This is one of our favorite meals, all year round.  It started as a blend of two different chili recipies and has evolved considerably since then.  The batch shown here is made with a meat substitute, but I've also made it plenty of times with ground beef or ground pork.  I usually adjust the spices and other ingredients depending on how I feel that day, phase of the moon, relative humidity, and other random factors, but the listed amounts should turn out pretty well every time.  My Dad is from Texas - his chili is simpler and more elemental. (He doesn't think a chuck-wagon cook would ever get away with adding dark chocolate to the pot, for one thing.)  But he agrees with me that when you're cooking, you have to follow your gut, and this is where mine took me. Hope you enjoy!

To duplicate this chili you will need:

A 5 quart slow cooker

A can opener

A tool for stirring and mixing

Your knife of choice

The ingredients listed below

About 15 minutes to throw it all together

Ingredients:

Two boxes of fake ground meat crumble (or, to instantly ruin your vegetarian credibility, 3 lbs of browned ground beef.  You could also use diced pork or chicken, whatever.)

4 cans of beans (I used 3 cans of black beans and 1 can of red.)

1 big can (~20 oz.) of tomato product (I use puree, but you can put in chunks or whatever.)

1 can of diced green chilies

2 tbs chili powder

2 tbs cumin

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne (this makes a pretty mild chili.  Bump up the cayenne if you need more oomph.)

1 onion, diced

"some" garlic (I use approx. 5 cloves worth)

3 tbs of dark chocolate chips (or a nice chunk of a dark chocolate bar, diced, or 2 tbs of dark chocolate cocoa powder.)

Step 1 - if you are still going vegetarian, heat up the crumble in the microwave.  If you're going with meat, brown the meat in a pan.

(Note for meatitarians - when browning the meat, go ahead and throw the onions and garlic into the pan.  Transfer the meat and onions to the crock with a slotted spoon rather than dumping it all in, that way you leave most of the fat behind.)

Step 2 - Put the meat or meat substitute into the slow cooker and add the spices, including garlic, chocolate and onion.  Stir that up so the stuff is all evenly distributed.

Step 3 - open up the cans for all the other ingredients and dump them in.  Stir to mix well.

Step 4 - For best results, cook for at least 8 hours on "low".  (You could cook it for four hours on "high", but the longer the flavors have to blend, the better it is.)