The Hungry Swimmer: Veggie Chili

Want to eat a ton of vegetables without feeling like you’re eating any vegetables at all? This is the recipe for you.

Veggie chili is one of my go-to recipes. I love to make a big pot of it on Sunday and chip away at it for dinners and lunches throughout the week. When you’re in a rush and need to throw something in the microwave, it’s awesome to have something healthy and delicious already waiting for you. And, honestly, I feel like the flavors get better and stronger after a day or two.

Like most recipes I share, this one is customization-friendly and can be easily adjusted to meet your food preferences, dietary needs, and what you happen to have in your pantry at the time. In fact, when making this chili most recently, I realized halfway through that I was out of quinoa! I substituted some rice, adjusted my vegetable broth ratio and it came out great.

I typically make this using my Instant Pot, but you can also make this recipe in a regular stock pot. Sauté your onions, garlic and oil just the same as you would in an Instant Pot. Add the rest of your ingredients and bring everything to a boil until the sweet potatoes have softened up. Then, turn down the heat and let everything simmer until the chili reaches a desired thickness.

Note on Chili Thickness: The chili will firm up as it cools, so whether you’re using an Instant Pot or the stovetop, don’t be worried if it’s a little runny when it first finishes cooking. I would recommend leaving the extra juices, especially if you aren’t going to eat it all right away.

Chock-full of protein-rich beans and other healthy vegetables, this veggie chili is terrific fuel for a hungry athlete. Serve it with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, tortilla chips—whatever sounds good to you.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
• 2-3 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces
• 1 bell pepper (diced; any color is fine)
• 2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (chicken stock/broth works great, too)
• 1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 (15-ounce) can low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can low-sodium kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can corn, drained
• 1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes with green chiles, drained
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon steak sauce or 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

For serving:

• Sliced avocado
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Shredded cheese
• Tortilla chips
• Nonfat plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

Instructions

1. Set your Instant Pot to sauté. Add your oil, diced onions and garlic, and sauté until the onions become translucent. Stir it every couple of minutes to keep the garlic from browning too quickly.
2. Add your cubed sweet potato, salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, cumin and paprika. Give it a good stir so the spices coat everything.
3. Add your bell pepper, corn, beans and tomato with green chiles.
4. Lastly, add your quinoa, vegetable broth, ketchup and steak sauce (or Worcestershire sauce) and give everything another good stir.
5. Hit “Cancel” on your Instant Pot and change the setting to Pressure Cook. Cook the chili on high for 10 minutes.
6. Allow the Instant Pot to vent on its own.
7. Remove the lid, give everything a final stir and it’s ready to eat! If things look too watery for your liking, simply put your Instant Pot on the sauté setting again and let it simmer with the lid off to steam away some of the excess juice.
8. Serve with your favorite toppings like tortilla chips, avocado, cheese, Greek yogurt or sour cream.