I’m a huge planner when it comes to traveling. Sure, I love being spontaneous, but I also want to make the most of every trip. We’ve got our first road trip of the year coming up in a few weeks so I’ve been on a meal planning streak lately. We’re camping for six nights and plan to cook every meal. We’re not the campers who eat dehydrated food or live on sandwiches. I want real food that is good for us and satisfies our hunger after a day of hiking or paddling. I want delicious camp food.
How about some Veggie Chili Mac & Cheese?
I love vegetarian chili and a love mac & cheese. The opportunity to combine them was a little weird at first, but too intriguing to pass up. One our upcoming trip we’re going to try out some one pot meals. Each night we’ll be cooking up a delicious dinner in our cast iron skillet with fewer dishes to wash! I will definitely post the full menu for you all when we have it finalized. For now, I’ll share this recipe for One Pot Veggie Chili Mac & Cheese.
WARNING: All of these meals are vegetarian; it’s how we live most of our life. A really important thing to be aware of when meal planning in a vegetarian or pescatarian house is whether or not you’re getting enough iron and protein. All of the recipes I share will satisfy those things. I’m very conscious of it. We also try to eat as clean and healthy as we can. We’ve cut down on the amount of pasta we eat (a typical vegetarian staple!), but we’re going to indulge for this meal!
I’ve adapted this recipe from Amuse Your Bouche (love that name!) to fit our taste.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
|
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper (or any other color pepper) chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper remove seeds, chopped
- 15 oz dark red kidney beans rinsed
- 15 oz black beans rinsed
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 15 oz tomato puree
- 1 cup vegetable broth or water
- 1/2 lb uncooked pasta any noodle you like for mac & cheese
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
Ingredients
|
|
- Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or other large pan. Add the onions and cook until translucent.
- Add bell peppers and jalapeno. Cook over medium heat, until peppers are a little soft. Do not overcook if you like a little crunch in your chili.
- Add kidney beans, black beans, spices, salt and pepper. Mix well then add tomato puree, broth and uncooked pasta. Mix well and bring to a simmer. Cover with foil and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Stir regularly to assure all noodles are cooking through. Add more broth or water if the pot becomes too thick.
- Add a half cup of cheese to the pot and mix well. Sprinkle the remaining half cup of cheese on top. Cover again with foil and cook until the cheese melts.
- If you're at home, serve with a garnish of cilantro, guacamole, squeeze of lime juice, or chopped scallions. We'll be eating this while we're camping so we'll be skipping the garnish.
No Comments