Black Bean & Chocolate Chili

we met last night for our october book club meeting. we read TWILIGHT & decided to go with a fallish-halloweenish-vampireish food theme... I got this out of sarah a's moosewood restaurant celebrates cookbook & served it with fritos scoops.

2 TB vegetable oil (I used olive)
1.5 C chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 small fresh chile, minced (I just used 1tsp cholula sauce)
1 TB ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 C chopped bell pepper (I used one large green pepper)
3 C cooked black beans (2 - 15.5oz cans, rinsed/drained)
2 C undrained crushed canned tomatoes (14.5 oz can)
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB soy sauce
1.5 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces (I used about 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips that I ground up in my food processor so it would melt faster)

in a saucepan, warm oil on med heat. add onion & garlic; sauté until onions become translucent, about 10min. add celery & chile (or cholula); cover & cook about 5 min.

reduce heat & stir in spices (cumin-salt) & bell peppers. cover & cook 5 min, until bell pepper begins to soften. stir occasionally to keep the spices from burning. if needed, add a little juice from the canned tomatoes.

add beans, tomatoes, lemon juice & soy sauce. bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 5-10min. stir in the chocolate. when it has melted, adjust salt/pepper/lemon juice to taste.

garnish with chopped scallions (green onions).

Morrocan Chickpea Chili

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup pre-chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 1/2 cups water

2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste

2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in cumin and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups water, tomato paste, chickpeas, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in cilantro and juice.Yield4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 215(23% from fat); FAT 5.5g (sat 0.4g,mono 2.9g,poly 1.9g); PROTEIN 7.7g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 102mg; SODIUM 534mg; FIBER 9.8g; IRON 3.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 36.3g

This is a very yummy vegetarian dish for fall. Don't be deterred by all of the ingredients..this is really easy to make! You can also substitute ingredients and change around some of the flavoring. I added a little light sour cream and cheddar cheese over the top and served with warmed pita bread.