Despite the warm (record-breaking) weather, we were in the mood for chili last weekend. So I busted out the slow cooker which has been gathering dust for months.
Inspiration came from the spicy black bean chili recipe in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker (a great cookbook, by the way).
But my recipe was more like:
1 Tbs. olive oil
2/3 red onion, chopped
2 small mexi red bell peppers (from the garden), seeded & chopped
1 corn on the cob, corn cut off
3 jalapenos (from the garden), seeded & chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 Tbs. chili powder
2 lbs. roma & cherry tomatoes (from the garden), chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
1 piece of supreme dark chocolate (90% cocoa)
2 Tbs. barbeque sauce
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful of crunchy tortilla strips
First, I sauteed the onion, garlic, and bell peppers in olive oil for 5 minutes, covered.
I added the chili powder, stirred to coat the vegetables with it, and cooked for just another 30 seconds. I then put it in the slow cooker, then used the same pan to heat most of the tomatoes for about 10 minutes, covered, until they cooked down.
Everything then went in the slow cooker, including handful of uncooked chopped tomatoes, the corn, the jalapenos, the BBQ sauce, the vegetable broth, salt & pepper, and the piece of dark chocolate.
I didn’t have a full 6-8 hours, so I put it on high for about 4 hours. And it turned out lovely.
Topped it with the tortilla strips.
Librarian Greens 