Cheater’s Chili

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Chili con Carne Express

Seed bread

Romaine-avocado salad with Caesar dressing

Chocolate chip cookies or brownies

One-pot dishes always make life easier in the kitchen. Take this quick version of chili, for instance. Instead of simmering the meat and beans for hours, convenience foods and intense seasonings are used to produce a full-bodied taste. However, if time allows, coarsely chop up a whole piece of meat by hand rather than using ground meat. This provides a better texture in the chili.

Instead of ordinary chili powder, which contains flavorings such as cumin and oregano as well as ground peppers, we used pasilla chile powder. The Mexican foods section of your supermarket should carry different chiles such as pasilla and ancho in powdered form. Containing nothing but ground dried red peppers, pasilla powder ranges from mild to hot. Experiment to find how much your palate can take.

The chili, designed to go with a fine Pilsner and crusty bread, goes well with a crisp salad. Chocolate chip cookies would make a sweet ending to this meal.

Staples

1 clove garlic

1 1/4 onions

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon oregano leaves

Salt, pepper

Shopping

1 pound coarse-ground or chopped lean beef chuck

1 package pasilla chile powder

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 (14-ounce) can clear beef broth

1 (15-ounce) can jalapeno pinto beans

2 ounces farmer’s cheese

Optional Side-Dish Shopping

Seed-topped French bread

Romaine lettuce

Avocado

Chocolate chip cookies or brownies

CHILI CON CARNE EXPRESS

1 1/4 large onions

1 clove garlic

1 pound coarse-ground or chopped lean beef chuck

3 tablespoons pasilla chile powder or to taste

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

Salt, pepper

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 (14-ounce) can clear beef broth

1 (15-ounce) can jalapeno pinto beans

3 to 4 ounces farmer’s cheese

Chop 1 onion. Chop remaining 1/4 onion and reserve for topping. Mince garlic.

Heat heavy saucepan. Add and saute beef with onion and garlic until meat is browned and onion is tender. Stir in chile powder, cumin and oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add tomatoes with liquid, breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Stir in tomato paste and beef broth. Bring to boil. Lower heat and add pinto beans. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally. Serve in bowls, garnished with crumbled farmer’s cheese and reserved chopped onion. Makes 4 servings.