Chili

Written by on in Dinner

Today’s the Lomurro Law Chili Cookoff! After filing a brief at 9:30 PM, I turned to making chili last night. I opted for a traditional beef chili with lots of beans, veggies, and flavor! Everyone who participated in the festivities had a great time. We had short rib chili, chicken chili, and a range of traditional chili. If you don’t have a chili cookoff day at work – propose it as a great morale booster for your employees. Everyone gets to taste test chili and have fun over lunch sharing stories and enjoying great food. Have everyone print their recipes, so everyone can recreate their favorite type!

Chili
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Chili

Recipe by The Cooking LawyerCourse: DinnerCuisine: American, Southwest, Tex-MexDifficulty: Easy
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 
Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs 85/15 ground beef (or make it healthier with ground chicken or turkey)

  • 1 large onion, minced

  • 2 stalks celery, chopped

  • 1 large bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized pieces

  • 2 carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces

  • 1 jalapeno, minced (use seeds if you like it spicy, remove seeds if you do not)

  • 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

  • 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes (if you like it spicy, use Rot-tel or another diced tomatoes that adds chili peppers)

  • 14 oz. can of stewed tomatoes

  • 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste

  • 2 TBS chili powder

  • 2 tsp ground cumin

  • 2 tsp cayenne pepper

  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

  • 2 tsp salt

  • 1 beef bouillon cube

  • 14 oz. water

  • 1 can red kidney beans

  • 1 can small white beans

Directions

  • Add ground beef to your pot. Using a wooden spatula, begin to break up and cook the meat on low heat.
  • After breaking up the meat, begin to cut your onions, green peppers, jalapeno, carrots, and celery. Be sure to give the meat a stir as you are cutting to avoid any browning of the meat. Add to the pot as you finish cutting each vegetable.
  • Once the vegetables are softened, add the tomato paste to the pot and stir to combine.
  • Turn the heat up to high and add the 3 types of tomatoes.
  • Fill the one 14 oz. can with water and use to loosen any remaining tomato. Use the same water for all cans to get out all of the tomato and tomato paste. Then pour water into pot. Stir to combine.
  • Add a bouillon cube to the pot. Stir well.
  • Once mixture comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low to simmer.
  • Drain and rinse the kidney beans and white beans. Add to the pot. Stir well.
  • Add your seasonings. To make sure the chili is not too spicy, add a teaspoon at a time of the chili powder.
  • After simmering for about 30 minutes, your chili is ready to enjoy. Feel free to keep simmering until ready to enjoy. Just make sure you taste it before serving to make sure the spice / seasoning level is to your liking.
  • Top with your favorite accompaniments, like cheddar cheese, diced red onions, hot sauce, crushed tortilla chips, or corn bread!

Notes

  • People are very particular about chili. Some like it extra spicy. Some hate the beans. Some want it sweet. Others want it vinegary. This is a good base recipe that you can customize as you see fit.

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