Ground Beef Chili

I’ve been sick for about a week now. Last Friday I did start feeling better though. Or so I thought. When I woke up I actually said out loud that I was ‘on the road to recovery.’  I could not have been more wrong – about mid day I wanted to crawl under my work desk and cry. To deal with the pain and nuisance of being sick I decided to make chili this weekend, instead of the usual chicken noodle soup cold remedy. I hadn’t made chili in the longest time and it’s way more hearty than noodle soup. It came out better than expected and my friend and D both enjoyed a bowl. Yesterday D even said that he was craving a bowl, that or orange juice. I really can’t compete with his love for orange juice but the fact that he grouped both cravings together must be a compliment.

Ground Beef Chili

Serves 5

Start to Finish: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground beef  (I used 80/20)

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup diced red pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 15 oz cans diced tomatoes

1 20 oz can kidney beans

1-2 tablespoons chili powder (depending on how spicy you want it – D doesn’t like spicy so I added 1 tbsp)

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to pan and over medium heat cook ground beef with onions until browned.

2. Add garlic and chopped pepper, cook for a few minutes.

3. Add cans of diced tomatoes, beans and all spices.

4. Turn heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes, uncovered.

5. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes.

6. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped scallions and sliced avocado.

**To make tortilla ‘bowl’ – preheat oven to 400 degrees F, grease both sides of tortilla and place on top of upside down bowl (make sure it’s oven safe!), slightly folding sides of tortilla around it. Place bowl with tortilla on baking pan and bake for 10 minutes.