Bread Bowl Chili

Today I made a delicious bread bowl chili that became an instant classic with the family.  And what with cooler weather coming soon in the upcoming months (I hope!) this seemed like a prime opportunity to test this recipe out.  Warm chili nestled inside a bread bowl accompanied with crisp tortilla chips (recipe is here), and yummy nacho cheese drizzled on top.  I took the top I'd cut off the bread to make it into a bowl and cut small leaf shapes out of it. Once baked, it had a crouton crunch to it and made it fun to eat.

I'm happy with the way this photo turned out.  Shows a lot of playfulness.  Which, honestly, I love to play with my food =D

Bread Bowl Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 can (16 ounce) dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14 ounce) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (14 ounce) beef broth
• 1 can (14 ounce) tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. Cumin
• 1 (4 ounce) can green chilies
• Hard rolls (this makes a lot, so buy 12 rolls and only use for the amount of people you're serving, so you'll have rolls for the next day)
• nacho cheese (optional, can use shredded cheese instead)
• sliced green onions, as a garnish
• sour cream (optional)

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, cook beef over medium heat until it is no longer pink, drain.  Stir in the beans, tomatoes, broth, tomato sauce, chili powder and green chilies.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce hat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Cut the top fourth off of each roll; carefully hollow out bottom, leaving a 1/2-inch shell. *If you accidentally tear a hole in the bottom, take some of the bread you've pulled out and put back into the bowl and mash down to fill the hole.  I did this myself today and it worked out great.  
• You can either bake the bread in the oven for 15 min @350 degrees F, or until they are crisp on the edges, or go ahead and serve them as is.
• Spoon chili into bowls, top with cheese, green onions, and sour cream. Use tortilla chips to scoop it out and don't forget to enjoy!

Servings: 12

Loosely adapted from a recipe found in Taste of Home The Ultimate ground beef cookbook