Purists may not like this, but this was my impression of chili until I went to a friend’s chili cookoff and saw people cooking with real chunks of meat or no meat even. Some had beans and some didn’t. And the fire level! Aye! I couldn’t eat much of it, although it looked and tasted delicious. But growing up chili was either something like this below or it came out of a can. (Actually, my mom had something very similar to this that was a baked spaghetti with different seasonings and the addition of chopped green pepper.)
I like to serve this with corn bread and/or rice and a green salad. This is mild but flavorful. If you like it hot and spicy, I’d increase the chili powder and add some Tabasco sauce or red pepper flakes.
Quick and Easy Chili
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 Tbs chili powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 15 oz can pureed or diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained
- salt and pepper to taste
- water if necessary
- Condiments:
- sour cream
- grated cheddar cheese
- chopped green onions
- salsa
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic and then drain off any fat.
- Add the chili powder, oregano, and cumin. Stir and cook another minute, then add the tomatoes and their juice. Simmer on low uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Add the kidney beans and simmer another 15 minutes, uncovered, stirring periodically. If it gets to dry at any point, add some water. Season with salt, pepper, Tabasco if you’d like, etc.
Pure comfort food and it’s great as leftovers. It also freezes well. I usually serve it over rice with grated cheese, chopped raw onions and some sour cream.
Leave a Reply