Sort of Chili

It's Chili inspired I should say.  I had planned to make burgers last week, but it was going to be a couple cool, chilly (no pun intended) days and I wanted something hearty for dinner and I wanted something leftover that I could freeze.  I had a bunch of leftover canned beans and chopped peppers in my fridge from my lunch salads. They were not getting any younger, so I grabbed a can of tomatoes out of the cupboard and an extra can of beans and made a chili inspired  dish.



Recipe

1 lb of ground beef (I use an 80/20 mix)
1 onion-a little smaller than my fist, diced
1-3 cloves of garlic, depends on your taste
1 large sweet pepper, diced (red or green)
1 can red beans
1 can white beans-rinsed
1 can black beans-rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes-rinsed
1 can of canned corn or 1.5 cups of frozen corn-rinsed
1-2 TBS of tomato paste
1-2 chipolte peppers in adobe sauce * optional 
Canola, corn, or vegetable oil
salt
pepper
1 T. cumin
Cayenne powder to taste
chili powder to taste

Put a few glugs of oil in a large pan (dutch oven, large saute pan).  Add the onion, garlic and peppers and let them saute until soft.

Add the ground beef and let it cook until its no longer pink, you will have to break up the ground beef as it cooks. 

Add the rinsed  beans, corn, canned tomatoes,  tomato paste, chipolte peppers if you want them. Stir well. Add a healthy pinch of salt, black pepper, Cayenne pepper and chili powder to taste. If you are not a fan of very spicy food, you only need like a teaspoon of the cayanne or chili powder.  If you like spicy, add more.  

Turn the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for about 45 minutes. 

Serve over white rice and with hot sauce on the side.  You can also serve it with tortilla chips!  Freezes well and reheats really well.