In which I take advantage of a cool spring night and make my favorite winter dish.

 Not-so-great picture taken with my cell phone.

 What I learned making beef chili in June:

1) Zucchini is great in chili.
2) Very vegetable-y meat chili turns into vegetable chili with meat specks when you add two massive zucchinis to it.
3) You may have to double the meat to keep your significant other from poking sadly at his chili, looking for "substance."
4) Doubling the meat may not be enough.
5) You definitely DO NOT need to double the amount of super-spicy-killer Indian chili powder to accommodate the zucchini. Or the beef.

Even when you mess up this chili, it's great:

My Beef Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
2 poblano peppers
2 red bell peppers (or orange, or yellow. Never green.)
1 large yellow onion (preferably vidalia)
2 large zucchinis
6-8 cloves garlic
1 13.5 oz can kidney beans
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 beer (a good beer. one you would actually drink. you can substitute water if necessary.)
 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoon ground chili (or 1 heaping teaspoon super-spicy Indian chili)
1  heaping teaspoon ground chipotle chili
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
olive oil


Directions:
1. Dice onion, garlic, and peppers.
2. Brown beef in a skillet, seasoning it with salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, soften onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a (very) large stockpot (3-4 minutes). Add peppers and zucchini; soften, stirring frequently for 5-6 minutes.
3. When vegetables are nice and soft, stir in browned ground beef, drained kidney beans, diced tomatoes, tomato soup, corn, and beer. Add spices.
4. Simmer 45 minutes to an hour.

This recipe is readily adaptable and easily made vegetarian by substituting an additional can of kidney beans for the beef (if you're feeling adventurous, you might add a can of chickpeas as well).