"choup".

Ryan hates tomatoes. HATES them, in the way that I hate mushrooms and highwater pants. So I know a recipe is good if it contains not one, but two whole cans of diced tomatoes... and he still eats it. Two bowls even. 

One of the things I want to do on this blog is share recipes with you that we have had success with. I like blogs about cooking because I feel better about picking a recipe if someone else has made it first, providing that recipe with the "tried and true" status, instead of the "picked at random" one. I thought the dinner I made tonight would be a good one to start with-- and I even remembered to take pictures! Though, they aren't any good.

So, said tomato-filled dinner was supposed to be a sort of chili, but it turned out much more like a vegetable soup than a chili-- thus, I have dubbed it "Choup!"

Okay, so it doesn't look the prettiest. Basically, what we have here is a giant pot full of beans, veggies, spices, and tomatoes. What's not to like?

Here is my tomato-hating husband, demonstrating how much he liked it. It has chili powder in it, and I don't cook with chili powder often, but I really liked the subtle heat and flavor it added to the "chili". I am not going to spend all the time recopying the recipe for you, but here is a link so you can find it yourself, in its original home!

"Choup", or Black Bean and Chickpea Chili

I did do a few things differently than the recipe called for. To start with, I didn't have any cumin, but I did have lots of cilantro left in the fridge. I took a small handful, chopped it up, and added it in place of the cumin (okay, so Ryan chopped it up). We loved cilantro, so we were happy with the addition. I also skipped the whole food processor part. Had I done that, the consistency might have been more chili-like. All in all, I think this is a good, simple recipe that incorporates a lot of good stuff. You should try it sometime!

(Oh, and do you notice the half-eaten slice of homemade bread sitting next to Ryan's plate in the picture? If you're lucky, I'll blog about that bread sometime!)