The Crock-Pot is not synonymous with the warmer months, but chili is good any time of the year! And tonight I tried a recipe from one of my very first living-on-my-own cookbooks, the Better Homes and Gardens Crockery Cookbook (or, as my friend Stuart used to call it, the “Crockery Cookery”). I’ve had this cookbook for 15 years, but still I keep finding new recipes to try! They’re a wonderful thing, cookbooks.
At any rate, before leaving for work this morning I put all of the chili ingredients – your usual ground “beef,” chili powder, diced tomatoes, onions, beans, and peppers, plus some other ingredients, like V8, Rotel, and tomato paste – in the slow cooker, flipped it on, and headed out on my bike. The prep on this took all of five minutes, which is always a winner in my book!
Furthermore, I noticed the pre-chopped onions and peppers were on sale at the grocery store this week, so I allowed myself to buy them (usually I eschew conveniences like that if they’re going to affect the bottom line). What a luxury, to just dump a carton of pre-diced veggies into the pot! I’d better not get used to that.
By the time I got home, the house smelled great – nothing beats a home-cooked meal moonlighting as specialty potpourri. But would the chili hold up to the hype?
Yes! This was a more tomato-based chili than I typically make, but I found the change refreshing. The blend of tomato products with the hearty veggie “beef” and beans added a layer of complexity in every bite, and the Daiya cheese we put on top cooled off the top layer of the meal’s spicy heat. Paired with a nice white wine, it was a great dinner indeed! We’ll definitely make it again.
Hooray for new recipes in old cookbooks!
:)