Mexican Chocolate Veg Chili

“Oh, man, best thing ever!”  - Milo

Since most of our meals are vegetarian, it’s no surprise that we have chili pretty often. Tom makes an especially good chili, never the same taste twice. (As he explains, it all depends on what we have in the house. Pantry chili, I guess you could call it.) Last night’s was a little picante and a bit sweet, and the kids went crazy for it. Here’s the closest he can come to capturing it in recipe form.

Ingredient note 1: You’ll find Sazón Goya on the list, which turns out to be largely MSG, oops. I’m fascinated by the concept of MSG – a chemical that makes any food taste better! How cool is that? – but that’s a topic for another post. In any case, feel free to skip it. We've been having fun with it.

Ingredient note 2:  This was pretty sweet. It skimmed the borderline for me and came in on the yummy side, but some diners may find it too much in their chili. I might cut the hot chocolate tablet amount by half next time.

Mexican Chocolate Veg Chili

Chop up all the half-used onions in the refrigerator (about half a large yellow onion and half a purple onion)

Oil for cooking

1 – 7 oz can mild green chiles

1 T paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 packet Sazon con cilantro y tomate [see note above]

1 15-oz can kidney beans

1 28-oz can pinto beans

1 28-oz can diced tomato

1/ 2 circle of Mi Abuelita Mexican style hot chocolate [see note above]

In about a tablespoon of oil, saute onions and green chiles until onions are starting to soften. 

Make a pool in the middle. Add a little more oil. Into the oil, put 1 T paprika, 1 t garlic powder, 1 t  black pepper,  1 t  cumin,  t 1cinnamon, and one packet Sazon con cilantro y tomate.  Cook in oil, Indian style

Add 1 15oz can kidney beans, with liquid, followed by a 28 oz can of pinto beans, without liquid. Add 28-oz can of diced tomato. Cook on med for 40 minutes. 

Note from Jen: I always rinse all canned beans! Tom insists on using the liquid. The experts of teh google search tell us that to avoid the bean's more unpleasant side effects, drain and rinse.

Then add a half circle of Mi Abuelita Mexican style hot chocolate and allow to soften before stirring into the chili. Cook on low for a while stirring occasionally.

We served over macaroni noodles. Also good alone, with rice, or on tortillas. Optionally, top with cheese, or hot sauce, or sour cream, or all three.

Serves 4 generously, with leftovers (or 6 without leftovers)