Beef Chickpea Chili

Please excuse the crappy picture! I took it with my phone, which doesn't have the best camera (get on that, BlackBerry!). I promise better pictures of the future meals!

I got this recipe from www.cleaneatingmag.com.

This was OK. There are definitely some changes I will make. I give it one thumb up, and the husband gives it NO thumbs up (except he did like the meat in it... he isn't a fan of beans so the chick peas weren't awesome to him). Part of the problem with the meal was that the chick peas weren't cooked enough, though I followed the directions on the bag (I bought them hard, so I needed to cook them before I prepared the chili. We are trying not to eat canned beans because of the high amounts of sodium in them). I am hoping they will be better left over after they absorb some moisture. Next time I make it (I want to make it one more time to give it another chance) I am going to only do one cup of chopped tomatoes, and I am going to half the chick peas. I am also going to include some greens in this (peas, zucchini, those fuzzy green bean things that look like snap peas... I have a long way to go with the names of ingredients!) . It tasted more like a vegetable beef soup than a chili, so I want to play on that instead of turning it into chili, which I already make.

So here is the recipe, though please take what I said above into consideration! It will help!

Beef Chickpea Chili

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb top-round buffalo steak or lean beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tbsp garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 cups yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, cut into matchsticks
• 1 tbsp cumin, ground
• 2 tsp dried coriander
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp saffron (optional)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• 3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1 cup frozen corn (no need to thaw)
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 6-oz jar tomato paste
• 2 lemons (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large nonstick pot, cook steak for 2 minutes over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrots and all spices. Cook for 5 minutes. Then add chickpeas, cooking for 2 more minutes.
2. Turn up heat to high and pour in 4 cups water, corn, tomatoes and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and stir in tomato paste. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces and chili thickens. Squeeze juice of both lemons into chili, if desired, and stir. Remove bay leaf before serving. Chili can be stored in refrigerator for 5 days or frozen for 2 to 3 months.