I despise the cold weather!

Well, that’s not entirely true. For me, a brisk 57 – 60 degrees is chilly to me, but manageable if I’m layered. But the closer those numbers dip to 50, the more miserable I get. But no food spells comfort better for me than a low-fat, belly-warming stew, soup or vegetarian chili – and this recipe from The Pioneer Woman is absolutely delicious!

I love chili! A steaming hot bowl of chili warming my belly when the air outside is freezing my fingers and toes … ahhh! And crazy as it sounds, I’ve been a vegetarian for 20-plus years, and this is the first time I’ve even attempted to make vegetarian chili.

I followed The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for the most part, but ad-libbed here and there.

Chinese Szechuan bean curd with rice – another comfort fave of mine,

For instance, I love tofu (bean curd) – well, when I’m not the one cooking it that is. I have yet to get it to taste the way I want. But my fave Chinese food carrier does an awesome job preparing it just how I like it: fried hard in triangles, with just a bit of spice, and smothered in soy sauce. So, I ordered a whole separate batch of these beauties, chopped them and added them to the vegetarian chili. They mixed well with four kinds of beans: black, pinto, northern beans, and garbanzo (chick peas) plus a host of other delicious seasonings and ingredients.

And because the bean curd already had enough salt for me with the soy sauce, I declined to add any more. Most people crave chocolate or other sweets. Not me! I’m a salt fiend, so I have to watch my intake.

The marriage of flavors in this vegetarian chili will satisfy even you meat-eaters out there. Go on, get a jump start on your cold-weather, comfort food experiences and give this recipe a try!

Enjoy! 🙂