Chocolate Chili

Did I just put chocolate and chili in the same recipe? Yes, yes I did. Well technically it's cocoa powder in your chili, but that doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

So it's chocolate. Yup. Chocolate Chili. CHOCOLATE CHILI!

Are you pumped up yet?

Chili is seriously one of the easiest dishes to make, and after you let this bad boy simmer for a few hours, it's absolutely AMAZING. We chowed down on this awesomeness, and we were super happy. The boyfriend even ate a second bowl the next day with some sauerkraut in it. I guess that's his thing, so he was happy. I think it's pretty delicious on it's own too.

You could definitely make this a half batch, or make it a double batch with pretty much the same amount of work. This gave us 6 servings, and I am wishing I would have doubled it!

Ingredients

1) 2 pounds of ground meat (I used beef for both, but a combo or beef and pork would be tasty too!)

2) 2 onions (because I like onions in mine. You could use 1. Or 3. Yup.)

3) 2-3 bell peppers (I used three green ones, because they were cheaper at the store. Frugality is a virtue!)

4) 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes (or 2 14oz cans would work. I happened to buy the "diced tomatoes with chilis" and holy CRAP did that make this delicious. But it definitely gave it a kick too. Whatever you have on hand or find at the store. You could even dice up your own tomatoes if you wanted. Probably a good 4 cups of them.)

5) Spices: 2TBSP chili powder, 2TBSP cumin, 4 TBSP cocoa powder

Don't skimp on the spices. They are definitely the money makers here!

Instructions

1) Brown your ground beef on medium heat.

2) While it's browning, chop up your onions and peppers into bite sized pieces. Doesn't have to be fancy or pretty.

3) Once the beef has started to release some of it's fat, throw in the vegetables to start them getting tender. Cook 5-8 minutes until the onions are getting translucent.

Ground beef, onions and peppers

 4) Now it's time to add your spices. Stir to incorporate well, and then add in your tomatoes (don't drain them).

Ready to simmer

5) Stir to mix well, and then simmer on the stove under medium to medium-low heat (whatever keeps it simmering) for at least two hours. Stir it every 30 minutes to make sure nothing is getting stuck to the bottom of the pan.

6) The two hours is very important to help marry all the flavors together. Don't leave it out!

7) Eat up. Right now!

After 2 hours of simmering (YUM!)

Eat me!