
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
- 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.
- Brown ground beef over medium-high heat; drain and set aside.
- 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!)
- 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.)
- Add chili powder and cumin, stirring for about one minute.
- 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!
- 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.