Award-winning Two-Sisters Chili
Two-Sisters Chili (steamin’ hot)
I named this recipe Award-winning Two-Sisters Chili, because it has won an award, and because I have two sisters, one of whom gave me this recipe. I also like the name Two-Sisters, because my version* of Two-Sisters chili uses two of the Three Sisters or the MesoAmerican Plant Trilogy**.
The award for this chili was bestowed upon me by the omnis at my office when they voted it second place in our annual chili cookoff. And we don’t categorize our chilis at work. All the chilis get equal treatment vegan or not. So imagine an office full of omnis and what they’d probably prefer in a chili. The only one to beat out this Two Sisters had meat and beer in it. That’s how damn good this chili is! It took a freakin’ Guinness to beat it out in a contest. Damn good!
Award-winning Two-Sisters Chili
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup corn (frozen or fresh) or carrots (chopped or shredded)***
2 large tomatoes (or 1 can whole tomatoes, with liquid)
1 1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
3 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 – 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cans red kidney beans, with liquid (or 2 cans kidney and 1 can other bean, like pinto or black)
Heat olive oil in large pot on medium heat. Add onion and garlic, saute for 3-5 minutes, until soft. Add corn or carrots, continuing to saute until soft. If using fresh tomatoes, add here and cook until softened. Add vinegar, chili powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, and cayenne, and stir until well-mixed and mimics a thin paste. If using canned tomatoes, add here. Add beans. Stir well, turn heat down to medium-low and continue cooking for 30 minutes. May cook longer, but turn heat down to low after 30 minutes. Serve over rice.****
*My sister’s version called for carrots; I prefer corn instead, so I gave you the option. Both add a sweet contrast to the spicy chili.
**I learned maize, beans, and squash to be the MesoAmerican Plant Trilogy. When I taught geography, I taught it as the same. I never heard of Three Sisters until I encountered it outside of academia.
***I used corn instead of carrots, as I mentioned already and as the picture shows.
****I can’t figure out if it’s a family thing or a Louisiana thing, but I’ve always preferred eating my chili over rice. So does my sister.
October 20th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Perfect timing! I don’t have a chili recipe at all, and the weather is starting to call for it. Oooh, I like the idea of throwing in some black beans too.
I’ve always eaten chili by itself in a bowl, maybe with a, well, uh, nonvegan topping. But I like the rice idea! I think I heard that some people eat chili over spaghetti; is that what “Cincinnati style” involves?
October 21st, 2008 at 6:37 am
Cincinnati style is the one over spaghetti noodles. It also has cinnamon in it, which, to me, seems all wrong.
For this recipe, I used fresh tomatoes and added 1 Tbsp. tomato paste, but I didn’t think the t.p. was necessary and kind of countered the reason you’d use fresh tomatoes, so I didn’t include it above.
Also, don’t forget to keep your liquids. You need a “gravy” for that rice and something to dilute the 1 Tbsp. of salt!
I used 2 kidney, 1 pinto and loved it. But the day I won the award, it was 2 kidney, 1 black bean.