Beans, Beans and Belly Shirts

Go ahead, complete the "beans beans" song. You know you want to.

That little ditty also brings a smile to the kid's face every time. Shocking, right? What else is shocking is how well tonight's Meatless Monday went over. Maybe I am converting the hubs and the kid. There were absolutely no complaints about dinner. What I DID complain about was how the kid managed to a hole right in the middle of his brand new, never-ever been worn before shirt. His claim? A snafu with scissors at math.

I think the kid needs to work on his scissor skills

A word about beans: I love them. I always have. Prevention magazine calls them "nature's perfect food." Some random site I googled referred to them as "healthy people's meat," and my friends over at World's Healthiest Foods declared beans to have "an almost magical protein-fiber combination." Whatevs. I just like beans. The fact that they are super-healthy is just an added bonus for me.

Three-Bean Veggie Chili
Source: Family Circle, April 17, 2010

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (used minced)
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 sweet bell peppers, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (used plain, no-salt added diced tomatoes)
• 1/4 c. ketchup
• 1 can (8oz) no-salt added tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (used no-salt added)
• 1 can small white beans, drained and rinsed (used no-salt added garbanzo that I had on hand)
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (used reduced sodium)

Directions:

• Heat oil in large nonstick pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and chili powder and cook 3 minutes.
• Add peppers and zucchini and continue to cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup and oregano. Cook 8 minutes.
• Gently stir in the beans. Cover pot and continue to cook 3 minutes.

Serving size: One cup
Per serving: 203 calories; 4g fat (0g sat); 11g protein; 39g carbs; 12g fiber; 678mg sodium; 0mg chol

Reviews:
As noted above, no one complained about dinner. The hubs shoveled in almost his entire serving, and the kid scooped some chili onto saltines and ate about half of his portion. Score for Meatless Monday! Even though I didn't use fire-roasted tomatoes per the recipe's suggestion (I don't like using canned foods with added seasonings b/c of the extra sodium), the chili powder added enough heat for our taste buds. The recipe was also very fast to prepare - it took me longer to chop everything then it did to actually cook it.

Ranking:
Three Forks - only because the hubs is not a fan of Four Fork meatless meals.

Steamy chili goodness