Chili Contest: Entry 7

It’s a 2 post kind of day…I’ve been cooking and baking faster than I can blog. Always a good thing 😉

This week’s chili contest entry accompanied an Illini VICTORY! 🙂 That, too, is always a good thing!

Chunky Fire-Roasted Chili from How Sweet It Is

2 lbs 96/4 ground beef
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup red wine (I used Chianti)
1-28 ounce can low-sodium tomato puree
1-28 ounce can low-sodium diced tomatoes
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
2-15 ounce cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup cumin
1 Tbsp cocoa chili powder (1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder + 1 1/2 tsp chili powder)
1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp smoked paprika

Directions:

Heat a large pot on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chopped onion, peppers and garlic. Saute until vegetables are soft.

Add the ground beef to pot and break apart with a wooden spoon. Let brown. Add one cup of red wine and continue to saute and stir for about 3 minutes.

Add tomato puree, diced tomatos, fire-roasted tomatoes and kidney beans. Stir and add tomato paste.

Add chili powder, cocoa chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and smoked paprika. Stir and let simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Simmer for 2-8 hours. Yield: 9 servings (about 1 1/2 cups each)

Nutrition Information (per serving): 383 calories; 9.6 g. fat; 62 mg. cholesterol; 1572 mg. sodium*; 35.8 g. carbohydrate; 11.3 g. fiber; 31.6 g. protein

Result: This was a good, traditional chili heavy on the tomatoey flavor. I loved the addition of wine, it was so fragrant and added a smoothness to the chili. I think it I would omit the tomato paste and just use a small can of tomato sauce just to bring out the chili flavor more so than the tomato flavor. The consistency was spot on — not too thick, and not too soupy. Mmmm! The nutrition status (other than the sodium*) are excellent — look at all that fiber!

*The sodium content in the chili is less than calculated above as the beans were drained and rinsed and the canned goods were low-sodium, if available.

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In celebration of Halloween today we carved pumpkins!

Question: Can you guess which one is mine? 😉

Trick-or-Treaters in T-40 minutes and then off to my hockey game!

Happy Halloween!