one humungous onion, chopped widthwise into rounds
three cloves garlic, minced
two carrots, chopped in a fashionably diagonal manner
two smallish bell peppers (colour of your choice)
two smallish, ripe tomatoes, diced
two cans kidney beans (which equals something like 1.5 cups dry beans)
one can black beans
Ian and I use half a packet of Mexican chili spice (You can make your own blend depending on how hot you like your chili and what spices you have handy. Try garlic powder, chili powder, a bit of cumin, paprika, and onion salt)
four good twists ground black pepper
two small cans tomato paste
a huge bag of corn chips
oh yeah, a bit of oil to start things off
Things heat up really fast on our little gas stove, so I like to have everything chopped and ready to go, and all the cans opened and drained.
First thing is to fry up the garlic and onion until it looks like its on its way to being soft. Then, throw in the carrots. wait two minutes or so, then toss in the peppers. After another minute, put in the tomatoes. This is a good time to get creative with the spices (if you're that kind of chef). Next come the beans, and you can wait a few minutes if you like before adding the tomato paste (if you've got nothing better to do). The longer you wait with this chili, the more flavourful it becomes. you can let it all simmer on medium heat for around ten minutes, or until you're so hungry you just can't anymore... its up to you! in this house, we make a batch of chili to eat for dinner, and then leave it on the stove overnight.
Its invariably even better the next day, somehow, so it obviously gets packed into all our lunches as we disperse for class.
You can serve this with rice, corn chips, beer, movies, card games, or just plain ol a la carte.