Today, February 22rd, is National Chili Day. It is always the fourth Thursday in February.  Chilly is exactly what it’s been in San Diego this week, which gave me two good reasons to make chili for dinner tonight. I decided to make a chicken chili.

I bought a rotisserie chicken from my local grocery store to use in my chili. I started by sautéing a large yellow onion in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Once the onions started to soften, after about 5 minutes, I added 6 cloves of minced garlic and let it cook along with the onions for 45 seconds. Next, I added three cans of drained and rinsed canellini beans to my pot. Once the beans were added to my slow cooker, I added kosher salt, cumin, oregano and chili powder before stirring together.

I removed the skin from the rotisserie chicken and cut the meat into bite size chunks and added it to the pot. I then added five cups of reduced sodium chicken stock, along with a 28 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes – I did make sure to cut the tomatoes into bite size pieces. Since I use no salt added tomatoes, I added another teaspoon and a half of kosher salt to season the tomatoes. Passila peppers were my pepper of choice for this chili. I cut two of them into 1 inch size pieces, removing most of the seeds, but keeping some.

I used my slow cooker, but you could definitely use a Dutch oven. My slow cooker has an insert that you can place directly on the stove for browning or sautéing purposes. I did sauté my onion in the slow cooker insert before combining all my ingredients and placing the insert back into the slow cooker and setting it to high for four hours.

A dollop of sour cream, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, minced green onion, and sliced jalapeños were my toppings of choice for tonight’s chili.

I served this chili with corn bread and a salad for dinner tonight. Dennis is definitely looking forward to leftovers for lunch this weekend.

Ingredients

• 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed and meat cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Pasilla peppers, cut into one inch chunks (remove most of the seeds, keep a small amount)
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 3 cans Canellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 5 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (juice and tomatoes, cut tomatoes into pieces)

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in crock pot insert on stove. Add onion and sauté until onion starts to soften and become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 45 seconds.
2. Add beans, 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, cumin, oregano, and chili powder and stir together.
3. Add chicken, pasilla peppers, chicken stock, tomatoes, and 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt. Stir.
4. Set crock pot insert back into base and set to high for four hours or low for 6-8 hours.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris