Some Like it Hot

After a tough day emotionally for my family and I, (and a good hour of pushing a lawn mower later), I was hankering for something comfort food-ish. I had exactly 6 peppers, 4 tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, and onions, and decided to use them up to make some chili!

First, I sautéed some garlic and onions in a tablespoon of olive oil.

Not sure how to “break open” a clove of garlic without painstakingly peeling the papery covering off with your fingernails (eww)? Check out this Emmy-worthy video!

Jessica’s Comfort Food Chili

4 cloves garlic

1 large onion, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

6 small sweet peppers or 3 large peppers, chopped

6-8 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 can of black beans

1 can of butter beans

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

Salt and Pepper

Sauté garlic, onions, and peppers until soft, or about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer until tomatoes have softened. Turn down the heat, add beans, jalapeno pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin, and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes to thicken.

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I also was in the mood for cornbread. I really wanted a sweet cornbread, so here’s what I came up with, adapted from “Golden Sweet Cornbread”.

Jessica’s Sweet Cornbread

(makes 24 mini muffins (75 calories/muffin) or 12 regular muffins (150 calories/muffin))

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup nonfat milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine flour, corn meal, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk, and oil until just moistened. Pour batter into muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes, or until tops have “popped” and sides are beginning to brown.

The final meal wouldn’t have been complete without some Cabot Pepper Jack cheese sprinkled on top!

Question of the Day: How do you like your chili? Hot? Mild? Vegetarian? Texas-style? With a cornbread side or on top of rice? Chili-mac?