Oct 16, 2024 Healthy and Hearty

This satisfying recipe provides vital nutrients—and can feed a game-day crowd.

Colder-weather cravings for warm, hearty foods are often satisfied with ingredients that sabotage health, such as refined flours and sugars or cheeses and meats high in saturated fats. Solution: Shift to plant-based cooking.

Working more fruits, vegetables, beans, grains and other animal-free foods into daily meals and snacks not only helps you avoid unhealthy items but also increases your intake of important nutrients such as fiber, which many Americans’ diets lack. Fiber helps stave off problems including high cholesterol, digestive issues and inflammation, which is linked to higher incidence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and colorectal cancer.

You’ll also get phytonutrients including antioxidants such as beta-carotene, lycopene and anthocyanins. Phytonutrients combat inflammation and perform molecular cleanup that reduces toxins capable of triggering illness related genetic mutations.

Even better: Hearty plant-based recipes like the one at right taste great.

Vegetarian Chili

Servings: about 6-8

Throw this hearty chili together for a game-day gathering of friends and family or freeze leftovers for future meals. A one-pot meal, it includes everything you need from different plant-based food groups, including vegetable-based protein and fiber.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
• 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, fire roasted if available
• 1 can low-sodium black beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 can low-sodium red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 can yellow corn, rinsed, drained
• 1 cup water or vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Salt to taste

Directions

• Gather all equipment and ingredients. Heat the oil in a medium/large pot. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeño. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to sweat.
• Add the chili powder, cumin and oregano. Stir to combine. Pour in the tomatoes, beans, corn and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes or until heated through. Taste and season with the black pepper and salt as needed.
• Serve by itself or over a grain such as quinoa or short-grain brown rice.

Learn about nutrition services offered at RWJBarnabas Health.