When it comes to being a vegetarian, I am the black sheep of the family. While my meat consumption has been steadily decreasing and my husband and I are avid Meatless Mondayers, most of our other dinners do include beef, chicken or fish. Not so with my sisters: my middle sister has been a vegetarian for over six years and my younger sister had joined the vegetarian ranks earlier this year.
And recently, my younger sister, inspired by the concept of Meatless Monday, had came up with a unique idea of taking the meatless concept even further and going vegan once a week. Since she already doesn’t eat meat, every day is a Meatless Day for her. So here’s another take on Meatless Mondays, from a vegetarian perspective.
I didn’t have the pleasure of enjoying the Vegan Pumpkin Chili that she had made, but the few delicious pictures she texted did leave me salivating. This dish has been added to my rolodex of Meatless Monday recipes.
The original vegetarian recipe is from the A Beautiful Mess website (also below). My sister made it extra delicious by adding eggplant (at the same time as onions) and vegan by skipping the cheese and sour cream. Enjoy!
Needed:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 red bell pepper
1 can pinto beans
1 can red beans
1 chipotle pepper (in adobo sauce)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 can pumpkin puree
A pinch of cumin, cinnamon and red pepper.
Cooking:
In a medium/large pot heat the oil over low heat. Dice onion and bell pepper, mince garlic. Add to the pot and turn the heat up to medium. Saute until onion begins to soften. Chop chipotle pepper and add to the pot, if you like it spicy add a little of the sauce too. Add diced tomatoes with juices, pumpkin and all the spices and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse the bean and add to the pot. Once everything is warmed through check to see if you need to add any salt or pepper.