House of Fiber or an Alternative Style Chili

If you want to be a chili purist, go dice your sirloin in perfect 1/4" cubes and find out the rest of the specifications of "real chili", but, like anything, even perfect purists' chili, can get boring.

For some time, we've been having pearled barley simmered in stock and lightly seasoned as an alternative to rice on the side. The other day, while buying some pearled barley, I accidentally bought fast cooking pearled barley (Quaker brand). Not quite the same but it had a neat sounding recipe for a chicken chili on the back. I modified it a bit, spicewise, and it was pretty darn good. I just can't resist corn and black beans together.

Chicken, black bean, corn and barley chili
Onion (1 med. chopped) and garlic (1 clove slivered), sauteed in olive oil, 2T
Add:
Ancho chili powder, 2t
chicken (about 2 C chopped, leftovers, cooked)
cumin (fresh ground), salt, pepper to taste
black beans (14 oz. can not drained)
corn (15 oz. can not drained)
tomatoes, ca. 15 oz, fresh or canned
quick cook pearled barley
water to desired thickness

I put in everything except the barley and let gently simmer for 2 hours. During the last half hour, I added the barley. Then served topped with tortilla chips and cheddar (ran out of sour cream, would've been a nice topping).