By Noah's first football game as a pep band member. He plays saxophone in the stands now — not concert pieces but fight songs, crowd-pumpers, the musical wallpaper of Friday night football. He doesn't care about football. He cares about the saxophone. The football is the excuse. The saxophone is the reason. But there he was, Friday night, in the stands, in his band polo, playing his heart out for a team he couldn't name the starting lineup of, and I sat in the bleachers and watched my boy play music under the lights and thought: this is what thirteen looks like. This is what finding your thing looks like. It looks like a saxophone at a football game.
I made chili for the tailgate — the crockpot recipe, the one that cooks all day and fills the house with the smell of cumin and chili powder and slow-simmered beef. I brought it in the crockpot to the game, plugged into a power strip at the tailgate that Kevin's coworker set up, and served it from the parking lot in paper bowls to anyone who was cold enough to want it. Everyone was cold enough to want it. September football in Iowa is not warm. September football in Iowa requires chili and blankets and the willingness to sit on aluminum bleachers for three hours in weather that insists you should be inside.
Jack came to the game and spent the first half watching the field maintenance crew drag the end zone lines. He said, "The chalk distribution is uneven." He was eight. He was critiquing groundskeeping. Kevin said, "Watch the game." Jack said, "I'm watching the ground." There is a child who watches the ground the way his grandfather watched the soil. The game is above him. The ground is beneath him. He knows which one matters more.
Sunday I drove to Grinnell. Dad was watching the Iowa game on TV, which he does every Saturday during football season — not because he cares about the Hawkeyes but because he cares about sitting in his chair and watching something that moves and makes noise, because the alternative is sitting in his chair watching the fields that aren't his, and the football is less painful. Mom was knitting. She knits now — something she started after the farm sold, a new thing for hands that used to be busy with canning and cooking and feeding and which needed something to do when the kitchen got smaller and the family got smaller and the need got smaller but the hands stayed the same size.
The chili I brought to Noah’s game that Friday wasn’t fancy — it cooked all day while I packed the car and found the power strip cord and reminded Jack twice to put on an extra layer — but that’s exactly what made it right. This Extra Veggie Vegetarian Chili is the recipe I reach for when I need something that takes care of itself while I’m taking care of everything else, and when September in Iowa turns the bleachers cold, a crockpot full of this in the parking lot is the warmest thing you can offer anyone. It fed strangers that night just as easily as it feeds family, and that felt like exactly the right kind of food for a night like that one.
Extra Veggie Vegetarian Chili
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 6–8 hours (slow cooker) | Total Time: Up to 8 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Optional toppings: shredded cheddar, sour cream, sliced green onions, crackers
Instructions
- Saute the aromatics. In a skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook for 4–5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. (You can skip this step and add everything raw to the crockpot — the saute just deepens the flavor.)
- Load the crockpot. Transfer the onion mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the zucchini, corn, all three cans of beans, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and vegetable broth.
- Season. Sprinkle in the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Stir everything together until combined.
- Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 7–8 hours or on HIGH for 4–5 hours. The chili is done when it’s thick, fragrant, and the vegetables are tender.
- Taste and adjust. Before serving, taste for seasoning and add more salt, chili powder, or cayenne as needed. If the chili is thicker than you’d like, stir in a splash of broth.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls and offer toppings on the side. This chili travels beautifully — keep the crockpot plugged in and serve directly from it at a tailgate or potluck.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 290 | Protein: 14g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 51g | Fiber: 14g | Sodium: 620mg