Review: Quick Vegetarian Chili with Avocado Salsa

[albus87]

I made the Quick Vegetarian Chili with Avocado Salsa from the March 02 issue (and also printed sometime in 2001) last night for dinner and it was a huge hit. Both DH and I really enjoyed it. Of course, it was an unplanned recipe so I didn't have the cilantro, sour cream or lime that is supposed to be served with the chili (we used lemon instead of lime) but it was great nonetheless. The avocado salsa added a nice touch and the contrast of the cool avocado with the warm chili was great.

I saw a posting on another thread that said both the chili and salsa were bland and the barley was overwhelming - I have to disagree. While I've had spicier chili, I didn't think this was bland at all. And, I thought the barley was a nice contrast to the beans, red bell peppers and green chiles. All in all, it was delicious and easy to cook comfort food. It's a definite repeat in our house.

[michelern]

I look forward to putting the avocado salsa in the chili I make. It looks really good and looks easy!

[mb]

made this tonight and it was quite good. DH rated it a 4 out of 5. he said it would have gotten a 5 if there was meat in it :rolleyes: i didn't think the barley was overwhelming at all. i don't like spicy chili, and this wasn't overly spicy, so i was happy. i'm sure you could adjust the seasonings though to get it to your desired level of spiciness.

we also enjoyed scooping it up with baked tortilla chips. as it sit longer in the pot, it got thicker and thicker too, which made it ideal for scooping! :p

marisa :)

[ClaraB]

I made this 2 nights ago, and it got 2 thumbs up! After reading a previous thread about it, I reduced the barley to about 1/2 cup, and cooked it 12 minutes instead of the 20 called for in the recipe. I think my new Penzey's spices made a big difference, too:D !

[albus87]

I'm glad to hear others (in addition to me) liked the chili! I was starting to think DH and I had bad taste or something...

[nancy_east]

I bought the ingredients to make this tomorrow night and forgot to pick up barley! I've never cooked with barley before, but have some bulghur wheat on hand--are they interchangeable?

[albus87]

I think you could use bulgar in the recipe instead of barley. The consistency will be different but it should still be good. Just be sure enough liquid is in the recipe since bulgar soaks up a lot (but then again, so does barley). A caveat: one of the things I really enjoyed about the chili was the textural contrast between the beans and the barley. I think you'll get a different textural contrast with bulgar (not bad, just different).

[basilbabe]

Hello all! I am new to the site, but have been a CL subscriber for years!

Last night I made the Black Bean Chili with Avacado Sauce and it was delicious!!! Love the idea of the barley! This is a definite repeat for me (and my coworkers), who helped me demolish the rest of it during lunch today!

Also, made the Banana Bread, and that too, was a hit! Very moist and so easy to make!

[gertdog]

Originally posted by albus87


I saw a posting on another thread that said both the chili and salsa were bland and the barley was overwhelming - I have to disagree. While I've had spicier chili, I didn't think this was bland at all. And, I thought the barley was a nice contrast to the beans, red bell peppers and green chiles. All in all, it was delicious and easy to cook comfort food. It's a definite repeat in our house.

That was me. I am definitely going to have to give this chili another try, because I think mine was the only negative review! :) I am beginning to think that I must have made a mistake in measuring the barley, since no one else has had the problem I did... my chili looked like a bowl of barley with a few black beans thrown in. That would also account for my complaints about blandness, at least to some extent.

[JenZen]

I just have to chime in with my two cents worth. THIS IS MY FAVORITE COOKING LIGHT RECIPE! I made it when the oringinal recipe was printed, and I get cravings for it every once in a while. I haven't made the avacado dressing yet, but I just love the taste of cilantro and sour cream. Oh yum.

SO likes it, but he would have ranked it higher if it had meat in it. What's up with guys and meat?

[linsleyd]

Anyone have this recipe near by? I think I will make this tonight since my DH will be late and he won't see that there is no meat until tooooooo late!:D

Men and meat, DH once said a meal isn't a meal unless there's meat in it. Slowly and painfully I am starting to wean him off this bad habit!!!

[ewatkins]

When this first came out there was a thread on it. My barley puffed up so huge and the dish looked like oatmeal-- I am a little guilty as I cooked it too long. But I want to know what brand CL used-- definitely not Quaker. In the picture the barley looks so tiny and delicate. Did anyone else's look like that?

[JenZen]

mine looked like that. i used quaker instant barley or 10-minute, whatever they call the quick stuff.

[albus87]

I used pearl barley. Because it wasn't the quickcooking kind, I precooked it for about 20 minutes (like pasta, in boiling water) before adding it to the simmering chili. When it was fully cooked, the barley was pretty big, but it certainly didn't dwarf the beans. Instead, it was almost like having corn in with the chili (size wise, not flavor). Actually, I think corn would be a great addition. I might try that next time!

gertdog: I'm glad you are giving it another try. As you can probably tell from the thread, I really enjoyed this chili! I'm always on the lookout for nutritious, delicious, quick vegetarian meals and this one certainly fits the bill.

