Black Bean Chili

I am truly a throw it together kind of cook. Recipes normally serve as guidelines when I cook, not rules to follow to a T. Many of our meals are made without any recipe guideline at all. They are just put together with a little of this and a little of that. This style of cooking has served me well. I am able to cook with what we have on hand, and usually can come up with something that tastes pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

The downside to cooking this way is that nothing I make ever quite turns out the same way each time. My husband once commented to me that he didn't think we'd ever eaten the same thing twice in all the years we've been married. Though a bit of an exaggeration, there definitely is a bit of truth to that statement. When something turns out really well, I often am at a loss to reproduce it.

The weather of late has me craving the comfort foods of winter. One of our family favorites is chili. Nothing warms a body like a steaming bowl of chili served with some homemade cornbread. Last night I pulled out the ingredients we had on hand. There were no red beans, but there were black beans and a can of chopped chilies that I had forgotten were there. Throw it all together in a pot, and the end result was quite delicious, worth repeating. So below is my best estimation of what actually went into that pot.