EAT THIS! Chilly Weather Chili Recipes

Joe DeFrates, the only man ever to win the National and the World Chili Championships, said “Chili powder makes you crazy.” That may say it all. To keep things straight, chile refers to the pepper pod, and chili to the concoction. The e and the i of it all.

The argument over where the first bowl of chili was made; and by whom, varies. Estimates range from “somewhere west of Laramie,” in the early nineteenth century – being a product of a Texas trail drive – to a grisly tale of enraged Aztecs, who cut up invading Spanish conquistadors, seasoned chunks of them with a passel of chile peppers, and ate them.

Never has there been anything mild about chili.  The mixture of meat, beans, peppers, and herbs was known to the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayan Indians long before Columbus and the conquistadores.

Fact: Chile peppers were used in Cervantes’s Spain and show up in great ancient cuisines of China, India, Indonesia, Italy, the Caribbean, France, and the Arab states.

Fact: Don Juan de Onate entered what is now New Mexico in 1598 and brought with him the green chile pepper. It has grown there for the nearly four hundred years since.

Fact: Canary Islanders, transplanted in San Antonio as early as 1723, used local peppers, wild onions, garlic, and other spices to concoct pungent meat dishes – improvising upon ones they had cooked for generations in their native land, where the chile pepper also grew.

Chili dishes vary widely – and it’s very simple to make ‘clean’.  I love a big pot of chili in the crockpot, ready for random eating. Warm your bones up with some of these different concoctions:

Buffalo Chili
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1.5 lb ground raw bison
1.5 cup chopped celery
1 TBS extra virgin coconut oil
2 cloves minced garlic
.5 cup chopped onions
1.5 cup salsa
14.5 ounce canned tomatoes, no salt added
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp chili powder
2tsp ground cumin
Instructions:
In large skillet, melt oil and saute onions, garlic, celery, and green pepper until onion is translucent.
Add ground meat, thyme, chili powder, and ground cumin and cook, stirring frequently, 5-6 minutes.
Add tomatoes and salsa. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for a minimum of an hour. Can also throw it
all in the crockpot on low for quite a few hours.

E-Z Chili
Ingredients:
.75 cup cooked black beans
2 oz cooked chicken breast
.75 cup frozen corn
.5 cup salsa
Instructions:
Drain and rinse the beans (use non-sodium ones if you can find them) and dump into a container (for
travel and/or microwave) or small pot (for stove). add frozen corn, cubed meat, and salsa. Heat.

White Chili
Ingredients:
1 lb great northern beans, dry
15 oz low sodium chicken broth
2 lb chicken breast, raw
3 tsp ground cumin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped green chili peppers, canned
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1.5 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions:
Soak the beans overnight. Put them in a large saucepan or dutch oven, cover with water, and allow to
simmer about 30 minutes. Drain and add 1 cup water and the chicken broth. Cut chicken into 1″ cube
and brown if desired – otherwise throw all the ingredients into the pot and alow to simmer on low until
beans are cooked (about an hour). May need to add a bit more water. In a crock pot, cook on low for
10-12 hours or high for 5-6 hours.

Fantastic Black Bean Chili
Ingredients:
1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground turkey, raw
3 15 oz cans black beans, undrained
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1.5 TBS chili powder
1 TBS dried oregano
1 TBS dried basil
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; cook onion and garlic until onions are translucent.
Add turkey and cook, stirring, until meat is brown. Stir in beans, tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, basil
and vinegar. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 60 minutes or more, until flavors are well blended.

Mainline Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs chicken breast, raw
1 15oz can kidney beans
1 15oz can black beans
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
.5 cup prepared mango salsa
2 TBS rice vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 TBS chili powder
ground pepper to taste
Instructions:
Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Place the chicken meat, kidney beans with half their liquid, black
beans with half their liquid, onion, green pepper, tomato paste, stewed tomatoes, mango salsa, rice
vinegar, bay leaf, smoked paprika, chili powder, and black pepper into a slow cooker, and stir well to
combine. Set the cooker to High, cover, and cook for 1 hour; stir the chili. Turn the cooker down to
Low, and cook for 3 to 4 more hours.
Jerk Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
2 TBS olive oil
1.5 lbs chicken meat, raw
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
32 oz low sodium chicken broth
3 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
1 TBS ground allspice
.5 tsp ground cinnamon
.5 tsp ground nutmeg
.5 tsp cayenne pepper
.25 tsp ground cloves
2 limes, juiced

Directions
Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Season the chicken
meat with pepper to taste. Stir into the warm oil, and cook until no longer pink in the center, about 8
minutes. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic; continue cooking and stirring until the onions are
tender, about 3 minutes more. Stir in the cumin, thyme, sage, oregano, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg,
cayenne pepper, salt, and cloves; cook and stir 1 minute. Pour in the lime juice, chopped green chilies,
and chicken broth, then bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 45 minutes. Stir in the
rinsed white beans, and cook 10 more minutes to reheat.