Chili By Any Other Name....

.... would still taste awesome. I love chili. Who doesn't?! There are so many different ways to make it. It's really hard to go wrong when you mix meat and beans and spices together. Yum yum. So I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite ways to make chili: Spicy Pepper Style

Like all of my recipes, ingredients and measurements are approximate and slightly vague. Sorry about that.... it's the way I cook. But a little of this, a little more of that, leave something out... usually that's not going to make or break a recipe. So feel free to mix things up!

1 package of HOT Italian sausage (I like Johnsonville)
1 can of black beans (undrained)
1 onion
1 red pepper
2 green peppers
1 package of chili seasoning (any brand will do)
1 large can of Petite Diced tomatoes (about 28 oz)
Chicken stock/broth (aprox 32ish oz)
Cheese and sour cream to top
Serves about 4-5 adults

De-case the sausage. Just poke your thumb or finger into it and peel off the casing. Throw that away and toss the sausage in a stock pot. Do that for the whole package of sausage (usually 5 links) Cook that up while chop-chopping with a spatula to get the sausage down to bite-size.

Once the sausage seems mostly cooked, dump the diced tomatoes, juice and all, into the stockpot. Cut up those peppers and the onion to bite sized chunks and dump that in too. Add chicken stock, spice packet, and can of beans (don't drain them first.)

Bring that to a boil then turn down the heat and just simmer it until the peppers are nice and soft (20 minutes or so). Dish it up and top it off with some Mexican cheese blend and light sour cream.

This is a pretty spicy chili, so that bit of sour cream on the top helps cut out the bite. Now, you can always play around with this recipe and add more or less beans, more or less peppers, a different kind of bean, the only thing I definitely wouldn't change it the Hot Italian sausage. That's really the heart of this chili.

Now, this chili does run on the thin side. If you like it thicker you can stir in a can of fat free refried beans. You can also thicken it with corn starch, if you'd like. It's great served with corn bread ::lick lips::

Give it a try and let me know what you think!