So…My daughter’s high school soccer team hosted a couple of neighbor-island teams for dinner recently.  We were responsible for bringing a main dish and a dessert.

Last year, there was an abundance of pizza and chicken dishes and the coordinator was hoping to get more variety this year. Unfortunately, I was on Oahu that day and didn’t have time to cook after I got back. That means that I needed to make our potluck dish ahead of time.

I decided to bring a local-style chili, a pot of rice, and a pan of brownies. These are all things that I can prep before I flew to Oahu for work.

Local-Style Chili

Ingredients
2 homemade Portuguese sausages, cut in bite-size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
garlic, minced
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 can kidney beans
1 can chili beans
1 can Mexican tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
a handful of homegrown tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook Portuguese sausage and ground beef in a large pot.
2.  Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic and cook until vegetables are softened.
3. Add spices, tomatoes, beans, tomato paste & sauce, and salt & pepper.
4. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for about an hour.

I then let it cool and then put the chili into my Instant Pot container and put it in the fridge so that I could easily heat it up the next day with my IP on warm.  When I got home, the chili was ready for me to pack up for transport to the potluck. Living Hilo Style.