Ken’s Easy Chili

Happy almost 2007, gentle readers!

I’ll end the old year bluntly: I used to not like chili.
I found it to be a sour, greasy mess with meaty and beany surprises not unlike the Bear Stew described in “Sign of the Beaver,” which, if I remember correctly, put the protagonist in some sort of Bear Fat Trance after a long day of wrestling bear-greased natives.

I digress. Chili, you see, is my familys Traditional Christmas Eve dish. Except for a few years during The Great Oyster Stew Schism we always served chili on Christmas Eve and I was used to be quite unhappy about this.

But that was in the past. Now I like chili. In fact, I L-O-V-E chili. I may just try to push chili marriage through to legislation. I think it’s because vegetarian chili is just better - the tomatoes, beans and spices mingle in a delicious way that meat seems to detract from. Chili may very well be the first thing I’d suggest if you’ve got a vegetarian coming over for dinner and you don’t know what to make. Trust me, s/he’ll like it.

Now this particular recipe comes from my new brother-in-law Ken. I’ll try to say this gently, because I know there are lot of fellow New Yorkers who read my blog: Ken is Republican. He’s a beer-and-barbecue man and I’m happy to report that he really liked the Jesus Action Figure I got him for Christmas (he send me a thank-you email.) However, he’s also just plain nice, thoughtful and very very good to his many new sisters-in-law so he’s made this veggie chili a few times to impress us and I’m pleased to report that it worked. It’s not the most authentic chili you’ll find, but hey, Ken is from Delaware. That’s actually a state. Delaware. Look it up.

My family served this chili with salsa, grated cheese, sour cream, and Fritos on Christmas Eve because it’s a casual sorta evening for us, but you could also top it with tomatillos, red onions, peppers, cilantro, avocado and any sort of tortilla/chip/cornbread and serve it to unsuspecting fancypantses. I feel a little hesitant giving my health-conscious readers a recipe with all packaged ingredients, but sometimes in the dead of winter it’s a pain to get fresh produce. And I figure it’s still probably healthier than eating out somewhere. And at the very least you could keep these ingredients in the Emergency Preparedness Kit I know you all have so you can whip up an excellent pot of chili on any occasion.

Thanks for the recipe Ken, and welcome to the family.

Serves: 6
Time: 1.5 hours

Ken’s Easy Chili Taco Soup

1 can of corn
1 can of red kidney beans*
1 can of pinto beans*
1 can of black beans*
1 can hominy*
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of Rotel
1 package of chili taco seasoning
1 package of buttermilk ranch dressing ranch dressing mix

Drain and rinse the corn. Partially drain the beans*. Mix everything together in a large pot. Bring ingredients to a boil and then simmer for at least an hour.

See above for serving suggestions. This can also be made in a crockpot overnight or while at work.

*Be sure to purchase quality beans in a lined can if you’re not going to drain the liquid out. The liquid tends to taste “tinny” if you don’t. You can also fully drain and rinse you beans and add a little extra water or veggie broth.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 28th, 2006 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Soups & Stews, Any Season, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.