Chili..With A Little Bit Extra

I'm pretty sure everyone has a favorite chili recipe handed down from hunting fathers, doting grandmothers or spicey moms. I know I do. Chili is one of my favorite things in the world to eat, and I can make a mean batch. A couple of years ago my recipe for chili included lots of ketchup and even a little brown sugar to offset the heat and spice of the peppers. The ketchup and sugar gave it this great texture and depth of flavor that I had a lot of trouble duplicating when I began to make the recipe healthier. For a several months I simply made the chili and missed the old flavor with its sweet undertone. Since I always make a huge batch and freeze some, when I would heat up a bowl, I would add a couple of large handfuls of spinach to up the nutrient ante while I was at it. Finally one day, I decided to use my blender and add the spinach in the beginning, and then there was this head of cauliflower in the fridge heading to bad that I didn't want to go to waste. I decided to throw it in the blender and add it, too. I'll be darned if those two veggies, blended and thrown into the pot didn't add that depth I had been missing!...and gave me a great way to add some veggies at the same time.

The venison that my buddy bagged for me this hunting season didn't hurt either.