Spicy Chicken Chili

 

This recipe for chicken chili comes from one of my favorite blogs, Annie's Eats. I've made quite a few things from her blog, and each has turned our really well. It was delicious and was the perfect, hearty dinner for our first (gray, wet and cold day) meal back in Arkansas.

But while it was delicious as is, there are definitely some changes that I'll make next time I make it. I have a very high heat/spice tolerance, and this pushed my limit and I think exceeded my husband's. It was really, really hot. He took a bowl for his lunch at work, and when he microwaved it and removed the lid, his eyes started to burn. So, I'll hold off on the chili in adobo or either use a smaller one. I think I must have used the biggest one in the can! Other than that, there was nothing in this that I don't put in my regular ground beef chili.

I did adapt the cooking method. The original recipe calls for the chicken to be roasted. I didn't feel like waiting an additional 30 minutes, so I seasoned my chicken with Montreal Steak seasoning and put in my non-stick grill pan. It was ready in 5 minutes, which is much more my speed.

I served this with homemade cornbread (the best cornbread either of us have ever eaten, by the way) and it was a fantastic (but really hot) dinner!

Spicy Chicken Chili
Recipe adapted from this one.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless-skinless chicken breasts (well, 2 actually. I butterflied them and made four smaller ones out of the two.)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 diced yellow onions
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 3 diced green bell peppers
• 2 t. chili powder
• 2 t. ground cumin
• ¼ t. red pepper flakes
• ½ t. cayenne pepper
• ½ t. dried oregano
• 1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, finely diced
• 2 t. sea salt
• 2 28 ounce cans of whole tomatoes.
• 2 15 ounce cans of beans; rinsed and drained (I used a can of black beans and a can of dark red kidney beans).

Directions:

1. Grill (or roast) the chicken breasts. Remove from heat when done, set aside and chop into bite sized pieces when cool enough to handle.
2. Pour olive oil in the bottom of a large dutch oven on medium-high heat. Saute onions and peppers until tender; about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and the spices to the pot and cook for an additional minute. 
3. Pour in the canned tomatoes, and immediately use your wooden spoon to get some of the good stuff off of the bottom of the pan. Stir everything together and be sure that the whole tomatoes have been broken up.
4. Stir in the diced chipotle, the beans and the chopped chicken.
5. Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 30-45 minutes (uncovered).