gimme lean chili

yesterday, as most sundays go, scott and i get up at 8am to watch "cbs sunday morning". for me, that didn't happen. the night before was spent at our good friends' house having dinner and wine. needless to say, i slept in a little yesterday morning. but when i finally awoke, it was time for coffee and our sort of sunday routine.

i cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen and the living room. did the dishes and vacuumed all the floors. scott was upstairs in his studio and he emerged in time to suggest breakfast. usually we'll go to the 11worth cafe on sundays, but lately we've been skipping it. not sure why. i love that place.

instead, we took the recycling in, stopped at lowe's and headed home with lunch. as usual, i was thinking about food and asked him what he wanted for dinner. he said, "casserole" which sounded odd coming from his mouth. especially since it's not the 1950's and i've never made a casserole for us before. i just kind of laughed. "okay", i thought. so, i said, "how about lasagna?" his response was typical, "have you ever made a lasagna before?" (i've made about 3 or 4 since we've been together)

okay, lasagna is out. hmmm....what to make for dinner. the car was silent as we made our way home. "well, how about chili? and cornbread?" that sounded like a good cold-weather meal to me. scott said yes, but with one exception. he wanted TVP; fake meat.

i'm fine with that, i told him. but i've just never cooked with ground TVP before. so i went to the store with a chili recipe in my head and picked up my list of ingredients. chili has to be one of the easiest dishes to make. basically all you have to do is put what you like in it and let it simmer.

i included:
-onion
-garlic
-jalapeno peppers
-2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
-kidney and black beans
-chicken broth
-tomato paste
-balsamic vinegar
-herbs and spices (oregano, red pepper flakes, chili powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne, bay leaves, salt and pepper)
-and of course, one package of TVP

i let it simmer for about an hour and it was outstanding. i've never really been a huge red meat eater, but i always did like ground beef in my chili. i believe i've been converted. scott loved it and went back for more, so i guess my first try at faux chili was a success.

the real question is, would my meat-eating father and brother be able to tell the difference...?