Meatless Chili

Last week when I was really on a healthy-eating kick (I still am, but I'm okay with eating meat this week, lol), I came up with this meatless chili recipe, again made from the ingredients I have on hand. I had leftovers for lunch today, and it still tastes good. And, just so you know, this recipe is made possible because Jim (Dad) bottles our dry beans for me so they are convenient to use, so that I will use them.

Easy Meatless Chili

1 pint bottled (or canned, I suppose) pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 pint bottled (or canned, I suppose) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 pint bottled homemade salsa (made from the USU's Extension Service approved recipe)

2 pints canned whole tomatoes (or a quart bottled if you like)

1 tablespoon chili powder

That's it. Combine it all in a pan and heat through, letting it simmer on low for a bit. Between the chili powder and the salsa, it had just the right heat level for me, and I didn't need to add any salt, I suppose because of the canned and bottled stuff.

Also, when we bottle beans, no matter how hard we try to guestimate the right amount of beans to put in the bottle, they always swell more than we think and end up being crammed in there. So if you use store-bought canned beans, you may need an extra can of beans, in which case you might consider another kind of beans, such as Navy or Kidney or something.

Chili-Cheese Potato Casserole

Tonight I made up a new dinner that was super easy to do, and I really liked it. I decided to call it:

Chili-Cheese Potato Casserole

8 small-to-medium potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste
1 can chili beans
1 cup grated (mozzarella) cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut into 1" (or so) cubes. Place in a casserole dish or 9"x13" pan and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and stir around to distribute the oil. Do not cover the dish. Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until potatoes are mostly tender when poked with a fork. Add the chili beans and stir to mix. Return to oven and bake another 10 minutes or so. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake 5 more minutes.

We served it with some sides of carrot sticks, apple sauce, and a slice of bread.