Licensed to Chili

Who doesn't love a good chili? I've been trying to reduce my carb intake, and my usual standby vegetarian recipe with all of its delicious beans just doesn't fit into my plan. Luckily, the first recipe I found when I googled "low carb chili" was a winner. So much so, I've made it twice in two weeks. It's hearty, delicious, easy to make, and you probably have most of these items in your kitchen already. Can't beat that!

Low Carb Chili
Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

• Water
• 2 lbs ground meat
• 1 6-oz can tomato paste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 8 oz fresh baby bella mushrooms, chopped 
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (add more if you like it hot!)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 3 bay leaves

Directions:

1. Chop up the mushrooms, onion, pepper, and garlic. 



Lower right: Two cubes of frozen minced garlic
Idea credit: Kalyn's Kitchen

2. Brown meat in a large pot. Drain some or all of the fat, depending on your preference. I used ground turkey the first time, and ground chicken the next.

   

   Neither meat gave off much fat, so I just left it in. Mmm, fat.

3. Stir in everything else EXCEPT the tomato paste and water. I like to think the spices soaked into the meat before I added the liquids. Is it true? I don't know. Don't crush my dreams.

4. Add tomato paste, then water. The original recipe calls for a quart of water, but I did ok with 3 to 3.5 cups + the meat fat, to where it almost covered everything in the pot.  The more liquid you add, the more you'll have to cook off anyway.

5. Bring everything to a boil, then simmer uncovered until you've reached the desired chili consistency. Took me a few hours. It was pure torture because it smelled so good.

When I first tasted it, it reminded me of sloppy joes, which reminded me of this:

Have you ever cooked anything that unexpectedly reminded you of your youth? I promise that this chili is much better than anything you ever ate in high school. Even that awful frozen pizza that you won't admit you loved.