Late Summer Chili

It was beautiful today. Not overly cloudy and not too hot. In fact, we've had a cold snap recently. It barely reached 70 degrees on Sunday. It feels like the first taste of fall although it really hasn't been a hot summer.

It might be feeling like fall, but I have my "summer" vacation coming up this week. Tomorrow's my Friday already. If only every week could be this short :)

I'm really looking forward to some extra time off for rest and relaxation. Seems silly to be in only for two days, but these two days ended up being needed to finish up some things and set stuff up for my co-workers who are covering for me while I'm gone.

I spent most of my afternoon going over loose ends with my co-workers, actually and by the time I made it home I was STARVING. Since it's been so cool outside I've been craving soup. That's when I remembered seeing this chili and I knew I had to make it.

It's a beanless chili, which some argue is the correct way to make chili. What I loved about it, though, was that it was chock full of vegetables — zucchini, corn, bell pepper, onion, jalapenos. It was really hearty even though it lack beans and made the best of summer produce.

I used 93/7 beef to make it leaner and cut back on the oil. If you want to add beans, I think black beans would be good, but it doesn't need them in my opinion. It's delicious all on it's own. And, it made a GIANT bowl of chili, which I was definitely thankful for. I topped the bowl with pepper jack cheese and scallions and had a small hunk of corn bread on the side. Seriously good.

And now it's bedtime. Hopefully everyone had a great Monday!