly recipes along with the best Disney eats, tips and copycat recipes! 
Can’t wait to give it a try!
Excellent post. I am so excited to try this recipe. I can’t wait to read more from you.
THis sounds so good! I am currently backpacking through Asia with my boyfriend for 2 years (started in Sept 2012) and I already miss quinoa so so much! No sight of it in japan, South Korea or China! My parents are coming to visit in January and I have already asked my mom to bring quinoa with her so I can finally get my fix! That and plantain chips – for some reason I’m missing those too!
Just made the quinoa chili. It is very good. It doesn’t bother me to not have the meat. I eat enough meat. We try to eat at least two meatless meals a week, even with a meat and potato lovin’ husband. Trust me, add the chips, cheese, maybe a little sour cream and extra hot sauce, and you will be pleasantly satisfied. I also like chewy bread with soup, think Panera!
I am so excited to try this recipe. I just bought Quinoa at Costco last week because I hear Doctor Oz talk about it all the time on his show. I wasn’t sure what to make with it. So I am glad you are getting me started on my quinoa adventure.
I have been wanting to try using quinoa for a while now and I think this recipe may have just convinced me 🙂 Can’t wait to give it a try!
Hi Jenny, just want to let you know I really have enjoyed some recipes from your site. I too am a quinoa fan. I frequent a recipe called “Chicken & Quinoa Salad with Peanuts, Ginger, & Lime”. It is refreshingly delicious. I like the idea of adding quinoa to a chili. I like to add barley to my pea soup, and it makes me wonder what it might be like to substitue quinoa. Oh, the possibilies……Thanks for a great site.
Kelley 🙂
I found a big bag of quinoa at Costco, and buying it in quantity made it much cheaper.
I’ve thrown it into soup without cooking it first and let it simmer with the soup. It soaks up some of the liquid and makes it thicker, which I like.
I feel healthier just reading the ingredients for this yummy looking soup! Thanks for sharing this!
It does look healthy and delicious! Today I blogged about mini cheesecakes I made using your recipe as a base. Thanks!
quinoa is such an amazing ingredient! I think I’d need to add some diced chicken to satisfy hubby’s meat needs!
Sounds like a great recipe, but at $7 per 16oz box in the organic food section, it’s not something I’d be willing to cook with very often.
Jenny,
This is great. I have been cooking with quinoa a lot as of late and love it. It only takes like 20 minutes in the rice cooker. I love it as cereal in the morning with brown sugar, raisins, and butter (think oatmeal but with quinoa).
-shannon
I never would have thought to put quinoa in a veggie chili, it totally makes sense though. It sounds delicious! Thanks!
What can I use insted of Sweet peppers?Any ideas? I really don’t like the taste of them.
I ran to the store for ingredients after I read this post, made the soup and it is so yummy! I forgot to get cilantro and didn’t have the garlic salt, but it turned out great anyway. I’m sure it would be even more fabulous with the cilantro. I’m craving meatless right now. I’m adding this recipe to my vegetarian category.
Now that will warm you up on a rainy day! Quinoa is a great addition to this already light and healthy soup!
Sent this to my quinoa-loving husband, and surprise surprise! He ran out and got the ingredients and is making it tonight. Although he’s with Aleks; needs meat. I think he’s going to do ground turkey.
What is quinoa? Is it in most markets?
Soup looks yummy and since we are supposed to get up to a 1/2″ of ice tonight, this might be what we have for dinner!
Super recipe! Looks so warm and hearty. It’s fun to cook with grains like quinoa…so good for you!
I love quinoa. Will try this dish.
This looks like a must-try! Thanks! I have never cooked with quinoa 🙂
I’ve never put quinoa in soup – it sounds great!
haha okay so I’m stupid. I somehow seem to have skip over the part with the meat. haha 😀
okay, I’m definitely making this with some chicken or turkey… beef doesn’t really sound suitable to me inside this dish.
This looks delish Jenny, I love quinoa… this is such a great idea, my only problem is, that if I’d make it, I can already see my fiancé asking “Nice side dish, but where’s the meat?”
dang it.