Green Eville Chili

I love chili - all kinds. It's hard to get a bad bowl of chili. At the same time - it's not always easy to get a great bowl of chili. I have two or three kinds of red chili that I make - and they're all good. But it's only recently that I began playing around with the other colors - mainly white and green. My friend Shane made a comment a few weeks ago about a GreenEville chili - playing on the name of our hometown and wanting some Evil heat. This one doesn't have the heat (unless you pop in the optional peppers), but I wanted to go running out in the street with this stuff, just to show it off. It's amazing. It tastes like a fajita in a bowl - and that can only be good. I mean - wow. The coolest thing about this chili is that even with no heat - the way I made it here - it's just fabulous. And the heat is easy to adjust to your preference, while keeping the great flavor.

 

1 lb pork loin, cubed

1 15 oz can navy beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can pigeon peas, drained and rinsed

16 oz jar green taco sauce, or salsa verde*

1 bell pepper, diced

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 anaheim peppers, diced and seeded

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (this is VERY optional)**

1 1.12 oz package fajita seasoning

1 can tomatillos, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced

2-3 cups chicken broth

1 Tbl olive oil

Sour cream

1. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, saute the pork until just barely beginning to brown. Add onion, garlic and diced peppers. Cook for about five minutes, or until vegetables are beginning to release fragrance, but are still crisp.
2. Add tomatillos, navy beans and pigeon peas. Add enough chicken broth to the pot to just cover everything and bring to a simmer.
3. Add fajita seasoning, stir well. Cover pot and allow to simmer for about 1/2 hour.
4. Add lime juice and cilantro, and stir well. Serve with a dab of sour cream. I also served it with a fresh tortillas and some Spanish rice I smacked out - quick and yummy.

*You can get this stuff in mild, medium and hot, just like the more traditional salsa. Which one you choose is up to you - I used mild, and even my Dad and five year old loved it.

** Use less or none if you don't want heat. Or do what I often do in my house - since I have both heat-haters and heat-chasers. Put all ingredients in the pot and stir to combine. The divide the batch in two. Keep one mild, and add the jalapenos to the second. Simmer both batches as normal. Just don't mix them up and everybody is happy!