I am so happy to introduce Becky Striepe, publisher of Glue and Glitter and editor of Eat Drink Better, to our readers! Remember my interview about her vegan journey? I loved her insights and her plant based recipes so much that I invited her to be a guest writer! Regardless of what type of eater you are, you’ll love her scrumptious meatless recipes on Meatless Mondays. So let’s welcome Becky with a huge round of applause…and drooling appetite!!
Hello, lovely ecokaren readers! I’m Becky Striepe, and I am thrilled to be a guest writer. My mission is to make plant-based foods accessible to everyone, and I can’t wait to share delicious meatless options with you every Monday.
My recipe-writing style is a little bit on the fast and loose. I’m a work-at-home-mom to a year-old baby boy, so time is precious around my house. That means I favor recipes that are easy to make and flexible. Of course, I still test and fully develop my recipes, but the sort that I like best is a recipe that’s open to substitutions.
This vegetarian chili is a great example. You can use whichever beans and greens suit your tastes, and I’ll indicate where you can monkey with things in the instructions below.
The superstar in this recipe is the greens. I chose Swiss chard because we got a beautiful bunch in our CSA basket, but you can use whatever dark and leafies you like. Chard cooks up quickly like spinach does, so if you choose a hardier green like kale or collards, you will need to cook them for longer. The heat and amount of oil don’t need to change, so just keep cooking until they turn bright green and begin to wilt. That could be a couple of minutes in the case of chard or spinach or as long as 5-10 minutes with kale or collards. Just keep stirring until they look ready to go.
Dark Leafy Greens: The Benefits
I love adding dark leafy greens to my cooking for so many reasons. They’re delicious, of course, but they’re also packed with healthy vitamins and minerals, including iron and calcium.
The only dark, leafy green that’s not necessarily a good source of calcium is spinach. Spinach contains a lot of calcium, but it also contains compounds that block calcium absorption in your body, so you end up not using much of the calcium available in your spinach.
Dark leafy greens are also a great source for another vitamin that’s critical to bone health: vitamin K. In the graphic below, I looked at a couple of the greens that are superstars for bone health because of their calcium and vitamin K contents:
Vegetarian Chili with Sauteed Greens
What a scrumptious looking chili! Thanks Becky! Check out my “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead Inspired Smoothie Recipe” on Eat Drink Better! ~Karen
Vegetarian Chili with Sauteed Greens
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or your favorite cooking oil
- 2 Shallots or 1 red onion, diced
- 4 Cloves garlic minced
- pinch of salt
- 6 Cups or three 15 ounce canned beans of your choice I used 2 cans of pinto, 1 can of black beans., drained
- 15 Oz canned roasted or chopped tomatoes or 3 cups fresh tomato, chopped
- 1 Med red potato cut into a 1" dice
- 1 Tsp dried or 1 tablespoon fresh basil and oregano
- 1 Tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 Tsp chipotle chili powder
- 2-4 Cups vegetable broth see below
- 1 Bunch Swiss chard or greens of your choice, chopped
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or your favorite cooking oil
- Note: You can make your own beans by soaking them over night. But if you are short for time you can use canned beans. Make sure to use BPA-FREE brands like Eden or Bionaturae
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil on medium heat, and add the shallots, garlic, and salt. Cover and let those veggies sweat, stirring a few times, for about 10 minutes. The shallots should be a little bit browned before you move on to the next step.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the chard and the rest of the olive oil. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the chili simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. You'll want to stir frequently to keep things from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You may also need to add extra liquid if things look dry, so keep an eye on the pan! You can use water, wine, or more broth - your choice! The exact amount of liquid depends on what beans you end up using and how well you drain them before adding to the pot. Add additional liquid 1/4 cup at a time. You don't want it too brothy, but there needs to be some moisture in there to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- While the chili cooks down, fry up your greens in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook, stirring, until they wilt, then remove them from the heat and set aside.
- The chili is done when the potatoes are nice and fork-tender.
- Dish up your chili, and top each bowl with a nice heap of greens. You can serve with whatever additional chili toppings you like!