Taco Soup by any other name..

I first got this recipe my freshman year at BYU from Virginia Whiting..or rather, her mother. It became a staple in my life. Especially after screwing with it a few times.

The original recipe:
Taco Soup
1 lb ground beef
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans corn
2 cans dark kidney beans
1/3 cup salsa
1 tbsp chili powder

Brown ground beef in large pot. Drain excess oil. Without draining, add canned tomatoes, corn and beans. Bring to a low boil. Add salsa and chili powder. Simmer. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and/or Frito corn chips.

But after a few batches made with spaghetti sauce for salsa, black beans for kidney beans, and other substitutions through the years...I made one very bold substitution: a dash of cinnamon and crushed red pepper for chili powder. It's become my signature recipe. I still add spices without much of a formula other than what smells good--so, I'll just tell you how I made it tonight. But it hardly seems appropriate to call it "Taco Soup." And I've even entered it into church chili cook-offs which forced me to rename it,

Black Bean Chili
1 lb ground beef
salt, pepper
garlic pepper
crushed red pepper
2 cans stewed tomatoes, Italian style
2 cans corn
2 cans black beans
oregano
cumin
paprika
cinnamon

Brown the ground beef in large pot, and season with salt and garlic pepper. Drain excess grease. Without draining anything, add tomatoes. Season with crushed red pepper. Drain one can of corn, but not the other as you add the corn. Season with black pepper. Add black beans. Bring to a low boil. Simmer and add a big dash of oregano, a medium dash of paprika, a small dash of cumin and cinnamon. Top with cheddar cheese and/or tortilla strips.