For Christmas we got a new cookbook from some friends: River Cottage Veg, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. It was a gift from friends who run Pass the Pistil, a site dedicated to gardening and making use of what the garden offers (worth some time perusing if you fancy that stuff–I recommend it). I hate to see a cookbook languor, so today I tried an easy recipe from the book, Pinto Bean Chili, fit for a winter day.

Stage one: most ingredients in the pot

Like any good chili, it consists of simple ingredients and is hardy yet easy to prepare. It took me maybe an hour, all told, and we had dinner. My son can be somewhat finicky at times but even he ate it up, despite the zucchini involved. Despite the season I did add that summer squash. I couldn’t resist, and I wanted to follow the recipe before trying my own variation.

Just about ready to eat

Some canned tomatoes, some canned beans, a few vegetables to cut up and we pretty much had a meal. It needed to simmer for about a half hour. Easy. And it was tasty as well–not too spicy, savory and filling–certainly worth trying again. And we even had some left over, just what I need for a week of work after a bunch of days off.