Chili, Chili!

This week I finally took a gander at my Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals cookbook. I'm not a huge fan of her meals for several reasons: ie. she uses too much oil for my taste, too many ingredients (most of which I do not like), and the meals are always a lot of WW points. But, the idea of a meal taking only 30 minutes to prepare intrigued me.

source

I decided to try out her Cajun Chili. I usually keep my distance from chili seeing as I despise beans...but this one didn't call for any...score! It was delicious and my husband even liked it for leftovers...which rarely happens. It also wasn't too terribly spicy so it isn't overwhelming for a summertime meal. The whole recipe serves 6 and I made it all. We ate it for 2 nights for dinner and I had just a small amount left over for snacking the next day. We added freshly shredded cheddar cheese and tortilla chips on top and it was fantastic!



And the best part about the recipe?? It called for 1/2 a bottle of beer. What did I do with the other 1/2 you ask??


Enough said.

Cajun Chili

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground pork
1 tbsp. Mexican chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
4 shakes cayenne pepper sauce
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, chopped (I omitted this just because I didn't have it)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 bottle of beer
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
A handful of chopped fresh cilantro (omitted...Matt thinks it tastes like soap...)
Kosher salt, to taste

Heat a pot over high heat.

Dump ground pork into the pot. Season with chili powder, cumin, and cayenne sauce, brown for 5 minutes. And the onions, garlic, celery, and bell peppers and cook, shaking pan now and then, for another 3-4 minutes.

Add beer and stir up the bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in the tomatoes and cilantro. Bring to a boil and season with salt.

We topped with cheese and chips! Enjoy!

Happy Friday!