Ninja Southwest Hatch Chili

It was 103F, and I decided to make chili because reasons. Probably because I still feel cold inside now and again.

I made this up in my head on the spot, and it turned out pretty good. It is spicy enough that I didn’t feel the need to put habanero, ghost pepper or scorpion sauce in my bowl.

The thing with hatch chilies is that I have found that they can vary radically in hotness, so you aren’t even sure what you are going to get.

Like all of my Ninja Foodi recipes, this can be made in a slow-cooker or on the stove. Roasting the chilies in the oven or even grilling them is great also.

Ninja Southwest Hatch Chili

1 lb pinto beans - or whatever beans you like
Rinse and soak them in water overnight.

About 6 dried de arbol chilies
6 fresh hatch chilies

• Soak the dried peppers in water for at least an hour
• Rinse the hatch chilies and pat dry
• Brush a thin coat of olive oil on the hatch chilies
• Set the Ninja Foodi to air crisp at 390 F
• Place the chilies in the crisper basket, they might not all fit at the same time
• Cook for about 10 minutes, and flip over
• Cook for 10 more minutes
• Remove from Foodi and remove crisper basket
• Let them cool for about 10 minutes or so
• Chop 4 chilies into small pieces, leaving the seeds if you want a hotter result
• Leave the other 2 whole

1 - 1 1/2 lb diced beef - sirloin, tri-tip, chuck or round
1 finely diced white onion

• Set the Foodi to sear/saute and cook the meat until brown
• Add the onions and stir until transluscent
• Drain the fat but leave the meat in the cookpot

4 c water + 1 T beef base OR 2 c water + 2 cups beef broth
28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 c corn - grilled is best but canned is okay
1 diced chayote squash - optional

1 T salt
1 T dried cilantro
1 T ground cumin
1 T chili powder
2 t cayenne pepper - optional

• Add the drained beans, diced and whole hatch chilies and the dried chilies to the pot
• Add the water, tomatores, corn, and squash, stir it a little
• Make sure that the water line is below the max pressure cook line
• Add the spices and stir it all together
• Set the Foodi to pressure cook. Set to high and 12 minutes
• When it is done cooking release the pressure

1/4 c flour
1/4 c cold water

• Mix the flour and water together
• Slowly add the mixture to the chili, stirring until it is the desired thickness
• Serve in a bowl with cheese, jalepenos or whatever else you like
• Crumbling Cotija or Queso Fresco works very well. They are crumbling cheeses, Cotija is a bit salty.

If you are like me and forget to defrost the beef roast, you can pressure-cook it for about 10 minutes. It is mostly cooked at that point so is easy to cut.

12 minutes pressure-cooking might be a bit much, but I like to make sure the beans are completely soft. Especially with pinto beans as they tend to take longer than other types of beans in my experience.