Black Bean Chili

I love black beans and Mexican flavors and they're a favorite regular meal at our place. Usually, I just serve the black beans with salsa, but when I came across this popular recipe for Black Bean Chili by Robyn Fuoco of Mainly Cafe and Bakery (featured in Bon Appetit), I decided to give it a try.

As the original recipe called for three cans of black beans, I adjusted quantities down for one can and made a few other changes, so I'll list my ingredients below.

The chili made a tasty change and was super easy to prepare, but I can't say Ipreferredd it to my plain black beans with salsa. I thought it was a little dry and heavy on the chili powder, which gave it a rather uniform taste, but I liked it enough to make it again. I served it with plenty ofPicoo deGalloo homemade salsa with avocados (vs. guacamole) and quesadillas. Next time, I'd add some lime juice, increase the garlic, and use fresh chili peppers in place of some of the chili powder, and add some veggie ground round to make it more exciting.

Black Bean Chili:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, deseeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 -1/2 tsp. chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 15 oz can black beans, partially drained (I kept some of the liquid for the chili)
3/4 cup Barilla Green & Black Olive Puttanesca (in place of the tomato sauce and oregano)