Recipe 9: Cha Cha Chili

I swear I'm not a slacker. Between travel and a kitchen painting project I haven't done too much cooking lately. However, during our recent snow day I decided some delicious crock pot goodness was necessary. This recipe is based on the 1-2-3 -4 Chili with Beef and Beans from the Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Materials:

~1 1/3 lb ground round

~1 large yellow onion, chopped

~4 cloves garlic, minced

~2- 15 oz cans pinto bans, rinsed and drained

~2- 14.5 oz cans Rotel

~1- 6-oz can tomato paste

~1 Bottle Beer (preferably Mexican)

~1- 6-oz tomato paste can filled with water

~2 tsp chili powder

~1 tsp ground cumin

~1 tsp dried oregano

Methods:

1. Brown ground round and cook onions and garlic until beef is fully cooked and onions and garlic have been softened.

2. Transfer to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to well to mix ingredients. Cook on high 4-5 hours, stirring towards end of cook time.

3. Serve with your carbohydrate of choice and enjoy! I topped it with some Colby cheese, nonfat yogurt and avocado chunks.

Verdict:

It was good, but had more kick than I planned for. For my Yankee tongue, the yogurt was required to bring the heat down a notch. It definitely hit the spot on a good 'winter' day, however, it isn't the yummiest chili I've ever made. I still look forward to eating the remainder over the rest of this winter's week.

Recipe 1: Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
~ 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
~ 1 can rotel
~ 1 can corn, drained and rinsed (or frozen corn)
~ shredded chicken
~ chicken stock

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in your crockpot and cook on low until heated through. Once heated I took the imersion blender to it. You get a nice sort of purple-y soup!

Verdict:
Pretty good. We never ate beans growing up excepd canned baked beans. Since moving to the south and attempting to 'health up' I've developed a love relationship with beans. This was nice and easy, which is key - and full of that great soluble fiber. I always enjoy a recipe where I get to use my imersion blender. It doesn't look so pretty in the picture - sort of vomitish... It isn't quite so heinous looking in person. If you don't immerse it won't look nearly so heinous either.

If you aren't being calorie conservative I would reccomend enjoying this with some cheese, maybe a little sour cream, and some tortilla chips. It could also be made vegetarian by doubling up the bean content. Mmmm!

Next time I make this I plan to cut down on the broth and just smash some of the beans for thickening. I would have enjoyed the texture of the chicken vs. the corn vs. the tomatoes vs. the beans even if it meant not using the imersion. It had too much broth, so that it wouldn't thicken with a little bit of smashing.