I had terrible beach FOMO yesterday. It probably has something to do with the fact that, here in Chicago, we haven’t seen sun in a really effin long time…AND its been cold since Halloween!

Whatever the reason, as soon as I thought about all the sand and sea and sun I was missing out on, I started getting antsy and distracted.

Maybe I should book a trip.

A little hopper one, like for the weekend.

Somewhere warm and tropical would be so nice right now.

Nah, I should just stay home and watch the Superbowl. It’s in Miami this year and that’s beach-y. Plus J.Lo’s performing and it doesn’t get hotter than that, so…

Maybe not the best tradeoff in the world, but it’ll do.

And so, once I committed to forgoing beach fun for football fun, I decided I’d better make good on my choice and crank out some warm, spicy, kick a$$ chili to go along with the game and help heat things up!

A super bowl for the Superbowl. ⬅️ See what I did there! 😉

So, I made it. Then I photographed it. And now I’m sharing it with you so that you can make it for the Superbowl too!

Talk about productive! Almost outweighs the joy of lying on the beach with a marg in one hand and a trashy novel in the other.

Wait, what? Now I’m just talkin’ crazy trying to conjure feelings of JOMO.

All that to say, if you passed on something amazing just to watch J.Lo football, make good on it and make this chili…

Smoky Three-Bean Chili

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 each: red, yellow and green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (optional)
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 (to 2) tablespoon(s) chipotle chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
4 cups of organic vegetable broth
3 (14 ½ ounce) cans organic diced tomatoes
1 (8-oz) can of organic tomato sauce
1 (14 ½ oz) can of each: kidney beans, cannellini beans and pinto beans, drained and rinsed

DIRECTIONS:

Heat olive oil in heavy-bottom pot over medium-high heat.
Add onions, garlic, peppers and jalapeno and cook for 5-7 minutes or until soft.
Add spices, salt, pepper and stir.
Add broth, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, then bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; stir in beans and simmer for 30 minutes.
Serve as is, or over a bowl of quinoa, and top with your favorite toppings!

print recipe

Like all soup and stew-y things, chili becomes more flavorful the longer it sits, so if you can make this tonight or tomorrow, it’ll be double-y delicious on Sunday.

And one final thing before you go get on with your football-and-chili-filled weekend…the ingredients in this recipe will take you down the field but the toppings will get you into the endzone.

I personally love the jalapeno-cilantro-cashew sour cream trifecta. Squeeze of lime? Bonus. Avocado? Major bonus. A three topping minimum is a must, but if you can get to that five or six topping mark, then you WIN and the chili super bowl trophy is yours for the taking!