This chili has a sweet and smoky flavor with a spicy kick. I added meat to give this dish some substance and to make it last for more than one meal. You can make it either with or without the meat. To compliment this chili, I’m serving it with Krusteaz’s Honey Cornbread.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
2 15oz. cans black beans, drained
1 15oz. can corn, drained
1 15oz. can tomato sauce
1 14.5oz. can S&W Petite Cut Tomatoes with Sweet Onions and Roasted Garlic
1 7oz. can LaVictoria diced green chiles
1 pkg. The Spice Hunter Chili Mix
1 clove garlic

Directions

1. Dump all of the ingredients into a dutch oven, except meat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer.
2. Brown meat until it’s fully cooked. You can spice it up a bit with minced onion and southwestern seasoning or cook it plain. Drain the fat. Add to the soup.
3. Simmer chili for at least thirty minutes before serving.
4. Garnish with cheese and sour cream.

Ingredients

1 pound navy beans, soaked
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
8 ounces chopped green chiles
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves
14 ounces chicken broth
1 cup water

Directions

1. Put beans in medium pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and allow to simmer 20 minutes. Discard water. Variation: To save time, you can subsitute the navy beans by buying canned white beans. Make sure to drain them.

2. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.

3. Put all ingredients in your slow cooker and mix thoroughly.

4. Cook on low 10-12 hours or high 5-6 hours.

Serves 6-8

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Cooking with Texas Highways samples all the major ethnic cuisines of the state with recipes from home cooks, well-known chefs, and popular restaurants. It offers a varied and intriguing selection of snacks and beverages, breads, soups and salads, main dishes, vegetables and sides, sauces and spreads, desserts, and more.

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As a Mexican food lover, I was pleased to find a recipe for tamales as well as a variety of enchilada recipes. I’ll be testing those recipes out, plus some Vietnamese and Thai dishes since I’ve never attempted to cook these cuisines. Look for my results in future posts.

This is one recipe where I’ve always “winged” it. That is, I don’t follow any particular measurements, which means that my chili comes out tasting different every time. The recipe below is a rough estimate.

Ingredients

1 large can Ranch Style Beans
1 large can Staggs Laredo Style Chili
1 15 oz. can kidney beans
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 15 oz. can pinquito beans (or pinto)
1 lb. ground beef or stew meat
1 1/2 tsp. Tabasco with Chipotle
2 dashes habanero pepper sauce
2 cloves of garlic
1 whole yellow or white onion, medium-sized
1/2 jar of Essensia Chipotle salsa (or your favorite salsa)
2 arbol chili pods (packaged and dry)
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
Mexican cheese
Sour cream

Directions

You can cook this chili in a crock pot or large pot on the stove. The former method allows the flavors to blend over a period of hours, while the latter will save you time if you’re in a hurry.

1. Cook the ground meat over medium high heat until thoroughly brown. Use taco or southwestern seasoning to spice it up, if you’d like. Drain the fat before you add it to the pot.

If you’re using stew meat, brown it on all sides. With this particular meat, I don’t cook it all the way through, but allow the juices to finish the job. That way, the meat comes out very tender.

2. While the meat is cooking, open and drain the juice from the kidney, black, and pinquito beans. Once drained, add the beans to the pot. Dump in the Ranch Style and Staggs chili as is.

3. Chop up the onion as finely or coarsely as you want. Add that to the pot. Check the meat to make sure it’s cooking evenly.

4. Add the garlic, chili pods, salsa, and spices in with the beans. Stir. Add the meat, if it’s cooked by this point.

Cooking Time

Stovetop method: Bring the chili to a bare boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes.
Crock pot method: Cook on high for an hour. Then turn the setting to low and cook for another 4-5 hours. If you’re setting this up before you leave for work, turn the setting to low. It will be ready to serve when you return home.

Servings: 8-10

Garnish with cheese and sour cream