Glorious Gluttony!

Just a couple of shots from Christmas morning: the smoky, spicy vegetarian chili (recipe below) I whipped up to bring to my sister's and my boyfriend's gooey, crazy breakast creation, "The Heartstopper".

"The Heartstopper" features two fried eggs, a melted Kraft single, mayo, and a couple of smushed reheated arancini that I made for Christmas Eve, all packed into a delicious Montreal bagel. The arancini are basically deep-fried risotto balls, mine were wild mushroom with parmesan and caciocavallo cheese. I chose to enjoy my Heartstopper lite, sans mayo or arancini. Still delicious. Hhhmm... maybe I'll have one now...

Aahhhh... my first-ever chili. Actually the arancini were a first too, and hopefully there'll be more yummy kitchen experiments to come in 2011!

Now, I never post recipes because, well, I never really follow them in their entirety, I just combine bits from 3 or 4 different recipes based on what I have available and the techniques I'd rather use. All measurements are very, very approximate, just taste as you go and adjust it to your liking. I liked making chili because it gave me the time to wander away from the stove, eat breakfast, do my make-up, fix my hair, efficient and delicious!

Smoky Spicy Vegetarian Chili

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar

1 can black beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can diced tomatoes

3 chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

3 squares dark chocolate (I used 70% cacao)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large pot saute onion in oil until soft and translucent, add garlic, cook 1-2 minutes until golden, add spices and stir. Stir in beans, diced tomatoes and chipotle peppers. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency is achieved, mine was probably going for about 30-40 minutes, along the way I added some balsamic and may have added more spices. Who remembers? Near the end stir in the chocolate. Add 2 squares first, stir until melted and taste, it may be enough for you. I added another for extra chocolateyness.

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, guacamole, tortilla chips, whatever you like! You can also add corn, or sweet bell peppers to the recipe, it's open to all kinds of interpretation!

I have no idea how many it serves, but it makes a big-ass bowl!

And I'm thrilled to say there are leftovers! Aaaaawww yeah!