Taco Chili

I love Ezra Pound Cake. I adore her humor and way more of her recipes than I care to admit. She posted a recipe for Taco Soup and I immediately upon seeing it renamed it Taco Chili. It looked like chili to my simple brain. It also looked like an opportunity to eat corn chips, sour cream, and cheese.

I should add in this little detail, I am not a fan of chili. It is in the realm of things from my childhood that I've tried to repress. Ham and bean soup, beets, pickled eggs, all in the list of things I am happy to never have again. Ever. But this chili with all the fixings made me think, this could be interesting.

I took the opportunity to make this when I was providing a meal for a new mother. My reasoning was, I can try a small bit and see if I like it, and it fits all the dietary needs of this family. I made up a batch and loved it. I've since tweaked it and now it really is more "chili" like. I usually make half a batch, but lately I've been finding that half a batch isn't enough, so I'm doing a whole batch and watching it quickly disappear.
Taco Chili Based on Taco Soup by Ezra Pound Cake
2 pounds ground beef
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (15-ounce) cans black beans
1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (4 1/2-ounce) cans chopped green chiles
2 (1-ounce) envelope taco seasoning
2 (1-ounce) envelope ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix

Garnishes: Corn chips, cheese, ranch sour cream

1. In a large stockpot, cook beef over medium heat until beef is no longer pink. Drain, fat from meat in whatever manner suits you.
2. Season meat with ranch and taco seasoning.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce black beans, pinto beans, corn and green chiles.
4. Cover the pot and simmer soup over low heat for 30 minutes up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. In our house we can't last an hour!

I make up a batch of ranch sour cream to go on the chili if I don't have any. A simple envelope of the ranch Dips in a 16 ounce container of sour cream. I usually have some around for veggie dipping, but you will want to try to make this ahead if possible.

I put a layer of corn chips in my bowl, cover thickly with chili, add ranch sour cream and cheese. My husband is more of a purist, bowl of chili and corn chips on top or scooping. Either way, it is yummy!