I love chili! (I made this last night) The picture is not the best…that is steam coming off which causes the picture to be fuzzy! This is one of those things you can whip up in a short amount of time and my kids love it, too – especially on a cold night. It is even better leftover for lunch; You just put it in the micro for 1-2 min and you have a great lunch or quick snack. I took the base recipe from one of my cookbooks, but tweaked it to something I liked better. The thing I like about this is that it is very satisfying and has a ton of fiber, has a good amount of protein and has no fat. All these ingredients should be standard stock in your pantry (if not, add them to your shopping list for this week).
stuff you’ll need:
1 tbs olive oil
2 yellow onions (finely chopped)
1 green pepper (finely chopped)
1 tsp ground cumin
4 garlic cloves (pressed)
4 15oz cans of beans (2 black, 1 red and 1 pinto – you can mix and match as you please)
1 cup corn (I used frozen)
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1-2 chipotle pepper (chopped) they come in a can – freeze what’s left for next time*
red pepper (a dash or two or three….)
* if you like it spicy, use at least 2 or more or you can leave the chipotle, out but then you would have to change the name to just black bean chili and that does not sounds as fun.
what to do with the stuff
In a big pot add in the olive oil and heat over medium heat, when hot add in the onion, green bell peppers and garlic (it should sizzle when you put them in). Saute for about 5 min or until soft. Stir in cumin, a dash or so of red pepper, cook for a min or so. Now dump in the following cans: tomato paste (plus 3 cans of water), diced tomatoes, beans and bring to boil then simmer for 30 min or so.**
** NOTE: Generally canned beans have sea salt in them so you should drain and rinse them first, sometimes I dump the juice in too, but usually only one of the cans. I prefer the black bean juice but for whatever reason they use almost twice as much sea salt in them compared to the red bean and pinto beans. Also you should try to use organic canned goods, the standard canned has stuff in there you don’t need in your body (but that is a whole separate entry).
WARNING – This comes off the stove HOT so don’t burn your tongue. You can top with diced onion, or green onion, or maybe Greek non-fat yogurt, but no need to muck this up with cheese or sour cream.
