Hot Chicken Chili

So.... February 26 was National Chili Day, so naturally, we celebrated with CHILI. I love chili, especially in the winter. And Nathan loves hot dogs. We're perfect combo. I'm the chili to his hot dog. Anyway, enough of that. So, I made chili. I've made chili with this one recipe for several batches, but last Thursday, I decided I would try something a little different, and make the recipe my own.

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of shredded chicken in water
• 1 can of rotel
• 1 can of black beans
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ground cumin
• ground cayenne red pepper

Directions: 

1. Drain and warm the chicken in a large pot. Cook for just a 2-3 minutes, breaking apart the chunks into smaller pieces.

2. Cut onion and add that to your pot. Drain the cans of rotel and beans and add them to your pot also.

3. Add chili powder. Add a few sprinkles of cumin and a few sprinkles of cayenne red pepper.

4. Stir it all together. Cook covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure you keep it covered to keep in the moisture so that the chili won't be too dry. Unless, of course, you like dry chili.

5. Serve in a bowl or on a hot dog. Add cheese, sour cream, or crackers if desired.

Review:

The Original Recipe is from gimmesomeoven.com. Ok, I love the original recipe because its so easy, yet so good. Another good thing about it is that most of the ingredients they recommend are ingredients that we always have on hand. The original recipe uses ground beef, rotel, beans, onion, and chili powder (I have always altered the original to make less since there is usually only two of us eating it). 

For this batch of chili, I decided to use chicken instead of beef, AND add the extra cumin and cayenne red pepper. Let me tell you, the altered recipe tasted significantly different. Obviously the chicken gave it a different taste, but just adding even a few sprinkles of the cumin and cayenne red pepper made it significantly spicier. I have to say, I liked my version better!

Nathan rated my altered recipe a 4 / 5.

I rated my altered recipe a 5 / 5.

Nathan rated the original recipe a 4 / 5.

I rated the original recipe a 4 / 5. 

NOTE: I have also made the original recipe in a slow cooker and its equally as good. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or cook on high for 3-4 hours.