It’s wonderful when you have a variety of meatless recipes that you can add to your food calendar that will satisfy your family if you want to get out of a meat rut. I’ve talked to a lot of moms that do not think they could ever pull off a family dinner without meat and have it go over well at home. You can’t always be successful by making a lot of what you would normally serve as a side dish and call it a main dish. Guess what the first steps are: pick a few recipes for meatless main dishes, gather the ingredients, and go for it. Take that first step and you don’t have to make an announcement about it – just serve it. I suggest chili as a great first choice, portabella burgers, and a vegetable curry; I’ve posted all of the recipes.
It’s great to find different ways to use kale so that no one (like me) gets tired of it. Here is a very flavorful and protein-packed vegetarian chili, and the kale really puts it over the top. I got this idea from the September Cooking Light (pg. 119). Pick a mix of beans that you like, for example, black, pinto, northern, cannellini, navy, garbanzo, kidney, etc. Also use whatever kind of tomatoes you like, add jalapeno, or anything else that sounds good to you – this is an art, not a science. I used the whole 32-oz box of broth to have more chili and it didn’t bother me to have it a little thinner.
Bean and Kale Chili
1 T avocado oil
1 chopped large sweet onion (~2 cups)
1 C chopped carrot
1 sm can tomato paste
4-5 crushed cloves garlic
2 t dried oregano (2 T chopped fresh)
2 t chili powder
1 t sea salt
1/2 t Spanish smoked paprika
4 C stemmed and torn kale
3 C organic vegetable broth
1 chopped red bell peppers
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
5 cans (~15 oz) unsalted black beans, rinsed and drained
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, onion, and carrot; sauté 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and next 5 ingredients (through paprika); cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add kale and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer 45+ minutes.
