Cold Outside--Chili Tonight

It is freezing here in Northern Illinois.  Double digit negatives kind of freezing. The kind of weather that makes you thankful for not having any place to be but hanging out on the sofa and watching a movie or reading a good book. Am I right? And there is nothing like a little hint of Jack Frost's presence to put me in a mood for a steaming hot bowl of chili.  The wonderful thing about chili--there really is no right or wrong way to make it.  Beans or not. Meat or not. (but in this case...most definitely not on the meat.) I like my chili to be tongue tingling spicy.  So this recipe may not be especially appealing to those of you with a taste that leans more toward mild.


Spicy 3 Bean Chili

1/4 cup dried light kidney beans
1/2 cup small red beans
1/2 cup black beans
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chillies
2 cans chili flavored diced tomatoes
1/4 cup Tastefully Simple Simply Salsa
1 tsp ground Cumin

Soak beans overnight or do the quick soak method listed on the back of the bag of beans.  I do both because it never seems like either one is sufficient. When the beans are soft, drain and return to pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat until bubbly.

It's a very simple meal to make. I discovered a few months back that I could eliminate the need for chopping peppers by using the Tastefully Simple Simply Salsa mix. Most of  the products from the Tastefully Simple line are all natural. No MSG just simply dried spices,onions, garlic, peppers, etc.   If you like just a little bite in your chili...I would recommend cutting out the tomatoes with the chilies in them as they seem to be what adds the most heat to this recipe.

Do you make the most awesome chili ever? Let me know. Leave me a message and if it's in line with my year of veggie eating...I'll give it a try and blog about it!