sweet and smokey chili

The rain came yesterday to L.A. which made me start thinking about soups and stews.  Today, I wanted to make a dish without buying any groceries -- enter sweet and smokey chili. 

This recipe turned out great.  I love making chili because you really can't mess it up, and because if made correctly it can actually be pretty good for you.  And by correctly I mean make sure you strain the fat off your meat, use low sodium broth, and rinse your canned beans to remove sodium (canned veggies usually have a lot of extra sodium that adds very little extra flavor). 

To get the sweet - I didn't want to add sugar and so I used a red onion and caramelized it.

To get the smokey - I used two chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (seeds and all) and smoked cheddar cheese.

So here is the recipe . . .

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 lb of ground beef (or if I could have gotten groceries, pulled pork would have been great in this chili)
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 cups low sodium organic chicken broth
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 16 oz. can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
• smoked cheddar
• fresh tomato (optional)
• avocado (optional)
• cilantro (optional)

Directions:

• Slice the onion into thin pieces reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish and throw the rest into a large stew pot with olive oil and minced garlic.  Cook until the onions are caramelized. 
• Remove the onions from the pan, and add the ground beef and cook over medium high heat.  When the beef is done pour it into a strainer to remove the fat and then return the onions and beef to the pan. 
• Season the onions, beef, and garlic with chili powder, cumin, pinch of salt and ground pepper and return to medium heat for about a minute. 
• Add the beans (rinsed), diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, pinto beans, and two sliced chipotle chilies. Simmer for 30 minutes (and add salt to taste).

Serve with grated smoked cheddar, fresh slices of avocado, sliced red onion, fresh tomatoes, and/or cilantro.  Unfortunately, all I had was the smoked cheddar - but it was still the best chili I have ever had.