Easy Vegetable Chili

This easy vegetable chili will be sure to keep your warm during the chilly fall weather…

Back in April I went to King Arthur Flour for a fun little baking adventure. I wrote about it on the blog but there was one thing I didn’t mention. The totally delicious vegetable chili that was served to us at lunch. Now, I didn’t have the exact recipe they used so I sorta altered a solid recipe I found until I came up with the flavor I wanted.

I packed this easy vegetable soup full of fresh vegetables and lots of smoky spice. I have recently been having a love affair with smoked paprika so it made a very delicious appearance in this soup. I cannot tell you how much I used to underestimate the amazingness of paprika. Growing up I thought it was just some flavorless spice that my Aunt Lyn used to sprinkled on top of her “famous” deviled eggs. Then I tried smoked paprika and realized the stuff freaking rocks.

Now, if you want to keep the soup vegan than skip out on the sprinkling of sharp cheddar. However, if you are cheese lover I suggest using it.

Heavily.

You cannot go wrong with sharp cheddar. Since I have gotten back from Vermont I have been eating obscene amounts of Cabot cheese. It’s getting bad. Almost daily I find myself devouring cheese. Trust me when it’s say it’s not classy either. I’m not delicately putting it on a board with some sliced apples and crackers. I basically chop off a hunk and eat it like I’m scared someone is going to steal it from me.

Pure class ladies and gentleman.

Pure class.

Easy Vegetable Chili

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small zucchinis, chopped
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 pound sliced mushrooms
• 1-1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (this is spicy so use as much or as little as desired)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 (24 ounce) can chopped or crushed tomatoes in juice
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 2 (14 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup diced cilantro
• 1 cup shredded/cubed sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Directions:

Add a large soup pot over medium-high heat and add olive oil.

When the oil is hot add onion, red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Cook until the vegetables start to soften.

Add in garlic, zucchini, corn and mushrooms. Cook until the vegetables are soft and add in chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, cayenne, tomatoes, vegetable stock and black beans.

Bring soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in cilantro and add more salt if necessary.

If desired serve sprinkled with sharp cheddar cheese.

*While I am friendly with the folks at Cabot I was not paid or asked to say anything about their cheese. It’s just really awesome and I wanted to spread the cheese love.