Creole Chili

The most important difference between Cajun and Creole food is tomatoes. Creole has tomatoes. Cajun does not. Both are excellent.

This one-pot Creole Chili recipe combines traditional Creole flavors with Western chili ingredients. It is a winner for folks on a low carb diet because it replaces rice with beans. Ingredients are all fresh, so prep work takes a little but not much time.

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground chuck (or any ground meat, but add oil if using lean meat like chicken or turkey)
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/2 celery stalk
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 15.5 oz can of black beans
• 15.5 oz can of red beans
• 15.5 oz can of kidney beans
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• Tabasco (optional)

Instructions:

1. Dump ground meat into large pot on medium heat, and immediately use metal or wooden spatula to chop meat into smaller pieces, at least bite-sized.
2. Dice bell peppers, celery, and onion into 1/4″ cubes, then dump into pot and stir thoroughly once.
3. Press garlic into pot (or peal and then dice garlic into tiny shreds and dump into pot) and stir thoroughly once.
4. Open all cans and dump into pot, along with brown sugar.
5. Stir occasionally until warm, then serve (with steamed rice for the carbohydrate-tolerant crowd).