Each day during Lent, Ave Maria Press will be posting soup recipes and Lenten reflections from our Lenten prayer books here on the Ave Maria Press website. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more inspiration.

Lenten Reflection: Day 15

From Give Up Worry for Lent!:

Learning to differentiate between God’s role and your role makes life much easier. It will also give you the peace that you seek. He has his job and you have yours. Sometimes we prefer our prayers to be long and drawn out, thinking that it will make them more effective. Not true. Inviting the Holy Spirit to act in your life can be done with just a few words. Get used to praying like this often. He will gradually transform your life.

Quick Vegetarian Chili

(Serves four)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 teaspoons high quality chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 14-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can corn, drained (or 2 cups frozen corn)
1 14-ounce can diced mild green chilies
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Shredded Colby-jack or cheddar cheese

Preparation
In a 2 quart saucepan, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add jalapeno and onion. Sauté until softened. Sprinkle in chili powder and cumin. Stir and sauté one minute more to release the flavors and fragrances in the spices.

Add tomatoes, beans, corn, and chilies. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer 15–20 minutes. Stir in lime juice and cilantro. Simmer for 5 minutes.

When ready to serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a generous sprinkling of shredded cheese.

Cook’s tip: use a specialty blend chili powder instead of the generic blends you find in the grocery store spice aisle. My preferred blend is called Top Hat and it comes from a store called Pendery’s in Fort Worth, Texas, but you can find good blends in the Mexican food section of your grocery store. The better the chili powder, the better the chili!

Note: For days on which you are not abstaining from meat (or for members of your family who cannot call a meal a meal unless it contains meat), brown 1/2 pound hamburger in a skillet and season with 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Drain the juices and fat. Top each bowl of chili with the seasoned hamburger.

Commentary
My dad is the reason I love food. The man can cook with an energy and creativity that I desperately try to emulate in my own culinary endeavors. When I was a kid, he owned a small pizza restaurant in our hometown. Even after he sold that business he continued to express himself in the kitchen at home. He made such a variety of amazing food there was almost nothing I wouldn’t eat. Among my favorites were linguine with clam sauce, pizza topped with anchovies, and quiche with spinach and broccoli. Although I wasn’t a picky kid, I have always despised traditional chili. I don’t like hamburger meat. I can’t stand kidney beans, and the orange pools of grease that float atop traditional pots of chili make me queasy. Dad is a bona fide carnivore who lives in Dallas, Texas, and he can whip up a big meaty batch of chili that would please any crowd—anyone, that is, except me. Rather than avoiding or unhappily eating traditional chili, I developed my own vegetarian recipe that can easily be converted to a meaty chili for those who prefer it (like my sweetie and my dad). Stealing from Dad’s terrific Tex-Mex dishes, this chili has flavors and ingredients recalling pico de gallo, giving it a fresh flavor. It’s also a great timesaver and I like to make it on busy weeknights when I don’t have a lot of time to cook, but want something much healthier than take-out or fast food.

—Kristen Hornyak, Ave Maria Press Creative Director

 

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