Patrick is the cousin I cook vegan food for. This is his favorite.

2 tablespoons olive oil.
1 medium onion, diced large.
1 clove garlic minced- or 1/2 to 1 tsp garlic powder.
1 or 2 bell peppers, red, yellow, orange or (ugh) green.
1 large or 2 medium zuchini. 1 (15-oz) bag frozen prediced butternut squash 2 tbsp chili powder.
1tsp cumin. 1tsp black pepper.
1 heaping tsp paprika, smoked being a plus.
1 (16-oz) can kidney beans, drained.
1 can black beans, drained.
2 cans tomato sauce.
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, or parsley if cilantro is soap to you.
1 medium jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced, or 1/2 can adobo.

In 6 qt pot, add oil. Sweat onions until tender. Add garlic if using minced and cook until fragrant. Add zucchini and saute until zucchini is barely tender. Add seasonings , squash, beans, and. simmer 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until hot. Ready to serve. However, this can be done in a crock pot for up to about 2 hours if necessary for other food prep.

Best served in bread bowls, but you definitely want some good crusty bread, or some corn bread to go with if you serve in regular bowls.

This can be done as non vegan, but even as a meat eater, this stuff is better without. The textures of the butternut and zucchini disappear when I’ve tried adding chicken.

The recipe is modified from an old Publix recipe that I can’t find online currently. The original is pretty amazing on its own, but I’ve tweaked it for my cousin over the years, and he says he prefers this version, so that’s what I went with. I do have the original saved in my recipe manager app if anyone wants that; it uses more frozen veggies, and is missing some of the seasonings.