Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Crock or Pot: #FoodVixen Is All About the Chili #foodporn



Fellow Foodies!

Welcome to my Culinary Escapades. This week I had a hankering for chili, more specifically MY chili. I developed this recipe when I bought my first crock pot. The little book of recipes included in the package had one for chili. I tried it out and it turned out okay.

But something wasn't quite right.

I found another recipe in one of my other cookbooks and compared the two. I liked the flavor of both dishes but wanted something more...with a little bit of a kick. So I combined the two into a basic recipe of my own that I can change up depending on my mood. 


The end result is what you see in the photo. Besides browning the meat in a skillet, everything else can be thrown into a crock pot or large soup pot on the stove to cook together and marinate the flavors together into the perfect bowl of chili.

Don't like meat? Don't put it in there. Want ground turkey instead of ground beet? Go for it. More or less beans? Your choice. Don't like chunky veggies? Cut them up as small as you want them to be. Sometimes I want chunks of tomatoes in there so I use diced canned tomatoes. Other times like for the pot above, I used a can of crushed tomatoes.

The amounts of seasonings listed in the recipe below are approximates based on taste. You can add more or less to suit your own preferences.

The choices of combinations are endless. This is a basic recipe. Take it and make it your own!

The Vixen's Chili

Brown 1 to 2 pounds of ground beef or turkey. Drain and set aside
1 large can (30 ounces) tomato sauce
1 large can (30 ounces) canned tomatoes (your preferred variety)
2 cans (15 ounce each) dark red kidney beans
1 medium to large yellow onion chopped
1 to 2 bell peppers chopped: I use one green and one red
1 to 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon black pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons cumin
3 to 6 tablespoons chili powder

Mix all ingredients together in a large pot on the stove. Cook on medium high heat until starts to simmer. Then turn the heat down to low to continue to simmer until ready to serve. During this time, the veggies will soften and add their flavor to the sauce.

Crock pot: combine all ingredients in the crock and cover. Set for your desired time. This dish can be done in 4 to 6 hours or slow cook for 8 to 10 depending on your schedule. 

Go on and have fun with this recipe and let me know how it turns out!

Enjoy!

~Food Vixen

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