Fall is always a busy season for me. Usually, school is ramping up and the hot weather has disappeared, leaving me with more energy to get out and be active. Plus the hockey season starts in October, and that keeps me busy until June.
As the outside temperature cools, we start making hotter dishes to keep us warm. But because the fall is so busy, we don’t always have the time to have some sort of comfort food simmering on the stove all day.
This chili recipe can be ready in half an hour, and tastes almost as good as its slow-cooker counterpart.
So you start, as always, with an onion and some garlic. I of course use garlic-in-a-jar, but you can use whatever you like.
Chop up the onion.
This is where I like to use the new love of my life, the Onion Goggles. I’ve tried knives dipped in lemon juice, and cutting onions next to an open flame, but these work wayyyyy better.
Of course, I look like a total dweeb when I wear them.
Anyway, chuck your onion in a saucepan with some garlic and olive oil and cook until the onions are translucent.
Chop up two red peppers and chuck them in as well, together with some chopped fresh basil.
Add in some cumin, chili powder, and tabasco sauce (hot sauce) to taste, together with whatever else you need to make it the kind of spicy you’re in the mood for.
Our hot sauce came from my brother’s wedding. It’s pretty good.
Next you can add in your beans. White beans, black beans, kidney beans, it really doesn’t matter (well, perhaps not broad beans). They can come from a can or a bag, but make sure they’re cooked before you chuck them in. This is a bean medley my mother cooked up a while ago and froze.
Pour in a can of diced tomatoes.
Add a handful or two of TVP if you wish. If you think the chili is too liquidy, you can also add a can of tomato paste for thickening.
I like to pop in some frozen corn when it’s almost ready.
Let it simmer the whole time you’re adding stuff, then for about twenty minutes after you’ve added the last ingredient.
Serve hot, store in your refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze it for a quick dinner some time later on.
Ali Does It Herself 