Actually, this recipe has started a whole barley kick for me. I made a bean concoction last night (similiar to the CL chili, but I improvised with what I had in the pantry) and instead of having it over rice, I served it over barley. I also recently made a barley-mushroom risotto (WW, not CL). Delicious!

[basilbabe]

I also used pearl barley, but did not precook it. The instructions on the bag suggested to do it, but I just threw it in the pot and kept my fingers crossed! It was tender and small, like in the picture.

Definitely make this with the avacado salsa! It is delicious!

[Laura B]

Originally posted by linsleyd
Anyone have this recipe near by? I think I will make this tonight since my DH will be late and he won't see that there is no meat until tooooooo late!:D

Linsleyd,

I am sorry no one got this recipe to you in time to make it for dinner tonight. I just saw your request, so I thought I would post the recipe anyway for you and others who may not have March 02 yet!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Quick Vegetarian Chili with Avocado Salsa

Recipe By :Cooking Light Magazine. March 2002. Page: 134.
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : March 2002 Soups


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (4.5-ounce) chopped green chiles
2/3 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley
1/4 cup water
1 can (15-ounce) black beans, drained
1 can (14.5-ounce) no-salt-added diced
tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14-1/2-ounce) vegetable broth
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
6 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
6 lime wedges
18 baked tortilla chips
Avocado Salsa

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; saute 3 minutes. Add chili powder and next 4 ingredients (chili powder through green chiles); cook 1 minute. Stir in barley and next 4 ingredients (barley through broth); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until barley is tender. Stir in cilantro. Serve with sour cream, lime wedges, chips, and Avocado Salsa. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup chili, 1 tablespoon sour cream, 1 lime wedge, 3 chips, and about 2-1/2 tablespoons Avocado Salsa).

Note: Store chili in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

(Totals include Avocado Salsa)




S(Winning Points):
"6 points per serving (5 points without Avocado Salsa)"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 370 Calories; 5g Fat (11.7% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 72g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 491mg Sodium. Exchanges: 4 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat.

NOTES : Recipe by Patsy Jamieson

The Avocado Salsa recipe can be found in the March 2002 issue.

Winning Points were calculated based on the nutritional information provided in Cooking Light.

Cooking Light Nutritional Information (including Avocado Salsa): Calories 313 (29% from fat), Fat 10.1g (2.2g sat), Fiber 9.5g

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


* Exported from MasterCook *

Avocado Salsa

Recipe By :Cooking Light Magazine. March 2002. Page: 134.
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : March 2002 Sauces


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 cup finely chopped peeled avocado
1/3 cup chopped seeded tomato
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients; toss mixture gently. Serve salsa immediately. Yield: 1 cup (serving size: about 2-1/2 tablespoons).




S(Winning Points):
"1 point per serving"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 2 Calories; trace Fat (2.9% calories from fat); trace Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 45mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit.

NOTES : Winning Points were calculated based on the nutritional information provided in Cooking Light.

Cooking Light Nutritional Information: Calories 59 (79% from fat), Fat 5.2g (0.8g sat), Fiber 1.9g

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[Peggy]

We had this for dinner tonight and DH said it was one of his favorite CL meals in a long time! I didn't have the quick-cooking barley so I precooked it for about 20 minutes and then added it to the chili mixture. Delicious! I loved the avocado salsa. It was a nice contrast to the spicier chili. A definate repeater!

Peggy

[linsleyd]

Thanks Laura! Now I will just have to make it tonight!!! Can't wait!:D

[emily]

I made this last night and thought it was GREAT! I used 1.5 tsp of medium-hot chili powder and .5 tsp of ground chipotle chili powder, both Penzey's. I think the chipotle really added something, but then again, I love their smokey flavor in general.

I also added a 10 oz box of frozen corn that I had thawed and warmed up in the microwave as well as 1.5 diced breasts of precooked chicken breast that I needed to get rid of. While I liked the addition of the corn, the chicken was definately unnecessary and next time I would go without.

Yummy.

em

[cbabbitt]

Made this earlier in the week and liked it so much we're going to double down and have it again this weekend.

The only variation is that instead of 2 tblsps chili powder, I used 1 chili and 1 ancho chili powder which I purchased for the baked beans recipie in the same issue. I'm not sure this made much of a difference. My significant other did not care for the baked beans (too spicy) and I need to get rid of the anco chili powder which wasn't cheap.

Next time I might consider a tablespoon of brown sugar which might compliment the barley.

[Norma]

nancy_east, I've used bulgur in soups/chilis before and liked it. It just looks like crumbled ground beef. It fooled DH.

[tuff2000]

Oh my goodness! This was awesome! Tonight We made this for the first time, and absolutely loved it. Of course, I upped the spices a bit, but overall this is definitley a repeater, and also on the menu again this week:)
Tara

[JLS]

I made this today, and think I've found my new favorite chili recipe (my old, Mixed bean chili with tofu). This was amazing...I loved it. Very very flavorful, and the salsa was yummmy. NOW, I understand why it warranted being listed in 3 different Cooking Light issues.