Dr. Grandpa rarely makes a request for dinner; but once in a while his taste buds call for an old familiar food – last night, the last minutes request was for chili with vegetables. I never securely tied down if his desire was for a comfort food because of the cold weather or it was just something that promised to tickle his taste buds. Either way, what my native western man and sometime Texan from University of Texas at Austin wanted was the flavor and some of the ingredients that he used to have BD (before diabetes).

Now I know that I don’t live in Texas (where at Terlingua the worlds’ greatest chili champion is crowned) and my chili is certainly not hot enough to take your tonsils out without surgical instruments, but it makes Dr. Grandpa happy all the same. So if some of you gringos like me enjoy some zip without the smoldering blaze of over-the-top chili peppers, the recipe below may fit into your needs for a warm winter meal.  If further, you want to sneak in as many veggies as possible with the carne, so much the better.

The recipe is an adaption of a chili recipe that gave him the flavors, with a substantial increase in vegetables. It could have been made with additional spices (cumin, cinnamon, all spice, Tabasco, and so on, added to the chili powder) and then cooked for a few hours. But the dinner was decided upon, minutes before I planned to cook it.  This chili was made with a defrosted steak, left from his birthday; but you could just as easily make it from ground turkey, beef or any diced up meat (or vegetarian, for that matter).

Timely Gringo Confetti (hints of Chili)
Ingredients:
12 ounces of ground meat or trimmed chopped meat
Salt and pepper to taste
1 – 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ to 2 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped green pepper
2 cups chopped mushrooms
30 ounces of diced tomatoes
8 ounces of tomato sauce
4 – 15 ounce cans of beans, rinsed and drained (I used Black, Great Northern, Kidney, and Pintos.)
2 tablespoons chili powder (or the seasonings of your choice)

Directions:
Defrost the meat, if you’re using frozen meat.  De-fat and chop the meat, if it is not ground or chopped already.  Brown the meat, with a little pepper and salt, if desired. In a pot, put the chopped onions, peppers and mushrooms with the extra virgin olive oil. Cook the vegetables until translucent and a little dry; add minced garlic. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add the browned meat. Add the rinsed and drained beans. Cook until the ingredients are hot. If you have time, simmer until the flavors have time to develop – if not, serve pronto. My experience is that the flavors will be even better at a later meal, after marinating in their own juices.

If using whole meat, trim the visible fat.

Chop the meat into bite-sized pieces.

Brown the meat with pepper and salt, if desired.

Cook the peppers, onions, and mushrooms.

Add the garlic.

Add recipe-ready diced tomatoes.

Add the tomato sauce.

Meat looks done.

Add the meat, or not, if you're making it vegetarian.

Add the washed, drained beans. You can, of course, cook the beans from dry.

Add the two tablespoons of chili powder, or spice to your taste.

Spicing it up.

Cook until hot, stiring frequently.

Serve your confetti and warm yourself and your family.