CARNIVORE.

And not just as in “oh sure, a little grilled chicken would be nice.”  I mean carnivore as in, “give me the biggest slab of prime rib you’ve got-  and RARE!”  We’re talking about the man that turned to me once and said, “I think ham is my 5th favorite meat.”

“You rank your meats?”  I replied.

“Well, yeah.  Don’t you?” he said innocently, as if it wasn’t bizarre to love meat so much that you classify them.

So when I read that one of the Eleven Miserly Guidelines was to cut back on meat I wanted to laugh.  A big, hearty, YEAH RIGHT kind of laugh.  HAHAHAHAHA!

But I remembered a while back I had proposed that we maybe institute a vegetarian night one night a week for health reasons, and he actually kind of agreed.  It didn’t stick though.  So this time I approached him with the argument that we really should try to be more veggie-lovin’ for the sake of our wallets.  To which he gave a big, hearty laugh.  He didn’t believe that forgoing meat occasionally would be cheaper.  He has been under the incorrect assumption that centering meals around meat is less expensive, as long as you get the meat for a good price.  However, really, meat ain’t cheap folks.  Unless there’s a great sale.  Overall though, cutting back on meats on a regular basis can do a lot for your budget.

I don’t really have anyone that I’m close to that is vegetarian, so I’m really quite stupid when it comes to how to go about this.  One of my concerns was that many meatless dishes were very fattening, usually centering around some sort of cheesy pasta (yummy, but not healthy).  That didn’t exactly seem like the right sort of trade off.

So since then I’ve been on the hunt for healthy, satisfying vegetarian recipes.  Yesterday I made a sweet potato and black bean chili that was fabulous.  Flavorful, filling, and super healthy.  I doubled the recipe so we could have some for dinner, and then I froze the other half for a dinner later on.

Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a go (this is the original recipe.  I doubled mine and made some changes to it which I will explain in just a sec):

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely diced

1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground chipotle chili

1/8 tsp salt, or to taste

1 1/3 cups water

1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed

1 cup canned diced tomatoes (I like the petite diced tomatoes)

2 tsp lime juice

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and potato and cook, stirring often, until onion is slightly softened, about 4 min.  Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle, and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add water, bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to maintain gentle simmer and cook until potato is tender, 10-12 minutes.  Add beans, tomatoes, and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often.  Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 4 min.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

So, my version was slightly different.  I realized after I started cooking I didn’t have any chili powder, so I substituted it with some pork rub seasoning and I actually think it turned out better- a little sweeter and smokier, which we like.  I also didn’t have any chipotle seasoning, which was fine.  I added a dash of black pepper and seasoned salt as well as garlic salt, and I didn’t put in any lime (didn’t have any.  I was rather ill-prepared).  I served it with a little dollop of light sour cream.  Delish!  Husband even loved it!

Any vegetarians out there that have some good, healthy recipes?  I’d love to learn more!

*Recipe from www.eatingwell.com