Veggie Chili with a Southwestern Flair

During the school week, we have a few days with multiple after school activities that make preparing dinner close to impossible. We use our crock pot sometimes, but I also like to find recipes that can be made ahead. The White Bean Chili recipe seemed perfect for a wintery dark night. I made the chili on Sunday, so when Monday came with all its school day and after school hustle and bustle, we had a fabulous one-pot meal ready to reheat and serve.

This chili takes some chopping, but it feels good to chop up all those peppers and onions. I used an assortment of red, green and yellow peppers, which is so pretty.

So many good veggies! Melt your butter and add your veggies to sauté. When melting butter, be sure to add the veggies or take the pot off the stove once the butter is melted and starts to bubble -- you want to make sure it doesn't burn! Butter burns at a lower temperature than oil, but I love to use it for most everything because it adds such wonderful flavor.

The recipe calls for jalapeño peppers. If you're using jarred jalapeños, add them later when you add the beans. If you're using fresh like I did, add them with the sauté.

When the veggies are soft and everything is starting to smell delicious, add all the other ingredients except the sour cream and the topping ingredients. This means all your broth, your beans, the mild chilis, plus the jalapeños if they weren't added  earlier.

Then add your spices. You'll see when this is finished, that the spices really do work magic in this chili. Nothing fancy -- just chili powder, cumin, oregano and paprika -- but the combination creates the most amazing Southwestern flavor. Not too hot, either, which surprised me because I added a very generous portion of chopped jalapeño.

All that's left to do now is mix everything gently and put it back on the stove to come to a boil...

After it boils, cover the pot and turn it down to a simmer for about 45 minutes until it thickens. No attention or stirring required, though I always like to check in on delicious smelling soups once in a while, and make sure the simmer is gentle.

Once the soup has thickened slightly, it looks like this...

The next step is simply to take the pot off the heat and stir in the sour cream. Mmmmm. This is starting to smell amazing and, well, I don't really think I can wait until Monday to try it...

I decided I had to sample a bowl, and of course I needed a final picture for the blog!

This White Bean Chili is so comforting.  I surprised myself by devouring an entire bowl at 9:30pm! I don't usually eat before bedtime, but this chili was downright irresistible. It was so good I took a bowl to my husband, who was working on the computer. He loved it, too, and -- phew -- we still had plenty for all four of us to have a big bowl for dinner the next night, between cello and violin lessons and hip-hop dance class!  I hope you try it, too! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this recipe, or any comments you have.

Liz is paid to write for the Land O'Lakes Recipe Buzz® Blog.