Spicy Cajun Chili

You only need 1 good-sized stock pot. Cook the onions, bell pepper, and hamburger meat together until the meat is done and the onions and bell peppers are nice and soft. Yum.

Add in chili powder (more to taste if desired). It should coat everything in the pot to a nice chili color.

Add in garlic powder (to taste), and Creole seasoning. Give it a couple dashes of cayenne pepper if you’re feeling extra spicy (you should be, so do it).

Now for the Rotel. This is what I use in place of tomato sauce, because we’re just not extra tomato-y kind of people at the Casa de Wilson. And we don’t like chunks of tomato in anything, just our preference. I use my super fancy awesome tangerine orange KitchenAid blender to liquefy the stuff. Use 3 or 4 cans, depending on the level of thickness you want of the chili. It always varies when I make it; it’s good with 3, it’s good with 4. It’s really up to you. Choose your own adventure!

Add a couple dashes of Tabasco sauce. That step is only for the extra spicy cookers out there, so just go ahead and do it, it’ll put hair on your chest and clear your sinuses. You’ll thank me for it, I’m almost sure of it.

Add in the beans, juice and all. When my momma made chili when I was a wee little cooker just learning, she would heat the beans up and let you add them if you really wanted them, or just eat them separately, because those beans are awesome. But I married a man not from the south, and apparently chili goes with beans like peanut butter goes with jelly, so we add it in there. No one really seems to mind. Plus, it makes your chili go farther—more bang for your buck, bam!

Let all this cook together as long as you can resist sticking your face it in. And be careful when you do, this stuff is hot.

If you’re smart, you’ll put shredded cheese on top of it. And possibly add in some Fritos. Or you can eat it as is, because it’s good any way you get it in your face. Enjoy!