Hearty Stovetop Chili

It may come as a surprise, but Heather and I are huge fans of chili.  Even in the peak of summer, it's likely that we have plans to make chili, are making chili, or are eating leftover chili.  Our recipe has always relied on cooking up the meat, onions, and peppers in a skillet, transferring that to a crock pot with salsa and diced tomatoes, and then cooking it overnight or all day.  While this makes a great chili, we wanted to attempt something in one pot, and done in under an hour.  This worked out quite well, and I think this may be my preferred method of making chili.  We also experimented with a faux-corn bread, which is so close to being ready.  We will link to it as soon as it's perfected.

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef

2 chorizo chicken sausages

4 slices of bacon

1 and 3/4 cup bell pepper slices
1 onion, diced

8 cloves of garlic

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chills

1 16 oz jar of chipotle salsa

1 8-oz can of tomato paste

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp chipotle pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

Method

Place bacon and crushed garlic in dutch oven over medium heat until both bacon and garlic are fragrant (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Add in ground beef and stir frequently to brown on all sides.

Add in onion, jalapeño, bell pepper, and chorizo.  Mix in and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Add in salsa, diced tomatoes with green chilis, and spices.  Simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Add in tomato paste, and mix thoroughly.  Simmer an additional 5 minutes uncovered.

Enjoy this fantastic chili.  It's got great flavor and is not an all-day endeavor.  Keep an eye out for when I have the faux-corn bread figured out because it's an amazing companion to this chili.  Right now it's just not quite there.  Soon.  

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Slow Cooker Chili

I'll admit, I wasn't very disciplined about taking pictures, so please forgive the lack of step-by-step photos. We used to always start our chili with our favorite chipotle salsa and a can of diced tomatoes (sometimes with green chilies, something "zesty" style, sometimes "fire roasted" style). We normally just emptied them into the crockpot, and then got to work on the rest of the ingredients. 

Unfortunately, our favorite salsa and the diced tomatoes are not Whole30-friendly. 

So, instead, I chose to roast my own chopped tomatoes (...perhaps I should have diced them) and I made fresh salsa. Here's more or less what I started with: