Garden Chili with Beef and Beans

Canning season is officially over when you run out of jars. Canning season ended October 6 in The Kitchen. I tossed tomatoes into my last 4 pints. That’s it. No more jars until I eat a meal or two. No matter that I still have 40 ish + pounds of tomatoes ripening on the vines. Canning season has officially ended. It is now Croctober. It is now the season to enjoy the fruits of summer gardening and foraging. It is the season to laugh at the days to come; to enjoy the soup simmering in the pot while the baking bread fills The Kitchen with its homey aroma.

Speaking of which, my almost homegrown chili is the first meal to empty a jar and dig into the garden stores. My simple chili began with a garden onion, pepper, and garlic. To that I added garden shelled beans and home canned tomato sauce.  Sadly, I did not raise my own beef. I live on an ‘urbanstead.’ My backyard is teeny tiny. It grows a lot of food for its size, but it won’t accommodate raising beef. sigh

Here is a simple crockpot chili recipe. This smaller recipe cooks up nicely in a 3 quart crockpot. Double it if you need more. I am just me now. I don’t need more.

Garden Chili with Beef and Beans

2 cups cooked beans

1 pound ground beef

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons flour

1½ teaspoon chili powder (or to taste)

1 teaspoon cumin

A heaping spoon of chopped garlic

1 medium onion, diced

1 pepper, diced (choose variety according to your preference for heat)

2 cups seasoned tomato sauce

Brown the ground beef in a crockpot turned to high. When it is browned scoop out the meat leaving the juices and fat. Add the diced onion and let cook until softened. Add the diced pepper and cook an additional 5 minutes. Return the beef to the pot and scoop in a heaping spoonful of minced garlic. Sprinkle the flour, chili powder, and cumin over the beef and veggies and mix well. Let the mixture simmer 5 minutes. Add the cooked beans, mix gently. Finally stir in the tomato sauce.

Cover the crockpot and let it come up to a low simmer on high heat setting. I prefer to turn my crockpot to low and let it simmer all day. When I return from work I bake a pan of cornbread and enjoy a simple dinner and plenty of freezer meals in the weeks to come.  

To make my morning simple, I prepare the chili the night before and let the crock rest int eh refrigerator overnight. Then all I need to do in the morning is turn the crock pot on. All of the ingredients in this simple chili can be purchased in cans from your local grocery store.