Good day everyone! For those of you who don’t know me, I love everything food. I love cooking. I love making a mess in the kitchen (which of course I let Rob clean up). I love experimenting with new ingredients and different recipes. And I imagine, like many of you, I am also concerned about trying to keep it healthy. One thing I have found to be an important piece of healthy cooking is being sure to keep it flavorful. Nobody wants to eat bland food. Am I right? With that in mind, I wanted to kick off this recipe series with a flavor filled punch. Something that will make both your belly and your taste buds happy. It’s perfect for our cold Maine winters and it is easy to make ahead (and I personally think tastes better made ahead) for the week.
Chili
Ingredients:
– 2 lbs lean ground beef or chicken or a mix of the two (I used chicken because it is what I had on hand)
– 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
– 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
– 1 head or several cloves garlic, minced
– 28oz can diced tomatoes (I added more because I love a lot of tomatoes in my chili)
– 6oz can tomato paste
– 2 cups beef or chicken stock
– 2 tablespoons chili powder
– 2 teaspoons paprika
– 2 teaspoons onion powder
– 1.5 teaspoons garlic powder
– 1.5 teaspoons cumin
– 2 teaspoons kosher salt
– 1 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:
– Place ground meat in a large soup pot. Cook on medium to medium high heat while breaking the meat apart/crumbling it. (I usually sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the meat here because it is important to season as you go. Note: this salt and pepper is in addition to what you add later).
– Let meat cook for several minutes before adding the chopped peppers, onion, and garlic. If you meat contains a lot of fat, I recommend spooning out some before added the vegetables. This can be accomplished by carefully tipping the pan to one side, pushing back the meat so the fat collects at the bottom, then spooning out the fat to a small bowl. Discard the fat once cooled.
– Cook the veggies and meat for a few minutes until the vegetables are slightly softened.
– Add all remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
– Now you have come to the Choose your Own Adventure moment (hopefully everyone remembers those books…for the youngins, google it) – you can simmer the chili on the stovetop, covered for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, while adjusting the cook temp to avoid it from boiling OR you can throw everything into a slow cooker/crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. I choose the crockpot option and was not disappointed!
– Now you’re ready to enjoy. Top with chopped green onions, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, avocado…whatever your little heart desires. Throw it on top of a baked sweet potato or mix in some cooked quinoa, if that’s your thing. The options are endless.
Now that you have the basic recipe, I encourage you to get creative with it:
– You can swap out any ground meat you may prefer. For you hunters out there – moose meat, mixed in with another type of meat that has a little bit of fat is also delicious. I have used ground sausage in the past too.
– Add beans if that’s your thing
– Don’t eat meat? Swap out for beans or another plant based protein. Has anyone tried the plant based meat substitutes available at the store? If so, let me know what you think.
– Like it spicy? Add some chopped jalapeno to the other chopped peppers. I did this and was not disappointed.
– Have a random zucchini in the fridge that needs to be used up? Chop it up and throw it in.
– Picky eaters? Won’t eat onions? Either leave them out OR better yet, cut them really small with either your knife or in a food processor (if you have one). They’ll blend in with the rest of the ingredients. Shhhhhhhh!
One thing I always encourage is to test the taste along the way and adjust to your liking. If you are just starting out with cooking, that can feel daunting. But like double unders…the more you do it, the easier it becomes.
I encourage everyone to get into the kitchen and cook something up! Let me know what you’re cooking. Let me know what recipes you want to see! Have a great day!
P.S. there are a lot of spices in this recipe, which can add up when buying at the grocery store. I have found that finding places that sell bulk spices – Danforths in Hermon and the Natural Living 
Center in Bangor are two places that come to mind – give the best bang for your buck. Ocean State Job Lot also has a section with spices costing about $1. They don’t have everything, but they do have a large selection. Additionally, I have left a couple of packs of pre-measured seasoning at the front desk if you want to try the recipe out. Test drive before you buy (the spices) so to speak.