Non Vegetarian Day...maybe

It's official....I could live on my pumpkin chili!  Seriously.  It's loaded with veggies, a ton of flavor and very low in calories....unless you eat a ton of it, OR allowing you to eat a ton of it!  Which is the way I like to look at it!  Because of this chili I barely miss meat at all, and it's made becoming a part time vegetarian so easy.....maybe too easy?  

I've changed my recipe to lean more towards a "barbecue" flavor with the addition of vinegar and brown sugar (1/4 c of each), and cutting back 1 1/2 c. lentils to 1 1/4 c., using the stalks of red chard or kale for extra body.  Last night I decided to leave the skin on the pumpkin.  I like to think of it now as "Rustic Barbecue Pumpkin Chili" lol!  But really it's just laziness!

I also found some "corned beef" sausage at Whole Foods the other day.  I don't think I've ever seen that before.  I'm sure it has something to do with the store having leftover corned beef from St Patty's Day, but it peaked my curiosity.  Mark loves corned beef so it stands to reason he would like this sausage!  Mark also loves my vegetable soups!  Cabbage seemed like a good pairing along with the giant Italian white beans I had in my freezer.  Nowadays, since becoming a part time vegetarian, I've learned how to cut back on animal protein in general and only use two sausage links, at the most (sometimes only one) when making any kind large meal for us.

This corned beef cabbage and bean soup turned out so good I think today will be my non vegetarian day....although I'd be perfectly fine eating another bowl of my pumpkin chili!