I’ve recently developed a dinnertime problem that will surprise friends and family that I have known me for a long time: I haven’t had time to cook as much as I’d like to because I’m too busy exercising. I know.
I’m the girl who grew up hating gym so much that she joined the tennis team just to get out of it; the girl who managed to fall in love with a form of dance where you only move half of your body. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I’m suddenly obsessed with yoga and hulafit. Which means that, two nights a week for the past few months, I haven’t gotten home until 8:30. And when I do get home, I’m starving and don’t want to spend time actually cooking.
After a few weeks of alternating between pizza, Chipotle, and Chinese take-out after my classes, I realized I needed to come up with a better solution.
Remembering my mom’s dinner solution for nights when I hate late dance practices throughout high school, I dragged out the ole’ crockpot and made a hearty vegetarian chili. Then I spooned it over baked waffle fries and topped it with cheese.
After all, an hour of hula hooping can burn upwards of 500 calories. After that, I deserve a few fries.
Three Bean Crockpot Chili
With only three steps this may be one of the easiest chilis that I’ve made, but it isn’t lacking in flavor: Crimini mushrooms add an earthy note, chipotles in adobo and fire roasted tomatoes add a smokey complexity, and carrots add a touch of unexpected sweetness. It makes delicious chili cheese fries, but it’s also great over rice, scooped up with baked tortilla chips, or on its own.
Like most chilis, this one is best after it’s had a chance for the flavors to meld in the fridge. I cook it in the crock pot overnight (it thickens while I get ready for work) and then reheat it at dinner time.
Ingredients
- 1 can (15.5 oz)Â Black Beans, drained
Black Beans
- 1 can (15.5 oz)Â Pinto Beans, drained
Pinto Beans
- 1 can (15.5 oz)Â Kidney Beans, drained
- 1 can (15.5 oz) diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes
- 2 ounces Crimini Mushrooms, chopped
- 3Â Carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2Â Green Bell Peppers, chopped
- 1Â Onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup Red Wine
- 1 Chipotle Pepper plus 1 Tablespoon Adobo
- 2Â Anaheim Peppers, minced
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except corn starch in crock pot.
- Cook covered on low heat for 8 hours.
- Spoon about a quarter cup of cooking liquid into a measuring cup. Whisk the cornstarch into the reserved cooking liquid until it is smooth, then stir it back into the pot. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, or until the chili has thickened.
Where is your nutrition information.
According to my calculations,this recipe has about 233 calories. 1 grams of fat, 15 grams of fiber, and 12.6 grams of protein.
I stopped posting nutrition information (for a lot of reasons), but you can copy and paste the ingredient list into the form on this site and it will give you a nice analysis, but it gets a little wonky when beans are involved (it assumes the beans are dry/uncooked unless you fiddle with it a little): http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/account/flog_add.php?tab=new_recipe
I hope that helps!
This sounds great! What size crockpot did you use?
You must be in my head…I was walking home from school today and thinking, “it’ll be SO nice to have chili waiting for me right now.”
I definitely know how you feel…sometimes I get home close to nine after running practice or a class at the gym and it is no time to start cooking. This chili sounds awesome! I love that you put it over waffle fries…hellagood.
I don’t buy that from you… haha. You have great new recipes posted every day!
I love waffle fries. And chili over fries > plain chili.
Thanks for the recipe! It looks both delicious and healthy… I’ll put this in my rotation.
I’m definitely in the “home after 8” club often. I love Chipotle, too, but it’s nice to make your own dinner.
Chipotle is awesome. By far my favorite quick meal on the run.
Sounds delicious; how I miss my slow cooker sometimes. (I had one until moving a year and a half ago.) I am impressed by your love of exercise! Good job. 🙂 How did you get into hulafit?
There was a Groupon for 6 classes for $20 and it looked different and interesting. I figured if I hated it, it was cheap enough that I didn’t have to go back. I ended up totally hooked though – I love it!
That’s brilliant! I have joined Groupon recently and I just bought my first item (a haircut). I can see how hula fit would be addictive.