©PEGhardee

Cook It at Home…This hot topic even made the cover of the current edition of Time Magazine. The food genius Mark Bittman shares the health and happiness advantages of cooking and eating at home. His most recent book How to Cook Everything Fast looked tempting; until I sprinted to B&N and got my eager hands on it, in all of it’s light blueness and uber thickness. I made a hasty retreat when I thumbed through it’s epic 1011 pages. I’m sure it’s worth the read, but my attention span lacks for that sort of endeavor. Oh well, it’s fun to be in the kitchen with or without the new book. This is a delectable vegetarian chili (nod to my niece Jamie!)…first time I had ever used Vegan “sausage”. My local grocer offered Gimme Lean by Lightlife but I understand that Field Roast brand products are outstanding. Scarf it up!

3 Tbs olive oil, divided
13 oz package vegan sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 t kosher salt
2 t black pepper
1 t dried ground sage
1 t dried oregano
1 t crushed red pepper
6 cups vegetable stock
3 15oz cans unsalted cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 15oz cans unsalted kidney beans
2 cups spinach chopped (remove stems before chopping)

Heat 2 Tbs olive oil on medium in large soup pot.
Brown “sausage” 4 minutes, breaking it apart in to small pieces.
Remove from pot and chop if necessary.
Set aside.
Add 1 Tbs olive oil to now empty pot and return to heat.
Add onion, peppers, and garlic.
Cook 4 minutes.
Add tomatoes, sherry, salt, pepper, sage, oregano, and crushed red pepper.
Bring to boil and cook 1 minute.
Stir in “sausage” and vegetable stock.

I used a collards chopper because I didn’t want the beans totally mashed.

Mash half of the beans with a potato masher.
Add mashed beans and whole beans to pot.
Bring to simmer and cook 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add spinach and simmer 5 more minutes, stirring often.
Turn heat off and leave pot on hot eye 15 minutes.

Serves 10 at a mere 200 calories per serving, and a nice 9 grams of protein.

Tweaked from Cooking Light, March 2014.

The Don likes his chili in a spud. If you do this, drain the juice…or…flood the plate!