black bean and chickpea chili

Lunch

Black Bean and Chickpea Chili

Drescription

This easy, filling meal uses lots of fresh vegetables, and some frozen or canned to make it easy. Ground turkey breast can be added for meat lovers. Serve over wild rice with shredded cheddar cheese, or with tortilla chips.

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground turkey (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
5 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 (14.5 ounce) cans canned diced tomatoes with their juice
1 cup frozen corn
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 ½ cups chicken broth

Directions

If using turkey, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook and stir the ground turkey for about 10 minutes, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks, until the meat is no longer pink. Remove the turkey meat and set aside, leaving oil in the pan.
Place the onion, green peppers, and carrots into the saucepan, and cook and stir for about 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are tender. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and black pepper, and pour in the diced tomatoes, frozen corn, black beans, garbanzo beans, and chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Place about 1 1/2 cups of the chili mixture into a food processor, and puree for about 1 minute until smooth. Pour the puree back into the rest of the chili to thicken. Add the cooked turkey meat, and bring the chili back to a simmer over medium-low heat.

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

The batter for this healthy one-bowl brownie recipe is stirred together right in the saucepan used to melt the butter and chocolate--no mixing bowl needed and less cleanup for you. Using shredded zucchini in this healthy dessert recipe creates a tender, moist brownie with about half the amount of butter and sugar found in a classic recipe--and it's virtually undetectable in the baked brownies.