Three Bean and Beef Chili (Light)

Redsie's Note:

From Ellie Krieger.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion , diced (1 cup)
• 1 red bell pepper , diced (1 cup)
• 2 carrots , diced (1/2 cup)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo , seeded and minced
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce , from the can of chipotles
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (15 ½ ounce) can black beans , drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ½ ounce) can kidney beans , drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ½ ounce) can pinto beans , drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
3. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano and salt and pepper.
5. Cook, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and continue cooking, partially covered, 20 minutes longer.
6. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Reviews

[TXOLDHAM]

We really enjoyed this chili. Having a DH who is pre-diabtes, this fit right in with his calorie and carb allowance. I think next time I will add an extra chipolte pepper as we like spicy or maybe not scrape all the seeds out. We will be making this again. Thanks for posting.

[Galley Wench]

DH just loved this . . . not to spicy, just right. I do have to confess however that I made a few changes. I added diced poblano pepper and about one teaspoon of ancho chili powder; left out the carrots. Also substituted dark beer for the water. To thicken the chili, I pureed a half can of the kidney beans before adding. Next time think a little diced cilantro would be a nice addition. Thanks Redsie for sharing a great recipe!

[~Nimz~]

We really liked this, but felt it didn't qualify to be called Chili. I made exactly as directed up to the point of adding the beans, and when I tasted it, it just did not give me that chili flavor I wanted. To this point is what this review is based on. Saying that, for our taste preferences, I added a lot more spices including more oregano, some basil, a bay leaf, garlic powder and a lot of chili powder. Loved the black beans used in the recipe. I don't know if the spices I added did anything to make this a non-light version, but it sure did please my DH. Liked the smokey flavor the chipotle chile gave this as well as the adobo sauce. Didn't find that the carrots did much for the overall dish, except to add additional veggies to my diet. Good job Redsie.Thanks for sharing.