Hearty Chili

Meet Olivier and Alan, the TriForce guinea pigs:

Believe it or not, this is their first time in the kitchen! Okay, we’re kidding (...well, sort of). These two are pros at Kraft Dinner, pizza and scrambled eggs. In fact, when there’s no food in the house, they’ll do the grocery shopping... for pizza only... However, today they showed their daring side and made a super healthy and hearty chili.

Here’s what you need and the quantities we used to make it nice and chunky:

Yield: 10-12 servings (perfect for family lunches for the week!)

10-12min prep| 4-8hrs cook

1-2lbs Ground beef

4 peppers

1 can of mixed beans (540mL)

1 can of diced tomatoes (796mL)

1 can of tomato paste (680mL)

2 cups of mushrooms

2 cups of onions

5 tbsp of chili powder

Optional: Broccoli, green peas, a dash of cumin and steak seasoning (<-- seriously, it’s good in EVERYTHING).

Olivier took the reins on the ground beef. He threw it into a frying pan with a bit of olive oil (for taste, not so much for stick—the beef fat does a great job) and a dash of cumin and steak seasoning. You can also cook the beef with the onions for extra flavour. Olivier cooked the ground beef on medium-high with a lid on; stirring every few minutes to break up the meat and make sure everything is cooked thoroughly.

In the meantime, Alan got started on the veggies. In our humble opinions, the more veggies, the better! Chop up all the veggies you can find in your house and put them right in the crock pot with the tomato paste and chili powder. Depending on when you want your chili, set your crock pot to “HIGH” to cook for 4-5 hours (or until veggies are soft—that can depend on how fine you chop them) or “LOW” to cook for 6-8 hours (or, again, until the veggies are soft). The latter setting is perfect timing for making this dish before bed and cooking it overnight.

It is important to cook the ground beef all the way through—i.e. NO pink—or, until 71°C/160°F internal temperature. Once cooked, drain the fat into a bowl and add the meat to the crock pot. Do NOT put the fat down the drain. It will re-solidify and can clog your drain. Instead, pour it into a bowl, wait for it to solidify and then you can dispose into the garbage. Some people like to save the fat and use it for cooking later!

Now that everything’s added, stir up the concoction and cook. We taste-tested to ensure we liked our seasoning prior to serving. Chop, fry, mix and cook—it’s as simple as that!

Chili tastes delicious as is or even as a dip with crackers or corn chips for a snack... in fact, we might try it with tacos! Let us know what you put in your chili and how you enjoy this super easy, healthy dish!

We would like to give a big thank you to Alan and Olivier for making our #MunchieMonday dish and allowing us to poke fun at them ;).