One pot dinner

Lots of pictures for you today, on how to make a pot of this yummy Vegetable Chili. Note I said vegetable, not vegetarian.


First start by chopping up a bunch of veggies. I went with cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, yellow pepper and corn. I didn't use onions, but there is a good reason for that. This is a good recipe for using bits and pieces of veggies from your fridge as you don't want huge amounts of any one veggie. I only had one left over cob of corn, which is why there is less corn than everything else, but whatever you have works. Though I've never tried mushrooms and am not sure it would work well, flavor wise.


Sauté 1 pound of lean ground beef in a big pot. Add in spices of your choice. I went with chili powder and cumin, a generous amount of cumin.


Let the spices bloom in the ground meat, to help bring out the flavors.


Add in your veggies - I stagger them, starting with the carrots and cauliflower, cooking them for a few minutes before adding the next vegetable. You want to give the veggies a chance to soften a bit, but not over cook, which is why I held the corn off until last.


While the veggies are cooking, open up the following things: one can of tomato paste, one small can of chopped tomatoes (I actually found one flavored with chili spices), one small can of beans in tomato paste, and a jar of salsa - this jar was one I had made and canned and had plenty of onions, which is why I didn't put any in the pot.

See? There was logic to my flavor building.

Add all those cans of goodies into the pot, along with the corn, and give it a good stir. It will be very thick, so add a cup or so of water.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten, I had also sliced and sautéd up some spicy chirizo sausages. Throw them into the pot, stir them in and bring everything up to a gentle boil. Turn down the heat, put on the lid and let things bubble, stirring every once in awhile. You can eat this as early as 20 minutes later, or let it simmer for a few hours.

Serve sprinkled with chopped green onions, sour cream, shredded cheese and a generous side of tortilla chips. Use your spoon to scoop up some of everything in the bowl onto the chips for eating. Yummy!

And like any good chili, it is even better the next day.