Many athletes lack the time to develop their cooking and meal preparation skills. They need meals that are easy, healthy, well balanced and can travel well. This is where the wondrous world of making chili can save even the most clueless chef!
Chili is tastes great, is easy to make, can take on endless variations and contains a great balance of carbs, fibre, vegetables and protein. You can eat it on its own, over pasta, rice, baked potato or sloppy joe style on a bun or wrap. The best part is that you can make a batch that you can freeze and have enough lunches/dinners for an entire week!
Try this basic chili recipe below and once you feel confident, implement the variations in the recipe to change it up!
Basic Chili Recipe
(Makes about 5 servings)
- In large cooking pot, over med/high heat brown ground beef, add vegetables until soft.
- Add all other ingredients and stir.
- Simmer on low heat for 1-4 hours or over night, depending on how much time you have. I find the longer the simmer, the better the taste.
| Basic Chili Recipe | Some Variations to Consider |
|---|---|
| 1 lb (450g) of lean ground beef | Ground turkey, ground pork, vegetarian ground round. Get funky with venison or bison! |
| 1 med cooking onion, chopped 1/2 red pepper, chopped ½ green pepper, chopped ½ yellow pepper, chopped |
Get creative with vegetables – try carrots, mushrooms, celery, corn, zucchini, shallots, red onion, cauliflower! |
| 1 large can diced tomatoes 1 small can condensed tomato soup 1 can kidney beans |
Use different flavours of pasta sauce, real tomatoes diced. Mix up your beans using black beans, chickpeas, navy beans or lentils! |
| 2-3 heaping Tbsp. chili powder | The chili powder is pretty essential. Experiment with the heat level by adding hot chilis, hot sauce or jalapenos. The secret of Cincinnati chili is adding a bit of cinnamon! |
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! How about some healthy alternatives to those Super Bowl Snacks? http://t.co/U4RRVaMj #nutrition