Pizza Chili: South Beach Style

Since I'm vowing to kick the rest of this weight to the curb in 2011, I figured I had better get to cooking!  Eating out is lazy fast and easy, but that isn't gonna get me to my goal, so to keep things interesting I have decided to branch out and try new things.  For me, trying new things doesn't necessarily mean attempting other people's recipes, though I will do that, as well.  I like to come up with my own stuff - maybe it's pride, maybe it's my own little quirkiness needing release...who knows, really?!  Regardless, sometimes little masterpieces are created like this - Pizza Chili!

Here's how it happened...I had bought ingredients to make chili since I decided to take that step back again and do Phase 1 to kick the sugar craving (darn you Christmas cookies).  They were sitting in my fridge and in my pantry wondering when I would put them to use.  I was uninspired by them, honestly.  All I really wanted was pizza.  That's when it hit me - why do I have to make plain old boring chili?  Why can't I up the ante - kick it up a notch - and take the concept to a whole new level by making it into Pizza Chili?!

So, I'm kind of a boring pizza eater.  I kinda like just plain cheese with extra sauce.  When I'm feeling being bold and daring, I'll do mushroom or olive or maybe a combo of the two.  On occasion, I like onion on my pizza, too.  I know a lot of people dig pepperoni on their pizza - I don't mind it, but it's so fattening, so I usually avoid it.  I do, however, like the Hormel turkey pepperoni, so when I am making my healthy version of pizza at home - using a whole wheat tortilla in lieu of pizza crust, I will sometimes use that.

Here's what you need - think of your favorite pizza topping that seem like you could put them in chili.  Then just do it.  Note:  green peppers might be awesome in this if that's your thing.  I don't do cooked peppers cuz I hate them.  I eat them raw all the time, but I hate them cooked - go figure! 

Here's what I used:

1 large white onion
some minced garlic (didn't measure)
2 lbs 96% lean ground beef (of course turkey would work, too)
1 package Hormel turkey pepperoni (slice the pepperonis in half)
1 large can sliced black olives (or buy them whole and slice them yourself)
1 container of sliced mushrooms (or buy them whole and slice them yourself)
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes (fire roasted would be delightful)
oregano
basil
garlic powder
salt
pepper
2% Italian cheese blend as a topper

Here's what I did:

Chopped my onion and added it into the skillet with the hamburger meat cooking it until the meat was browned.  While that was cooking, I sliced my shrooms and pepperonis.  I opened my cans.  I drained my olives.  I seasoned my meat with all the seasonings above.  Once it was all cooked, I transferred the meat and onion into a large pot and added in the canned tomatoes, the shrooms, olives, and pepperoni.  I let it simmer on the stove until it was all nice and bubbly.  I then scooped it out and topped it with some mozzarella.  It was like pizza, but without the crust.  It was like chili, but without the beans and chili powder.  It is a Kim creation.  Enjoy.