Another Saturday, another Florida State Seminoles football game! And, if we’re being honest, another opportunity to whip up a little football fare for dinner.
Today’s game was a 3:30 p.m. appointment, which fit in just
beautifully with our dinner plans. And
what better on a cool, clammy, rainy day than a Crock-Pot full of chili? Last weekend, we enjoyed some BBQ chili to
complement the game, so this weekend I decided to do a little something
different – the Orange and Thyme-Scented White Bean and “Sausage” Chili that
Robin Robertson features in her Vegan
Planet cookbook. It’s a
perennial favorite and adds an air of class to an otherwise very down-home day!
Now, Robertson’s recipe is cooked in a stockpot, but I’ve
found that almost any chili is easily adaptable to the Crock-Pot with minimal
fuss! So that’s what I did here –
throwing onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, cannellini beans, Morningstar Farms “sausage,”
diced tomatoes, salsa, and all my chili spices in the crockery, turning the
dial to Low, and walking away, coming back 30 minutes before dinnertime to add
some orange juice to the mix. There’s
nothing to it! And it adds a wonderful
aroma to Chez Recessionista as the chili cooks all day, making a very
inexpensive potpourri! ;)
Roundabout halftime, as the Seminoles were up by about five touchdowns, we could take the tempting aroma no longer and prepared to dig
in. I set out some Fritos (I prefer mine
as a base layer; LeeLee insists that using them as a topping is the way to go),
a tub of sour cream, and some mozzarella cheese – plus several kinds of hot
sauce, of course – and we had ourselves a full-scale chili bar!
And the final result was fantastic. As usual, the chili was a great blend of sweet
and savory, and the slow cooking always helps bring out all of the flavors in a
way that stovetop simmering can’t. Both
LeeLee and I went back for seconds – and we’ve got plenty left for later, too!
And the best part? The Seminoles won, 59-3! I can't think of a better dessert.
:)
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