One of my favorite meals to make in the winter months is chili. In reviewing blogs, I came across a chili recipe that included quinoa. As much as I use quinoa on a weekly basis, it never occurred to me to incorporate it into a chili dish. I modified my go-to chili recipe slightly to make this new creation. Instead of using vegan meat crumbles or wheat bulgur, I used 1 1/2 cups of cooked red quinoa. In addition to dark red kidney beans, I used 1 1/4 cups of chickpeas. The quinoa gave the chili an added chewy bite and the chickpeas were a nice, firm complement to the softer kidney beans. I also used dried beans that I cooked in advance and added to the chili  vs. canned beans that were in my previous recipe.

Adding quinoa was a real game-changer. The quinoa gave an extra punch of protein and is gluten-free to boot. I look forward to more chili con quinoa in the future!