Soup’r Club Goes Full Chili Mode

As the air turns sharp with the first frost and the last stubborn leaves skitter across the driveway, there’s one unmistakable sign that late fall has absolutely settled in: chili season. For us Midwesterners, chili is not just a meal, but a ritual. The steam fogging up the kitchen windows, the crockpots on the counter for Sunday Football, or lined up on tables for local contests, everyone swearing that their recipe is the best there is. It’s the familiar, the cozy, the heartwarming sensation that hits you the moment you walk in, and that many of us eagerly await each year. Fire-roasted tomatoes, onions, peppers, chili spices, all amalgamating into a pure bowl of love.
Here in Soup’r Club it is no different. The November gales have settled in and the air has gotten crisp, and I have already had to start breaking out the scraper for my car windows in the morning to help clear the frost. While it is definitively soup season, I wanted to break in the midwestern tradition of chili season. Ironically, I have not made chili before, at least not on my own, and I have the extra challenge of making it vegetarian (some chili purists would say its not chili without some type of meat, to which I say… well, sue me I guess). We accomplish this by utilizing plenty of beans to keep it hearty, and plenty of veggies to compliment the other flavors here, and per usual, we season with our heart and are not shy with the spices. My house smelled immaculate yesterday, I can assure you.
While I believe this chili could certainly be better (all soups can be improved somehow!), I believe that this chili is still a bowl of pure midwestern comfort. Future improvements I would recommend here would be diversifying the beans a bit more, adding equal parts pinto, black, and red kidney beans, but for this chili I worked with what I had around. Additionally, I would add some butternut or acorn squash, not only does this add a hint of sweetness, but the squash, corn, and beans all make a complete protein together (this is a long time practice in many native cultures, where these 3 foods are widely known as the 3 sisters both for how they work together in the garden and in your food), which helps make sure you are getting all the nutrition you need.
Anyways, time for the big day: soup club day. Whispers were already going throughout the office: chili today and homemade cornbread. It already simmered a good hour and a half back home, but the flavors got to meld together for another 4 and a half hours at the office, which anyone will tell you, time is the key to a good chili. Everyone was lining up as I reheated the cornbread and set out the toppers (Shredded sharp cheddar and Greek yogurt in place of sour cream). Even more exciting, we got to add a new member today, Adam! Safe to say, a lot was riding on this chili today…

Lo and behold, there was silence, a few soft blows on spoons to cool the temperature… and a resounding chorus of “mmmm”. Midwestern comfort in a cup. The most notable comments were on the perfection of the bean texture, the smokiness of the fire roasted tomatoes, and the heartiness of it overall. Everyone left full, happy, and recharged for the day ahead. Ratings came in favorable, Jeff and Kevin with an 8.5, Andy with an 8.2, Tam with an 8.8, and Adam with a whopping 9.5 that had everyone nearly falling out of their seats. This chili landed an average 8.7, not including Felton’s unofficial rating of 8.0.