It's Good to be Back in the Kitchen

Improvised Black Bean Vegetarian Chili

I had a container full of sauteed vegetables (onion, zucchini, portabella mushroom, butternut squash and black beans) in the fridge from making veg and goat cheese enchiladas a couple months ago. I let it defrost in the fridge for a couple days and then improvised chili tonight.

Here's what I did:

Saute about 1/4 cup diced red onion and 2 cloves garlic in about 1 Tbsp olive oil.

Add 2-3 cups of leftover chopped veggies out of the freezer, thawed in fridge and drained of any excess liquid.

Add about 2Tbsp tomato paste, squeezed from tube. Cook a few minutes over med-high heat to heat the veg and cook off any extra water out of the previously-frozen vegetables.

Toss in about 1tsp ground cumin and 3-5 shakes of cayenne pepper. Salt and pepper.

Stir in slices of an ancho chili pepper straight out of the freezer, along with a can of black beans (rinsed and drained) and one large can fire roasted tomatoes, undrained. I added them whole and tried to break them up with the spoon later. Next time I would chop the tomatoes before I add them to the chili.

Stir and let simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Serve with toasted tortillas, cilantro, lime wedges, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and pickled jalapeno.