Day 142-- Mexican Black Bean Chili recipe

 
Prologue:

Chili is one of those dishes that is known to start a fight.  The original name "chili"  derives from the Spanish name "chile con carne", which is a spicy stew made from chili peppers, garlic, onion, cumin, and ground beef.  

Through the years chili has become less spicy, more spicy, tomatoes added, beans added, both tomatoes and beans demanded to be taken out, steak replacing ground beef, only ground beef allowed, ect.  It's a hotly debated subject on what makes a good chili, and luckily there are enough chili cook-offs through the year to help with the variety. 

One thing is agreed upon, you don't make nor order chili unless you desire chili and nothing else.  It's for special occasions with friends or a feel-good night with loved ones. 

Mexican Black-Bean Chili

Prep time: in all, 15 minutes

Cook time: in all, 35-45 minutes

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients

1 small onion

1 green bell pepper

1+ pound ground beef

1/2 teaspoon chili pepper

1/2 or less cumin powder

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 can black beans, drained

1 can pinto beans, drained (I used pork and beans)

2 cans diced tomatoes, drained or not drained depending on how soupy you want it

1 can (14.5oz) beef broth

*optional garlic

*optional cilantro or avocado for garnish

Directions:

1.) Start cooking a full pan of ground beef.  While it cooks, chop up your onion and bell pepper and start cooking them in a separate pan.  They should both be done in about 10 minutes.

2.) Pull out a large pot.  Drain the water from the meat pan and transfer into the pot.  Add the cooked onions and bell pepper, and add the broth, tomatoes, beans, and spices to the pot as well. 

3.) Bring to a boil.  Once at boil, set down to medium heat and stir occasional.  The longer the better, but 30 minutes was just fine for us.  Take out some cute soup bowls and enjoy some chili!

Review:

This is the first dish I've made this year that made me feel like a chef.  Not just because the outcome was delicious, but because I actually owned all of the ingredients beforehand.  It's always a good idea to keep some extra cans of beef broth, tomatoes, and beans around, and we tend to have some ground beef in the freezer ready to go. 

I'll admit I was nervous as the dish was cooking because of that damn smell of cumin (it smells like a Taco Bell) was so prominent.  Luckily the taste blended just fine, but if you're down with the cumin by all means add more than a half a teaspoon.

Honestly this dish was perfect.  As I mentioned before, chili is a sort of comfort food to be shared and after a long week and unavoidable stresses, a hot dish I made from scratch that was a fun creative process and it was nice to be able to offer it to my boyfriend walking through the door from work.

It's meaty, it has just enough veggies, it's flavorful but not spicy, and it's a real hearty meal.  It might be a little soupy for some people so drain the tomatoes if you want the sauce to be more thick. 

They say that chili is best when it's been cooking all day or the next day so I was looking forward to trying some tonight after work.  When I left this morning there was a full tub of leftovers in the fridge but only a few tablespoons left when I got home (boyfriend and roommate loved it).  Haha, well, that's the best review a chef can have.

Happy cooking!