Delicious Con Chili

I am a supermarket freak. I look forward to my weekly visits to the supermarket and occasionally I would visit bigger supermarkets that sell a whole range of imported stuff. Somehow, I would always end up going to the vegetables and salads aisle first, every time. I simply enjoy being among different kinds of tomatoes, salad and herbs. Weird much? It’s not something that I would do on a weekly basis though. Certain imported are really painful on the wallet. Yup, it’s totally about the cha-Ching, cha-Ching here.

Whenever I discover something that is not easily obtainable, I HAVE to buy it. At times, I possess no idea as to what I am going to be cooking with those; but my brain says “Maya, you know you would be needing that one fine day”.

Yup, my mind is sick at times. Thanks to the “you know you would need it one fine day theory”, my pantry is always filled to the brim. There has been a couple of occasions where the canned stuffs are literally dead. (Read: beyond their expiry date)

Girls dream of a walk-in wardrobe, while I dream of a walk in pantry. I would keep all the spices in mason jars, label them and arrange them in rows of five. I would also place different types of pastas in see through glass bottles. Oh, I would have bottles of home made vanilla extract and jars of vanilla sugar too! Awww… that is the dream man.

Starting a food bank happens to belong to another dream of mine. I desire to fight hunger by starting a food bank of my own. Every time I throw a can of food away, I feel really bad and would think as to how these cans of food might have benefited other families (obviously before their expiry dates).

I googled and found out that we do have a food bank here in Singapore, however it is not conveniently situated at all because you have to travel quite a bit to drop the food-stuffs.

If I were to set up my own food bank, I would have it strategically located in all the housing estates so that people can conveniently drop the food items. WHO would go all the way, just to drop off a can of baked beans?? That is the reason why we should make things convenient. I do not want the food bank idea to be a flash in the pan, so this shall remain a dream for now till the timing is right.

Talking about beans, I had a few cans of beans in the pantry which included two cans of Waitrose mixed beans, which cost me like $4++ per can. That is expensive for a can of beans and I didn’t want to picture it making its way to the scrap.

Riya (my bcf, aka best cousin forever) was coming over and since we were talking about chili a week ago, I resolved to cook chili for her. (Read: cook for “Us”). I used a recipe from Jamie’O and the recipe was surprisingly easy, delicious and best of all, healthier than most recipes.

For those of you who are not familiar with Con Chili, it is basically a spicy beef stew with beans, also known as chili con carne. It is simple to cook and it uses simple ingredients like ground beef, tomatoes, spices and kidney beans (or a mix of beans). Best of all, it’s a ONE pot dish! Less cleaning up during cooking is always welcoming. Hail to one pot dishes!

1. Cut the vegetables into small pieces.
2. Fry the aromatics.
3. Sprinkle the spices.
4. Add the ground meat and brown it.
5. Pour in canned tomatoes.
6. Mix in the beans.
7. Season and cook till thick.

Spoon and savor.

SEVEN steps, y’all. Easy peasy.

This Delicious Con Chili can be served over rice, eaten on its own or with wedges of tortillas. You can also topped with a dollop of guacamole and sour cream. Yummy!

This is cowboy food right here people. Yeeee’ha! *Spins a lasso in the air*

Delicious Con Chili

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Author: Maya Kitchenette

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 sticks celery
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 heaped teaspoon smoked chilli powder
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
• 250 g canned chickpeas
• 2 medium onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 sticks celery
• 1 green pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 heaped teaspoon smoked chilli powder
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
• 250 g canned chickpeas
• 250g canned red kidney beans
• 2 x 400 g canned chopped tomatoes
• 500 g minced beef
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 small bunch fresh coriander
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil

Instructions

1. Peel and chop the onions, garlic, peppers and celery.
2. In a large pan, place 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and place all of the chopped vegetables on medium heat and saute for 5 minutes.
3. Add the chilli powder, paprika and cumin. Saute for another 5 minutes. Keep stirring.
4. Add in ground beef and fry till brown.
5. Mix in the 2 cans of canned tomatoes and 1 cup of water. Season with salt and black pepper and cook for 20 minutes.
6. Alternatively, you can cook this in the slow cooker for 2-3 hours.
7. Once done, top with chopped coriander.
8. Place some chili into bowls and top with a spoonful of sour cream and guacamole.

Notes

If smoked paprika is not available, just use 1.5 teaspoon of chili powder instead.

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