Easy Slow Cooker Chili

Sometimes, you need to make dinner for a group that night without planning or when you have a long day at work or are away from home, or you have to bring a dish to a potluck when you are really busy all around the event and do not have time for shopping or really even preparing food.  No worries. I have one for you that can be made from the staples you have in your home and can be prepped in twenty minutes or less, and it is for almost any diet, in case your friends are as weird as mine and me. You can easily replace the eat with vegetarian crumbles, lentils, or chickpeas.

Easy Slow Cooker Chili (Lunch, Dinner)

• 1-2 lbs ground meat (beef, pork, turkey, etc)
• 48-64oz V-8 or vegetable juice
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp arrowroot
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/8-1 tsp cayenne, depending on what you're into
• 1 15-0z can of diced tomatoes, pulsed or crushed with a fork
• 1 10-oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (or a second can of diced tomatoes if that is all you have)

skip if paleo or keto:

• 2 15-oz cans of beans, rinsed (kidney, black, white, or assorted)

optional vegetables:

• 1/2 cup corn or hominy
• 1-2 handfuls baby spinach
• 1 cup cut okra
• 1 pkg vegetarian crumbles, thawed
• jalapenos, sliced

1. Brown ground meat in a skillet, adding 1 tbsp oil if greater than 85% lean. Remove meat to the slow cooker, and discard all but 2 tbsp fat. Skip this step if vegetarian, and just add oil to the pan.
2. Saute onions for 5-10 minutes until translucent and soft.  Add garlic and cook another two minutes.  
3. Add arrowroot, chili powder, cumin, and coriander.  Stir, cooking, until highly aromatic and pasty.
4. Off the heat, add cayenne, stir in tomatoes, and scrap out of the pan into the slow cooker, leaving as little of the paste behind as possible.
5. Add beans to slow cooker.  If using frozen or canned corn or honey, add it now.  If using frozen okra, add now.
6. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours (or longer if you are away from the pot).
7. Stir, add fresh corn or okra if using, and cook for one hour.
8. Stir, add baby spinach, and cook for ten minutes.
9. Serve with fresh diced onions, pickled jalapeños, cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced cabbage, chopped cilantro, or corn chips, as you prefer.