Raspberry Chipotle Chili, Hold the Beans

I am not someone who enjoys beans. However, summer barbecues are a prime setting for the fruit to make it's way into my food. The mission became clear: beat people to the quintessential bean dish and keep the ingredient out. From the beginning, my main focus was to achieve the same hearty, sweet, tangy tones that are so unique to barbecue beans. I took my inspired taste buds to the grocery store to select a chili without beans (turkey or beef) where I also stumbled upon an alluring raspberry chipotle sauce. 

A chili is what it is: a chunky, meaty soup that typically requires a spoon. In order to make the chili scoopable enough for different sized chips, it's important to select a medium to small chunk size. This x-factor is crucial because when you are adding a sauce, like the raspberry chipotle in our dish, you are trying to avoid a consistency that is watery with random lumps. Instead, choosing a generic chili - like Hormel over a product advertised as super-chunky - is a service to your guests who have arrived late to the chip bowl because you have rationed the protein quotient from the start.    VS.

Creating this dip for the first time in college, the recipe has held up over the years to achieve a flavorful supplement for, or distraction from, barbecue beans. I typically serve the chili straight with chips, however, it is also good with sour cream and cheddar cheese on top. The recipe below will include the sour cream and cheese preparation. Eventually, I hope to change the recipe by adding finely cut pieces of carrot, zucchini, squash, and leek for a nutrition injection. 

To make a heaping helping of the chili to serve anywhere from 7 - 14, I use:

- 1 can Hormel "HOT" Chili without beans

- 1 can Hormel "Low Sodium" Chili without beans

- 1 bottle of Raspberry Chipotle Grilling Sauce (Fischer & Weiser or Kozlowski Farms. Visit a larger, more sauce-friendly grocery store)

- 1 medium tub of sour cream

- 1/2 block of grated sharp cheddar cheese / 1 bag from the store

1. Heat 2 cans of chili for about 10 minutes on medium to high. Stir occasionally.

2. Pour in 3/4 to the whole bottle of Raspberry Chipotle grilling sauce (I usually pour in the whole bottle) and keep at the same heat setting for about 6 minutes.

3. Pour into a serving dish. 

4. Stir sour cream until more it has a more fluid consistency for spreading on the chili. Gently spread dollops of sour cream across the top of the chili; wait to spread the sour cream until a generous layer is made (the heat will help make it more spreadable).  

5. Top with cheddar cheese.