A Souper Bowl of Chili for Super Bowl Sunday and Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

Super Bowl Sunday usually has me doing two things, watching the half-time show (I don't care much for the game itself) and craving game-day foods like a big bowl of chili. 

It also makes me not want to fuss in the kitchen, so I started with an easy recipe from Mark Bittman, Chili From Scratch, from Health Magazine in 2012. I chose Lightlife Plant-Based Ground to make it meat-free, used canned beans to use up my stash ad added one of my new secret weapon spices, One Hundred Beers of Solitude: Happy Citrus Sucker Punch for a little extra layer of flavor. You can put beer in chili and lime in chili so why not a little hoppy citrus blend? You can leave it out but it does add a certain vibrancy to the mix. (You can find it here with my friends at The Book Club Cookbook.)

Simple Chili from Scratch

Adapted from Chili from Scratch by Mark Bittman via My Recipes: Health Magazine 2012

(Makes 6-8 1 Cup Servings)

 

3 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used 2 Tbsp olive oil)
1 lb turkey or lean ground beef (I used Lightlife Plant-Based Ground)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp chili powder (I used Chipotle Seasoning)
1 tsp ground cumin (I used 2 tsp) 
1 tsp dried oregano leaves 

(I added 2 tsp One Hundred Beers of Solitude Seasoning)
2 cups chopped tomatoes (diced canned are fine; don't bother to drain)
1 or 2 fresh or dried hot chilies, seeded and minced (I used 1 fresh red jalapeno)
1 lb dried pinto or kidney beans, rinsed and picked over, and soaked, if you like (I used 3 cans low-salt pinto beans, drained)

1 added 2 cups low-salt vegetable broth 
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish 

(I added sour cream, shredded cheese, pickled jalapenos & Fritos) 

Put the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add the ground meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Adjust the heat so it sizzles steadily, and cook, stirring occasionally to break it up, until the meat browns all over (5-10 minutes).

Add the onion, and cook, stirring once in a while, until it softens and turns golden (3-5 minutes). Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes fragrant (another minute). 

Add the tomatoes, chili, and beans to the pot, along with enough water to cover everything by 2-3 inches. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the mixture bubbles steadily, but not furiously, and cover. Cook, undisturbed, for 30 minutes. After that, stir the chili every 20 minutes or so and adjust the heat so it continues to bubble gently; add more water, 1/2 cup at a time, if the chili starts to stick to the bottom of the pot.

When the beans begin to soften (30-60 minutes, depending on the type of bean and whether or not you soaked them and about 20-30 minutes for canned beans), sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally and adding water if the pot looks too dry, until the beans are quite tender but still intact--this will take about the same amount of time as it took for them to soften. When the beans are very tender, taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve, garnished with the cilantro.

Mark Bittman Says, Change It Up:  

Chili with Canned Beans: Using canned beans instead of dried cuts the cooking time down to about 35 minutes: Drain and rinse about 4 cups, or 2 (15-ounce) cans, of canned beans; add them instead of the dried beans and don't add any water. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a bubble, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until everything thickens (20 minutes or so). 

Chili with All Sorts of Dried Beans: Try black beans, white beans, chickpeas, or lentils (lentils will be ready 30 minutes after you add them to the pot).

Notes/Results:  A meat-free chili that you can proudly serve to carnivores. This one is medium-mild, smoky but with a bit of a citrus punch that to me is really pleasing. Keep of the sour cream and cheddar cheese or swap in non-dairy versions if you want it vegan. Don't leave out the Fritos Scoops though, they are a must for crunch and fun. An excellent couch lunch while watching the half-time show or game but I'm also taking it to lunch this week with some brown rice (and those Fritos). I would happily make it again.

Linking up with I Heart Cooking Clubs where it's Game Day! foods and dishes this week.  

Now let's check out the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here!

Judy of Gluten Free A - Z Blog brought a Japanese Umami Soup with Kale and says, "It's officially soup season in some parts of the world, and this Japanese Umami soup with kale is officially a winner in my opinion. Japanese soups are light and broth-like. This Japanese style soup is a simple comfort soup made from common root vegetables and tender winter greens."

Shaheen from Allotment2Kitchen is here with her Laziest Pasta Salad, saying "I think this may really be one of the laziest pasta salad dishes I have ever made for work lunch at home. The spinach pasta packet was lurking in the back of one of the kitchen cupboards, pushed back as it not the most vibrant of colours. But it could no longer be ignored. ... The red peppers, artichokes and black olives all came out of a jar and chopped down and stirred into the cooked pasta. Then doused in even quantities with extra virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar and seasoned to taste. Lunch was served." 

Thank you to Judee and Shaheen for joining me this week!

 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!