This is just my basic chili with some quinoa added. At the end, I like to add fresh or frozen vegetables when serving to add crispness. Usually, we sprinkle cheese on chili to serve it in our house, but last night this chili was so good as is with the quinoa and the squash, that I thought Why mess with a good and healthy thing?
Ground Beef Chili with Quinoa
1 cup dry kidney beans
water to soak and then cook beans
1 bay leaf
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 14.5 oz can of whole tomatoes, no salt added
1 4 oz can of diced mild chiles
1 beef bouillon cube
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1.25 oz packet McCormick Original Chili Seasoning Mix
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
Optional for serving:
chopped onions
grated Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
leftover vegetables
frozen corn, cooked
As usual, I forgot to soak the beans ahead of time, so I had to force them. I rinsed the beans and then covered them with an inch of water. I brought them to a boil for one minute, removed them from heat, and let them stand for an hour.
I rinsed the beans again to make them less gassy, and again covered them with about an inch of fresh water, and added a bay leaf . This time when I brought the beans to a boil, I reduced the heat and let the beans simmer for an hour and a half.
When the beans were done, I added just enough water to cover the beans and left them simmering. I browned my ground beef in a skillet, drained the fat, then sauteed the onions and celery until they were soft.
I added a can of whole tomatoes to the skillet and used my wooden spoon to break the tomatoes into thirds and fourths. I also threw in a can of chiles because I didn’t have any fresh peppers on hand. I seasoned with a beef bouillon cube, cayenne pepper, the chili flavorings packet, and then returned the meat to the pan.
When everything in the skillet was heated to the boiling point, I added the meat and vegetables mixture to the bean pot, put a lid on it and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
While the chili cam
e together, I brought 2 cups of water to a boil, put in the rinsed quinoa, reduced heat, covered and simmered for about 15 minutes. I didn’t add any seasonings because I planned to use the remaining quinoa in my yogurt for dessert.
Last step, I added some leftover steamed zucchini and summer squash to my serving of chili. They added just the right crunch to the meal. I will add frozen corn this afternoon when I warm up another bowl of ground beef chili with quinoa.
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