My father-in-law, affectionately referred to as “Big D”, is one hell of a guy. He’s got an incredible work ethic, a heart of gold, and a taste for good food. He is a great cook, and an absolute killer on the grill. This is a recipe that he passed down to my husband several years ago, and thank god he did. It’s a no-bean chili dish that is as tasty as it is hot, and super easy to make. And really, there’s no better way to cope with temperatures dropping than heating things up in the kitchen.
This is a great dish to make one cold Sunday night and eat for lunch the following week. It’s also a perfect dish to make for a group of people because you can make it ahead of time and then just let sit while the flavors marinate. We recently made it for some friends we had over and it was a huge hit. Enjoy!
Makes 10-12 servings.
Ingredients:
- Two 28 oz cans of tomato sauce
- One 28 oz can of crush tomatoes
- 12 strips of bacon (or 1 1/2 cups of slivered water chestnuts, like my father-in-law uses)
- 3-3.5 cups of long grain & wild rice
- 1.5 – 2 lbs of ground beef
- Two packets of chili mix
- 6 jalapeno peppers (or less if you don’t have the tongue for spicy food)
- 4 red cherry tomatoes
- 1 habanero pepper
- A few pinches of garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and pepper
Directions:
- Start cooking rice as directed, with or without the seasoning packets that come in the box
- Fry the bacon until crispy
- Meanwhile, in a large pot, combine and stir the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and chili mix. Add one cup of water.
- Cook the ground beef in a separate pan.
- Once the sauce is heated sufficiently, add the bacon (or water chestnuts) and let cook a bit before adding the browned ground beef and the rice
- Add the jalapenos, cherry peppers, and habanero at any time after the ground beef is introduced
- Cooking until hot, then eat!
*Great with tortilla chips and of course, a dollop of sour cream and shredded Mexican cheese
