Friday Nights and Chili

My sister Anne never cooked for her family on Friday nights. They always ordered pizza or went out or did something other than cooking, as if Friday was secular holy day, and cooking was forbidden. I admired that and adopted the practice for a while, harkening back in a clearly non-religous way to my early Catholic beginnings, like not eating meat. Fridays were special again. Though I loved that idea and adopted the practice for a while, I acquiesced to the impulse of offering something warm and hearty as a great way to kick off the weekend.

Friday nights, high school football, falling leaves and a nip in the air all scream “bring on the chili!” and here’s a great recipe from the delicious offerings of Food Network’s healthy goddess Ellie Krieger. You’ll find a link to her website at the bottom of this post.

CHILI

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced (1 cup)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (1 cup)
• 2 carrots, diced (1/2 cup)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef (90 percent lean)
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Directions

Heat the oil in large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano and salt and pepper. Cook, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and continue cooking, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Ellie Krieger’s recipe website and chili photo: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_33901_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html