Spicy Beef Chili

Spicy Beef Chili

My mouth is watering as I gaze upon this colorful, almost festive dish about to be cooked in the crockpot. The snowy, slushy, freezing temperatures of yesterday's living in a Midwest Paradise just made this the perfect meal to have waiting at home after teaching classes and meeting clients. I'm not much of a 'measurements' cook (only really do I do that for baking), but here it is - the glorious recipe that will help you replicate this dish in your own homes.

Spicy Beef Chili

6oz of beef steak, cubed (I really recommend grass-fed- it's super tender and nutritious)
3, 15 oz cans of tomatoes (fire roasted and stewed)
1 medium red onion, diced
2 cups of spinach, washed and chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 jar of Drew's Fire-roasted Salsa
Olive oil to coat pans
Balsamic vinaigrette for deglazing the pan with beef
Salt & pepper to taste (I estimate using 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper)
Frank's Hot Sauce (about 2 tsp)
Cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp, I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently)
an ENTIRE bulb of garlic, minced *cue evil laughter*

Set up the crockpot so that all you have to do is make deposits of food into them. You'll need two pans - one for your meat and another for your veg. Use olive oil in each pan to coat it (about 1 tsp per pan). After cubing your steak, cook for about 4 minutes on medium heat. Turn your attention onto getting the onions and garlic into the other pan on low-medium heat and let the onions 'sweat' before adding carrots and celery. Stir with wooden spoon frequently.

Go back to the steak and flip each piece over with a fork, proceed to cook for about 4 more minutes but now with balsamic vinaigrette doused into the pan (I probably used 2-3 teaspoons) to deglaze it. Move the meat around to make sure it cooks evenly.

Pour the cans of tomatoes and salsa into the crockpot. Add the chopped spinach and then the contents of your veg pan followed by the contents of your beef pan.  Set to time it appropriately for your day; I chose the 8 hr medium heat option.

Voila! Serve with organic blue corn chips or organic cornbread (for the love of all things non-GMO, do it! :D)

My results: whoa Nellie, it packs a spicy KICK - I could have done without either the cayenne pepper or Frank's Hot Sauce. The meat held onto some of the balsamic flavor and was super-tender.

Who says you can't eat & blog at the same time? ;-)