Calico Chili

Advocate staff photo by BILL FEIGCalico Chili is a crowd-pleasing chili with a slightly sweet note.

ADVOCATE-TESTED RECIPE

Calico Chili

Serves 8 to 10. Recipe is by Lou Klaiber. Testing note: If the store is out of yellow or red peppers, as I found recently, I substituted green for yellow. The only real difference is the color.

3 lbs. lean ground beef

¾ cup diced onion

2 red peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 yellow pepper, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 (16-oz.) can pinto beans

2 (16-oz.) cans kidney beans

2 (10-oz.) cans Ro-tel tomatoes, mild

½ cup sugar

¼ cup vinegar

1 tbl. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsps. chili powder

1 (16-oz.) can whole-kernel corn, drained

1 (16-oz.) can black beans

1 (16-oz.) jar mild taco sauce

2 bay leaves

1. Brown ground beef with onion and peppers. Drain excess fat. Add remaining ingredients, mix well, and cook in slow cooker for 4 to 6 hours.

2. This recipe may be cooked the day before and left in the refrigerator overnight for enhanced flavor. Reheat and remove bay leaves before serving.