Thursday, September 17, 2009

Chicken Sausage Chili

I got this idea from my friend David, who does a similar recipe except with only pork sausage, onions and tomato sauce. However, I wanted something a little more filling so I made what turned into quite a tasty chili. Nevertheless, the inspiration was there!

Ingredients:
1 package or chicken sausage, casings taken off and cut into 1 inch pieces (real sausage from the poultry counter at grocery store)
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste (I used two big squeezes of my tomato paste in a tube)
1 14 oz can of black beans
Half a small white onion, diced
2 small green bell peppers cut into half inch pieces
1 to 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 bay leaf
Enough water to cover everything plus have some room in slow cooker, mine took about 2 and half to 3 cups of water.
Shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese blend and crackers to accompany chili

What I did:
I took all the ingredients as described above and put them in my slow cooker before I left for work.
I let it cook on low for seven hours, and when I got home my house smelt so good!
I had put too much water in the slow cooker and wanted the chili a little thicker, so I squeezed in some more tomato paste, stirred the chili, took out the bay leaf, and then turned the slow cooker on high with the lid off. I let it cook for 1 and half more hours and it was perfect.
Next time I will not add as much water, however it always seems to be the other way around…me almost scorching the food because too little water. At least this time I had enough.

I hope everyone tries this recipe, it really turned out good; and the friend didn’t complain either, lol.