Bison Lentil and Whatever-Else-You-Have-Sitting-Around Chili

The beauty of chili is that, in my opinion, it's really whatever you feel like. It's pretty difficult to screw up chili. It typically involves dumping various cans into a big pot and seasoning them together. It ends up being whatever beans and junk I have in my cabinet. I like using ground bison because it has a soft, woody flavor and about half the fat of ground beef. It's now available at many local grocery stores, including Harmons and Sunflower Market.

I don't use an exact recipe, but here's an approximation of what I made today.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. whole dry lentils (rinse in a colander, drain, and set aside)

1 lb. ground bison

1 shallot or med. onion

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

3-4 cans of basically whatever beans you want, undrained (I used kidney and black beans today. Also good: Garbanzo beans, butter beans, chili beans, whole pinto beans)

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (or use fresh; add about 1/2 c. liquid of some variety if using fresh)

1 small can low-sodium tomato sauce

1 can corn, undrained (optional, but it makes it colorful)

1 can diced beets, undrained (also optional but it adds lots of pretty color to the broth and lots of good texture)

1/3 c. red wine (also optional, but hello? Red wine makes almost everything better).

1ish c. stock of some sort (I had homemade chicken stock in my freezer, so I used that. Turned out fine)

Seasonings: Lots of chili powder, kosher salt and cracked pepper, Tabasco sauce, dash of paprika, splash of lemon juice and red wine vinegar, dash of cayenne. This is totally a matter of taste. I like a strong acidic and very spicy chili. You can made it as brave or as tame as you want.

Direction:

1. Lentils first. Rinse and drain those suckers. Put them in at 5 qt. pot and cover with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 40 minutes.

2. Bison next. Chop the shallot and garlic and brown with the bison in 1 tsp. vegetable oil. Cook thoroughly.

3. Start opening cans like a mad woman. Basically, if it's in a can, dump it in a big pot at this point. DON'T DRAIN THE CANS. Add the liquids (red wine and stock) to the mix.

4. Dump the browned bison into the pot. (Seriously, chili is so ridiculously easy it's almost embarrassing).

5. Bring everything to a boil and start dumping in seasonings. I probably use 2 Tbsp. of chili powder, 2 Tbsp. salt, I crack black pepper till my wrist hurts, and dump in ingredients until it tastes right to me. Not rocket science, people.

6. When the lentils are done, drain them (much of the water will have absorbed into the lentils themselves) and dump them into the pot with the rest of the ingredients.

7. Serve with a dab of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese if you so desire.