Beef and Black Bean Chili

By Paul Briand

I love chili. I rank the dish up there with meatloaf as one of my favorite comfort foods and believe, like meatloaf, that you can’t have too many different recipes for it.

I have a quick chili that I’ve made for years using jarred salsa -- my so-called Easy Chili.

And, over the years, I’ve played with other recipes involving chili, including:

Cornbread-Chili Casserole

Kielbasa Chili Dogs

Italian Chili One-Pot

Southwest White Chicken Chili

As I said, you can’t have too many chili recipes.

This one is thick Texas-style chili with meat and beans.

It comes courtesy of Relish magazine, which is inserted into many newspapers across the country, including the newspaper where my wife works. She’s good enough to bring Relish home for me on a regular basis, knowing I’m always on the look out for good recipes, especially chili

Ingredients

3 teaspoons olive oil, divided

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup water

1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons honey

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Directions

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add beef, and sauté, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains, about 5 minutes;

2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a small bowl. Sprinkle with salt, and set aside;

3. Drain liquid from pot, and add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Add onion and sauté until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes;

4. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute more;

5. Stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano and cinnamon. Cook together 1 minute;

6. Add chicken broth, water, beef, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and honey;

7. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally;.

8. Add beans and lime juice and cook 5 minutes.

As for toppings, I lean toward shredded sharp cheddar. Other possibilities include sliced avocado, sour cream, diced green onions, chopped cilantro, even roasted pumpkin seeds.

For a recipe card click here.

Leftover Chicken Tortilla Stack

By Paul Briand

The question: How to turn a refrigerator full of leftovers into dinner?

The answer: Combine the chicken, onion and peppers into a oven-baked dish that came together into something I dubbed Leftover Chicken Tortilla Stack.

I was lucky enough to have flour tortillas leftover, some shredded cheese and an avocado that needed using.

Here’s how it came together.

Ingredients
1 ½ cups of leftover roasted chicken
Vidalia onion, sliced
Red pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
8 ounce package of shredded cheddar cheese
4 8-inch flour tortillas

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees;
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of oil over medium high heat and add onion, pepper and garlic;
3. Saute until onions start to become translucent, remove from heat and set aside;
4. Add remaining oil to skillet and saute chicken, stir in cumin and chili powder;
5. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray, place two tortillas side by side;
6. Layer each tortilla with healthy layer of cheese, then the chicken, then the vegetable mixture, then another layer of cheese;
7. Top each stack with another tortilla and place in oven;
8. Cook until cheese is fully melted and tortilla is heated through, about five minutes;
9. Serve with your favorite toppings: Guacamole, salsa, jalapeno peppers, hot sauce, etc.

For recipe card click here.