Black Bean chili

So, one of my closest friends got me a subscription to this really great newsletter. It comes every other month and is loaded with great food tips, articles, and sometimes, recipes. I have received 2 so far and I am in love. In fact, one of the reasons she may have gotten it for me was that it was always missing from her house. I would be at her house next door to my own at the time and I would see it laying there and yes, just helped myself. Took it home, read it, and then brought it back. I always brought it back. Just there were times that she would notice it was gone before I had the chance to read it fully and then she had to come asking for it. At least she knew where it was, right?!

The Jan/Feb issue has a few recipes in it. The other night I made the Black Bean Chili. It was super good. One of those recipes that has the kids asking for more and we dont have any leftovers. That kind. Yes, they do happen.

Black Bean Chili

2T extra virgin olive oil
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 t chili powder
1 14.5 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes
1 15.5 ox can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 C corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1/2 t salt
1/2 C fat free sour cream
1/2 C cilantro sprigs, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 lime, cut into wedges
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 avocado, peeled and cut into cubes

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the peppers until they start to brown on the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and continue to saute for another 5 min. Stir in the minced garlic and the chili powder. Add the tomatoes and black beans. Simmer for 10 min. Stir in the corn and season with up to 1/2 t salt.

Puree the sour cream, cilantro, and garlic clove with a squeeze of one lime wedge in a blender or food processor until smooth. Use as a garnish, along with the remaining lime wedges, the scallions, and the avocado.

Serves 4

From the Nutrition Action Newsletter

So, my tomatoes were not no salt. They were actually petite diced that had sweet onions in them. Organic.

Organic black beans.

Frozen sweet corn was some we had stored in the freezer from this past season.

Regular sour cream

I had to use the food processor for the sour cream mixture because my blender is packed. I felt it was not as smooth as it could have been. The cilantro leaves were still pretty much the same size I had chopped them. I think the blender may have made it more smooth and silky like. The taste, however, I dont think would have changed. It is amazing.

The sour cream mixture was so good that the next night we went to a friends house for dinner and I made up some more using the rest of my cilantro and we used it as a dip for our natural corn chips. It got rave reviews!

Try it out. I hope you like it. Next up is a recipe called Spicy Red Lentils with Spinach. It comes from the same issue of the newsletter. I will post that one soon.