Veggie Black Bean Chili

Hey there!!

Well I'm finally getting around to posting this recipe from Sunday.   It's been a crazy day today.
Big man went to the vet this morning to have his stitches removed from his backside.  Pure joy especially when he bit me while I was holding him.  The vet laughed and said you'd bite too if someone was pulling sutures outta your butt.  But the highlight of this whole visit was HE CAN HAVE A BATH NOW!!!   I mean really over 3 weeks of not giving an english bulldog a bath is a smelly smelly long time.  He also got the last of his vaccinations and can now go to the kennel, the pet store and take puppy classes.  I scheduled his first kennel visit for next week when I go back to the condo.  Yeah, sorry I'm just not up for another 13 hour drive with a dog in a crate, it's just too much for both of us.
He will be much happier at the doggie resort although now I have to be the one to stop every two hours for a "potty" break and can't blame the dog.  

Anyway enough of the crazy dog and let's talk about the Super Bowl.

I made cupcakes and I used this recipe for "wedding" cake.

woweezoweekaboom was this good!!

I mean seriously the Hubster took a glass, yes I said a glass, and actually drank some of the batter.

We are not afraid of salmonella in this house at all. nosireeee

Anywho you can bet your britches that I'm going to be using this white cake recipe from now on.

I might also mention it makes A LOT of batter.

We had about 28 cupcakes and then the batter we ate, which would have probably made at least 3 or 4 more cupcakes.   I'm not ashamed.

So let's quit messing around and make some chili.

                                                                    Here's the Recipe Link if you want to follow along.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and dump in the chopped onion and shredded carrots.

Stir them around a bit to start the cooking.

Now throw in the chopped red pepper.   The recipe said use 1/2 a red pepper, I just use the whole thing.  I mean what do I do with the other half?  Leave it alone in the refrigerator wondering why it wasn't good enough for the chili?  That's just mean, peppers have feelings too you know!

 

Now toss in the garlic. Stir all this often to keep the garlic from burning and cook until those veggies are good and tender.  About 5-10 minutes.

Now while that's cooking run over and grab some chili powder and cumin from the spice cabinet.

Add the chili powder and cumin to the veggies and whirl it around and cook for a couple of minutes.

It'll start smelling just deeelish pretty soon.

Toss in the black beans and the corn.

Now add the tomatoes and the liquid of your choice.

Let this come to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 20 minutes.

This part isn't in the recipe but I grabbed a can of chili beans, dumped them in a bowl and hit them with the immersion blender until it was pretty much the consistency of hummus.

Wait..What??? You haven't had hummus?  Well stop reading go get some and try it!!

It's good for you and it's amazing with baby carrots.   Go ahead, really, I'll wait!

Now just dump those in the chili and just let it cook on. 

I probably let mine simmer around 2 or 3 hours.

Long and slow is the rule here.

Make sure you taste before you season with salt and pepper. 

I'm a light seasoner so the amount you use will depend on your taste.

I just popped this chili in the crockpot trio with the other chili and let them hang out on the warm setting until we were ready to dig in.

At the super bowl we had another chili as well and I'll have to make it again sometime for you as I got no pictures.  It's ok, I'll sacrifice my thighs for you!

We had a chili bar so we had some grilled hot dogs that I put in the buns and cut in half. 

We had little baked potatoes and we had fritos.  We also had tortilla chips.  The possibilities were plenty for what you wanted to do with your chili.  It was great and keeping everything small gave everyone a chance to have a little bit of it all.

Here is the veggie black bean chili served on one of the small potatoes.

Hint: If you are having a chili bar wrap those tiny potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven.

They turn out perfect and the microwave will tend to overcook them because they are small.

All in all it was a very small gathering of good friends this year.  We were missing a few of the usuals and only had 1 of the 3 kiddos but we had a good time and hey, our electricity didn't go out.

Here's another link to the recipe in case you don't feel like scrolling to the top.

How do you feel about this non-traditional chili?  Do you make a chili that's not quite the norm?

Tell me about all about it.  Love me some chili.

Peace, Love & Chili Yummies

p.s.  The dog had a VERY long bath and has been sacked out since about noon today.  Baths, suture removal and vaccinations can wear a puppy out apparently!