Black Bean Chili

Today I cleaned the house. Yesterday I cleaned/organized my closet, and one cupboard in the kitchen. This recipe just felt right to me today, because we all love it, and it is comfort food for us after a few days of eating whatever is on hand. I've made some variations of it since I first started making it, but this is a good base for you to start with and then alter for your family's taste. Also, it is VERY inexpensive, and easy. When I had the genius idea to blog this recipe, I forgot that Frank is in Alaska for the week, and had taken the good camera-which I'm glad for, because I want pictures of his trip. But, these are all taken with our old camera, which has most definitely seen better days. I've become a camera snob.

I hesitate to call this chili, because I am of the mind that true chili is all meat, with no beans. However, the texture of this is very bean chili-like. It's great for serving with cornbread, with tortilla chips or with tortillas for scooping, or just eating with a spoon. My eldest daughter, whose primary goal in life currently is to be a marine biologist who is also a judge on Iron Chef America claimed after her last intricate detailed taste testing of this, "Mom, this dish tastes like heaven!"

So, here we go. Cook your black beans. You could use a few cans of black beans and chicken/ham/vegetable stock if you wanted to also. This way is just a lot cheaper.
A few pieces of software... :-) See those tomatoes? Ever have tomatoes go bad? Or, have a bunch of tomatoes from your garden that don't get used? Whenever I get tomatoes that are headed that way, whether it's three, or a bushel that I ran out of time to can, I peel them, spray a cookie sheet with Pam, and then freeze them on the cookie sheet. When they're frozen, pop them off into freezer bags, and all winter long you have tomatoes ready to go into the pot for soups and stews and whatever else you want to use them for.

Ham. Leftover Christmas Ham, to be precise. With just a tiny bit of the fat left on. You could really use any meat you wanted for this. I happen to be particularly thrilled with ham though, it adds such a delightful flavor.

After the beans are thoroughly cooked (with nothing but garlic, onions if you want them-don't salt your beans before they're fully cooked, it makes them tough.) then add your tomatoes, frozen corn, kernels, ham, and let all those guys take a quick bath together just to get warmed through.

At this point it's time to add your spices. Just do whatever Mexican Spices your family likes. I do Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper, Chili Powder, Cumin, and Mexican Oregano. Sometimes I make this with jalapenos or just add a bit of cayenne. I'm currently being stingy with my jalapenos, hence there are no jalapenos in today's rendition of this recipe.

Zest your lime into the pot...

Squeeze your lime juice into the pot. Limes are expensive... I paid 49 cents for this particular fellow, so I use every last piece of him. Instead of using the juice of the whole lime I did the juice of half the lime, plus the zest. That way it lasts me two meals instead of one. They're such a flavor brightener though, I cannot NOT have them.

If you're anything like me, you've already got your bag of chips out and are eating straight out of the pot.

Garnish: Sour Cream, Cheddar Cheese, Cilantro, Avocado, Bell or jalapeno Pepper, Tomatoes, Queso Asadero, you name it. It must be garnished. You eat with your eyes first.

Take yourself out to the balmy 40 degree and sunshiney porch to eat it in the winter sunshine. Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili

1/2 pound black beans

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 cup chopped or diced tomato

6 cloves garlic

1 cup finely chopped ham (or meat of choice)

Cilantro

Mexican Oregano

Chili Powder

Cumin

Salt&Pepper

juice and zest of a half Lime

Garnish with:

Cheese of choice

Sour Cream

Cilantro

Avocado

(Options: Add Jalapenos, Onions, Bell Peppers, Cayenne Pepper)

Soak, then cook black beans with chopped garlic. When the beans are cooked, add all other ingredients, mix together to warm through, then garnish and serve. Serve with Tortilla Chips, Tortillas, Cornbread, or a spoon.

Enjoy!