Black Bean Chili (BBC)

I have to tell you, this is one of the few times that I’ve had difficulty leaving a dish alone until it was done cooking. Yes, I sampled a bite of the chili, and then another, adjusted the seasoning and took another bite. I was hooked. This recipe is from DD Little’s Cowboy Food Cookbook and I can’t recommend it enough!

So, get yourself in cowboy mode and mood. Picture yourself standing by an open fire, cattle grazing in the background and get ready to cook dang good vittles for them boys!

2-3 lbs. boneless lean beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
2 large red onions, coarsely chopped
2 (7 oz) jars pimentos, drained
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, (don’t drain)
3 tsp. dry oregano leaves
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup diced green chilies, drained
1 chopped fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded
2 tsp. “No Salt” (salt substitute)
3 cans (15.5 oz.) black beans, drained

Over high heat, brown the meat in a deep pot or large fry pan.

Drain the liquid from the pot and add the red onions, stirring frequently.

The onions should just start getting soft.

The aroma of the onion and beef cooking smells incredible.
And, we haven’t even added any spices yet!

Add all of the other ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 1 hour.

Stir often and if the mixture becomes too thick, add a little water or beer. We didn’t need to add water or beer to ours so we just drank the beer with our bowl of chili. Waste not…want not we always say!

Bits & Pieces

This recipe allows you to add or subtract ingredients. For us, I cut down on the amount of jalapenos. It’s not that we don’t like them. In fact, we love them. However, we seem to have reached the age where our body reacts in ways that makes it embarrassing for us to admit we’re Texans and can’t eat a lot of jalapenos!

After the chili came to a boil, I transferred it to a crock pot and put it on low and let it cook for several hours.

This chili has an appeal that should satisfy even your most picky eater. It’s healthy and delicious. What else could you ask for?

This recipe gets the Texas Star rating of Excellence