Weekend Recipe: Chili on the Stove

Do Sunday afternoons in the fall make you think of pulled pork sandwiches, crockpot chili, chicken noodle soup, fires in the fireplace, and football?

I mentioned last week, one of my favorite parts of fall are the fall inspired recipes.

Today I'm going to share with you one of my favorites, Chili. It's yummy, health, easy to make, and easy to alter to your taste.

Get the ingredients {or pull them from your cabinet}, make a pot of chili and sit down to watch the Patriots play some football on Sunday afternoon. Cheers.

Chili con Carne

The Players

1 lb Ground Beef (or Ground Turkey)

1 onion diced {more or less depending on taste or what you have on hand, if it's vidalia, probably a half}

1 pepper diced (Red, Green, Orange, Yellow - your preference) {I like to use green to offset the red chili/tomato color, and if you only have 1/2 or 3/4 of a pepper on hand, use it. No problem.}

1 can black beans (15.5 oz) {no need to rinse them}

1 can diced tomatoes (28 oz) {I use Pomi in a box - I heard boxed tomatoes are healthier than canned?}

1 tsp salt {add to the ground beef; or more or less as needed}

1 cup beef bouillon {I make turkey stock from our Thanksgiving turkey and chicken stock from whole chickens we eat - I stockpile it in ziploc bags in the freezer for soups, rice, chili, etc - so it's ok if it's not beef bouillon}

2 tbsp chili powder {more if you like it spicy, I'm a mild salsa kind of person, to me it's just the right amount}

1 tsp cumin {gives it that delicious taco smell}

1 tsp curry {to taste, if you don't like curry, you can leave it out}

Chili peppers {just a few pieces of diced - depending on your tolerance for spicy foods, I usually omit this, personal preference}

Olive oil {2-4 tbsp - depending on how you cook}

The Play

Brown the beef with the salt {sometimes I add chili powder to the beef to really add flavor}.

In a dutch oven {or frying pan} heat olive oil and sauté the onion and pepper until soft {approx 5 min}

Add {to the dutch oven or pot} the diced tomatoes, canned black beans, browned beef - stir.

Add the boillon, chili powder, cumin, and curry - stir.

Add a little salt if you want.

Simmer on low heat for a few hours or cook on medium-high heat for 30 minutes {careful if you have a gas stove as low on a gas stove is higher than low on an electric stove}

Serve w/grated cheese and bread.

To make the chili deliciousness last longer, cook up some rice and serve the chili on top of rice and top with grated cheese.

*This recipe can be adapted for the crock pot. Brown beef, sauté onion & pepper in a frying pan and add to a crock-pot with the other ingredients.

Serves approximately 4 adults. Easily doubled.

Happy Eating!