Barbie's big pot of chili recipe

In our house, the fall and winter means it is time for warm and hearty meals. Here is my recipe for some warm and colorful chili. This recipe is pretty mild. If you want to add some heat, you can always add a couple cans of Rotella, chipolte or cayenne pepper. Be forewarned this recipe is made for a HUGE pot of chili!

As with most cooking, I found a recipe for the spices because we have been limiting our salt intake. I found the original spice recipe on wellnessmama.com and tweaked it to adjust to our taste.

1/2 cup + 3 Tbs Chili powder

1/4 cup Garlic Powder

3 Tbs onion powder

1/2 cup Oregano

2 Tbs Paprika

1/4 cup Cumin

1 Tbs Thyme

1 Tbs Salt

2 tsp Chipolte chili podwer

1/2 Tbs Salt

3-4 lbs lean ground beef (ours came from a local farmer that raised the cow for us)

2 medium onions, chopped

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 orange pepper

2- 15.5 oz can  Bush's Low sodium Dark Kidney beans (mostly drained)

1- 15.5 oz can Bush's Light Kidney Beans (mostly drained)

1- 15.5 oz can Bush's Low sodium Cannellini (White Kidney) beans (mostly drained)

4- 15.5 oz can Hunts No Salt added Petite Diced Tomato

2- 8 oz Hunts No Salt added Tomato Sauce

1- 12 oz can Hunts Fancy Tomato Paste

1 can Rottella

2- 15.5 oz can Sweet Corn (drained)

Spice mixture- In a mixing bowl mix all spices, set aside.

In a large pot (I used a cast-iron) brown ground beef and onion. Adding in cut peppers toward end. Add in about 1/2 of the spice mixture, continue to finish cooking beef (this will help bring the flavor into the meat). Add in cans of diced tomatoes, kidney beans, tomato sauce, Rotella and corn. Add remaining spice mixture. Let that simmer for about 1/2 an hour to an hour, making sure to stir often as it has a tendency to stick and possibly burn. Then add the tomato paste. I like to leave the chili on low and let it continue to cook for several hours (this will help all the flavors marry and enhance the chili).

Serve and enjoy! 

Have fun with this dish, play around with different flavors and veggies. I love to take a recipe and either try to make it healthier or make it to satisfy our tastes more.

Happy cooking! I will be posting more of my favorite dishes throughout the fall and winter.

Barbie Lambert

Manager

East Tennessee Mutual Insurance Company