Beans, beans the magical fruit!

Admit it, you clicked on this post because you thought I was going to talk about tooting! :) haha! Just kidding. Well, good news, I am not. Get your minds out of the gutter :)

I am a big fan of chili…it is just so comforting. I usually make your traditional chili with beans, tomato sauce and ground beef. I was intrigued when I found this recipe for chicken and corn chili and thought I would give it a shot http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chicken-corn-chili-recipe/index.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews. Whoa that is a long web address!

Well, let me just say…following recipes is not one of my strong suits. I am always looking at a recipe and adapting in some way, shape, or form. I also like to compare multiple recipes and make some rendition of them all. It is probably the reason I don’t bake too often…I have heard you have to be much more precise and I really just don’t like to be limited! :)

Using the recipe above, I adapted to make this:

Look at my fancy picture taking :) And yes, looks pretty darn close to the original.

I served this with some chips for dunking - mmm, it was good!

Here is how I made mine:

• 1 rotisserie chicken - remove skin and shred
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 green bell pepper diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper diced
• 1-2 teaspoons of cumin (I used more like 2 teaspoons and it tasted great)
• 2 cans green chilies (I used the hot ones)
• 1 can of corn (do not drain the juice)
• ½ to ¾ can of pinto beans drained and rinsed
• ½ to ¾ can of white beans drained and rinsed
• ½ to ¾ can of black beans drained and rinsed
• ½ go ¾ can of kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 2 cans of chicken stock - 3 cups-ish
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive Oil
• Cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and lime for topping
• And of course, tortilla chips for dunkin’

Add a teaspoon of olive oil to a large pot. Over medium high heat, sauté your onion, green bell pepper, and jalapeno until starting to get soft (maybe 3 minutes). Throw in your chicken, cumin, green chilies, corn, and beans (I probably used more like ¾ of a can of each, except the pinto beans because John doesn’t love them). Stir everything around. Add in your chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for an hour or more. Serve with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, a fresh squeeze of lime, and tortilla chips.

I think the thing I didn’t like about the original recipe was the lack of color. It was just so blah looking. I think adding in the different kinds of beans and the additional green with the green bell pepper helped to liven it up. I think adding in a red bell pepper, would be yummy too.

I am definitely going to add this into my list of regular meals. It was really good and easy to make too.  It probably would have been a great meal to have tonight too, since it just started dumping snow :/ Oh well, I have leftovers for this weekend!