Fall, Football, Food
I decided to wait until the weekend for my weekly “going local” meal so I could make a local version of our favorite chili, which is a weekend staple in our house when the weather starts to turn cool and college football starts to heat up. So, I adapted a healthy chili recipe to incorporate more in-season and locally available ingredients. The red pepper may seem like a bit unusual but it adds some “chunkiness” along with loads of vitamin C.
Red Pepper & Black Bean Chili
1 lb. ground grass-fed beef*
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup red pepper, coarsely chopped
2 tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. gound cumin
1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
3 tbsp. chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
2 lbs fresh tomatoes, peeled** and chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup black beans, soaked and cooked
1 bay leaf
(all the above ingredients were found locally except the spices)
Heat a 3 quart, nonstick saucepan over high heat. Add ground beef, salt, pepper and garlic. Cook until browned all over breaking up meat into pieces. Remove to bowl, and cover with foil to keep warm.
Return saucepan to burner and reduce the heat to low. Add peppers and onion and cook for 3-5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Cook, stirring for 1 minute.
Increase heat to medium, and add the tomatoes, stock, black beans and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered. Add meat and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Remove and discard bay leaf. Served topped with shredded cheddar cheese. Makes about 4 servings.
*For a vegetarian version, experiment with other vegetables to replace the meat, maybe a chopped zucchini or chopped carrots.
**Before “going local” I would have just used canned tomatoes for this recipe. However, this week I found a new farm stand and picked up some slightly “dinged up” local tomatoes for $1 per pound! To peel tomatoes easily, boil a pot of enough water to cover the tomatoes. Score each tomato with a large “X” on the bottom and submerge tomatoes for 30 seconds. Once cool enough to touch, the skin should peel right off and they are ready to chop up for the chili.
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