With the chilly weather upon us, it’s a great time to warm up with a delicious bowl of steaming chili.  This recipe replaces kidney beans with chick peas and adds ingredients such as jalapeno pepper and quinoa.  This recipe is a variant of Gingerbreadgirlz’s delicious Quinoa Chili.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked and rinsed quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 single serving can of V8 tomato juice
• 2 (540mL/19 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained
• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium field cucumber, sliced and diced
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• a few leaves of fresh spinach, diced (optional)
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

1. Prepare the quinoa by bringing the quinoa and water to a boil over high heat.  Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
2. Brown ground beef over medium-high heat; drain and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  (I used a 12 inch skillet, which barely held all the ingredients.  I’d suggest using a deeper wok or pot!)
4. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno pepper, stirring until the onion softens.  (This took approximately 20 minutes.  Lower the heat if it seems like it might burn.)
5. Add chili powder and cumin, stirring for about one minute.
6. Add the chickpeas, bell pepper, cucumber, corn, spinach, oregano and parsley.  Add salt and pepper as desired.  Add the can of V8.  It may look a little liquidy right now, but trust me: after you simmer it for about 20 minutes, a lot of the liquid will be absorbed, and the quinoa will soak up the remainder.  Yum!
7. After 20 minutes of simmering, stir in the quinoa and beef. (I had to stir very carefully since my skillet was a bit on the small side for this dish.)  Let the ingredients simmer together for another five minutes or so until the beef and quinoa reheat.