That Soup Was Supposed To Be Chili

For Day 1 of Lent, I wanted to make a variation of a Whole Foods three bean chili recipe. I have been car-less for a few days so I have limited ingredients at my disposal, but fortunately I always buy the same things when I go to the store. Now, I know this was supposed to be chili, but I had part of a box of beef broth in my fridge that needed to be used and I had a large container of my own homemade vegetable stock in the freezer I needed to make use of, so it became much more soupy than I wanted it to be. Anyway, here's what I did.



1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1 can each black beans and kidney beans, drained and rinsed
The remains of a bag of frozen corn, maybe 1/2 cup
Beef broth (probably about 1 1/2 cups)
Homemade Veggie Stock (approximately 4 cups, hence the soupy-ness.)
Some leftover tomato sauce and leftover tomato paste, because they were in the fridge.
Salt and pepper to taste
Oregano, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper (I don't measure, I just sprinkle.)
Brown rice for serving


First I sauteed the onion, garlic and celery for a few minutes while I opened all the cans and gathered the other ingredients. Once the onions started becoming translucent, I threw in both cans of beans, the tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, beef stock, vegetable stock and tomato paste. Then I seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne, oregano, cumin and chili powder. It ended up having a little bit of a kick, but nothing too offensive. I put it on at about 12:45 in the afternoon and we ate around 6 in the evening. Of course, it does not need to sit for this long, but since I had the time I wanted to get it done so I wouldn't have to worry about it later. If you were making it right around dinner time, it would probably only need to 'chill out' for about a half hour before serving, which is approximately the same amount of time needed to cook the rice. Of course, you could cook the rice in the soup towards the end, or choose a different addition like quinoa or bulgar wheat. Take some creative liberty!

On another note, Heidi had 4 bowls and then finished my bowl. She might have liked it.