Notes:
My favorite first cool-weather recipe to make while listening to the mournful blues of Billie Holiday. It’s a very healthy chili recipe I love…all the men in my life have loved it too, so it’s not just a weight-loss recipe!! Full of fiber and low in fat when you use just-enough extra-lean ground beef, or omit the meat all together because the beans will do if for ya if you’re a bean lover like me!!! This is really a satisfying meal, especially when the weather is getting cooler as it is now (damn it, why have you forsaken me summer breezes!!!). Don’t get too caught up in the measurements; just keep tasting till it’s perfect for you!!
Servings: 12
Ingredients:
1 TBS olive oil
1 pound very lean ground meat
1 yellow, orange or red bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos, or 1 can petite diced tomatoes + 1 can diced green chiles
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely diced
3 TBS tomato paste
1 can low sodium beef broth
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can cannellini or great northern beans
2 TBS chile powder
1 TBS ground cumin
couple pinches of ground cloves
couple pinches of cayenne pepper
several dashes of HOT paprika
several dashes of hot sauce (I like chipotle hot sauce)
around a tsp of brown sugar
around a tsp of salt
a little low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
a bit of fresh cilantro to garnish
optional SUPER-SECRET ingredients:
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
–or–
1 TBS peanut butter
Directions:
…You don't have to be exact on the ingredient amounts, add less or more to taste…
FIRST THINGS FIRST…Put some Billie Holiday on the old computer/CD player/MP3 player!!!
1) Brown ground meat in a skillet…easy peasy, you can sautee the onion, garlic and bell pepper in the olive oil right in the same pot you are going to cook your chili in while you are browning up your meat in the skillet. Drain the meat of excess fat and leave it chill for a minute while you work on you sauteed veggies.
2) Season the veggies with all your spices…cumin, chile powder, brown sugar, salt, cloves and paprika. Stir those newly-aromatic veggies around for a few minutes and breathe in the awesome smell!
3)Stir in the diced tomatoes (with juices), tomato paste, the hot sauce, and the beans…be sure to drain and rinse the beans first because this reduces the sodium and makes the chili super-healthy!! Stir in your cooked ground beef that's been so patiently waiting in the skillet.
4) Pour in enough low-sodium beef broth (you can also use water or veggie broth, if you are a vegetarian and omitting the meat) to cover everything. Give it a good stir and let that sucker come to a boil.
5) Reduce heat, cover, and let your pot-o-yumminess simmer on the stove…I like to leave it go for about an hour to an hour and a half, but it will be ready to go in about a half hour if you're pressed for time or the kids are screaming they're hungry. Your house will smell so good from this, you can kiss your glade plug-in good-bye!! (mmm…if only they made chili-scented Glade Plug-Ins…what a wonderful world it would be…)
6) If using the peanut butter add at the end of the simmering stage…if using the balsamic vinegar stir in after you've removed the pot from the heat, right before serving.
7) Garnish with the low-fat mozzarella cheese, and enjoy!!! You can also stir in some fresh cilantro, if that's your bag, baby!