Kitchen sink chili

It's not quite chili season yet, but the weather earlier this week sure was misleading.  After spending the better portion of Tuesday standing in a chill rain making our daily round of the construction sites in the neighborhood, Calvin decided that chili was perfect for a chilly day (in fact, he got a real kick out of saying that...over and over and over again).  I think it's a mark of my increasing maturity (be nice, now) that I was able to pull this off thanks to a well stocked kitchen, or at least a well stocked garden:  dried beans in the cupboard, several plants full of ripe tomatoes, onions from the garden as well, and a strange variety of fresh veggies needing to be used in the fridge.  This, as you can probably tell from its eccentricity, is entirely my own recipe.  Imagine.

Kitchen Sink Chili

Ingredients:
  ● 2 cups mixed dried beans
  ● 2.5 quarts water, plus more
  ● 1 large onion, chopped
  ● 3 lbs tomatoes, chopped
  ● 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  ● ~4 celery stalks, with leaves, chopped
  ● ~2 parsnips, chopped
  ● ~4 stalks bok choy (white part only), chopped
  ● 1/4 tsp salt
  ● 1/2 tsp pepper
  ● 1 tbsp chili powder
  ● 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:
1.  In a large pot combine beans and 2.5 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and allow to sit for 1 hour.
2.  Drain beans, then cover with fresh water, bring to a low boil, and simmer for 3 hours, adding water if necessary.
3.  Add tomatoes, garlic, parsnips, and spices, then simmer for 20 minutes.  Add bok choy and celery and simmer for additional 20 minutes.  Serve hot, topped (optionally) with cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce.

The joy of this recipe is that you can substitute anything you think sounds yummy for anything you think doesn't.