Recipe: Black bean and Corn Chili

Black bean and Corn Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef, browned, and drained
I medium onion, chopped and browned with the beef  ( optional, I omit this, since  I have an onion hater here, but I definitely think that an onion would improve the dish)
I can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
I can (15 oz) corn, drained
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 cups water
2 chicken boullion cubes
(or substitute 2 cups of chicken broth for the water and boullion)
1 package chili seasoning mix
1 Tsp.  brown sugar
1/4 tsp dried minced garlic

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a crockpot.  ( I use a small 2 quart pot for this so I don't know how it would work in a larger pot)  Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.  It won't hurt it to cook longer.
If your crockpot is a newer one,I'd cook it for less time, since the newer ones seem to cook at higher temperatures than my old one.

This makes 5 or 6 servings and could easily be doubled.

The heat of the dish can be adjusted by the type of salsa used, (hot medium, or mild), and can also be kicked up by adding some chili powder.  This is more of a soup-like chili, rather than a thicker chili like a tomato based one would be. 

This dish reheats well, but I've never tried freezing it.

This recipe was improvised from one my sister in law, Laurie, shared with me. The original recipe called for  beef stew cubes, and instead of the chili mix, a variety of spices were used.