Chunky Veggie Chili!

Chunky Veggie Chili!

This Delicious Dish, is one of my winter favorites! (okay I know some of my readers think I'm ridiculous for needing a winter dish as I live in Phoenix AZ, but believe me, I sneak it in all through the year! it's great for the cold). This meal takes some planning, but is pretty simple to make.

I have won 3 first places in chili cook offs with this! I think the first time I made this I was 16, it's just gotten better with age.

what you'll need

Dried Pinto Beans (you can cheat and buy pre-made, but I promise the quality WILL go down)

Salt to taste

1 Bushel of Cilantro

3 Bell Peppers (I like to get different types to give it color as Grandma Brown might point out)

1 Onion (I mix red and white, but yellow and green are welcomed into the equation as well)

2-3 Tomato's

2-3 Chili's ( I use Chili Serrano's for the flavor, but it tends to be a spicier Chili, feel free to use

any type or none at all. Remember, removing the seeds drastically changes the temperature)

2 Sausages (this is easily substituted out with some nice Italian Seasoning, or your own blend)

First your going to take your Dried Pinto Beans. I put these in a crock pot, but you can improvise with a large sturdy pot. you just can't use it while at work or gone for a few hours. be sure to wash your pinto beans before using them. put about 2 layers of washed pinto beans at the bottom of your pot. Then add about 3 times as much water (about half the pot). Let sit over night or until beans are softened and about double in size. Cook in the crock pot on high for about 6 hours or until beans smash with no resistance. You may even want to eat a few, just to be sure they are the softness you appreciate. In a crock pot (provided water is covering the beans) you won't burn them so if you set it on high and go to work (again, makes sure there is PLENTY of water, better too much then too little) you should be fine. For those who are using a regular pot, cook the beans for about 6 hours at a medium high temperature (about 350) This is when you salt the water to taste. Now when salting the beans make sure you taste the water and NOT the beans. The water will get salty FAR before the beans, and there you go, hours of work are now overly Salted.

GREAT NEWS! The hard part is NOW over!

now you can wait till the beans are done or you can pre-cut, it really doesn't matter. Chop up your Cilantro, Bell Pepper, Chili, Tomato and Onion. As you'll notice in the photo to the left, I generally keep the veggies pretty chunky! This is how I like it, but your fine to cut it smaller for more of a soup. If you'd like more of a soup, only add about half or even a third of the veggies.

Now you brown the Sausage. I usually get mine from behind the counter at Sprouts, but you can always get a name brand sausage. I like to use a spicy Italian or a Permission (or both). Again, you can easily substitute this if you are not a meat eater. Just add seasonings of choice. Italian seasoning should be perfect!

This is where you add everything to the Crock pot! As you can see, it may not all fit in right away. Some times you need to let it boil down a bit. This is a 1.5 quart Crock Pot, if you have larger you shouldn't run into this problem. once everything is in, stir it all up, as watter if needed, put the lid on, and let it cook for at least a half an hour.

The longer it boils together, the better it tastes! I've let it cook for 2-3 hours before. Again, with a crock pot it shouldn't burn (I may not suggest going over night, or even exceeding the 3 hours).
When your done you should get something looking like the top picture (sorry, due to technical difficulties I didn't get the final photo in the crock pot).

All you need now is some Corn Bread!