savory saturday: spicy vegetarian chili

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 jalepeno (I used two!)

1 red pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1 c tomato sauce

4 c water

1 15-oz can black beans (drained)

1 15-oz can pinto beans (drained)

1 15-oz can kidney beans (drained)

1 lb frozen sweet corn, thawed

pepper jack cheese

Directions:

Mince garlic, chop onion and peppers. I used two jalepenos (and extra garlic) because I like my chili *hot*!

Heat oil in large saucepan and sautee onions. Meanwhile, drain beans in a colander and pour a glass of wine for sipping (remember what I said about non-negotiable cooking steps...).

Add garlic, jalepeno, red pepper.

Add oregano and chili powder. Stir/cook ~3 min.

Add beans...

...tomato sauce...

(In the heat of the moment, I accidentally added 3 c of crushed tomatoes, so I just added less water--worked out fine!)

...and corn. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer (20 min).

Crush 1/3 of the beans to thicken the soup--I crushed them against the side of the pan with a fork. Cook another 10 min.

Before the chili started simmering (20 min ago), I pre-heated the oven to 425, placed a cake pan in the oven, and prepared a...

BASIC CORNBREAD

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c cornmeal

3/4 c flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 c whole milk

1 egg

4 T butter, melted

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add milk, egg and melted butter.

Grease pre-heated pan with butter and fill with batter.

Put cornbread in oven just after beans have been added to the chili, and cook 22-25 min, until bread begins to brown.

Butter cornbread, scoop large helping of chili into enormous bowl, top with shredded pepper jack cheese, and...

...Enjoy!