By The election is a month away. The country is tense. The school — virtual for Marcus and Jasmine, in-person for Isaiah and Zoe — is a pressure cooker of anxiety. My caseload is heavy with kids who absorb the national mood the way sponges absorb spills: completely, involuntarily, with no way to wring themselves out. I spend my days listening to children process a world that adults can't make sense of, and the listening is the job and the job is holy and the holiness is exhausting.
I took Marcus to vote for the first time. Not to vote — he's fifteen, too young — but to watch. To stand in line with me the way I stood in line with Mama when I was his age. He watched me fill in the bubbles and feed the ballot into the machine and I said, "People died for this." He said, "I know." He said it without the eye-roll that usually accompanies a mother's historical lecture. He said it like he meant it. Because he does. Because he's fifteen and Black and he reads Bryan Stevenson and argues about justice and knows that the ballot is the argument made real.
Made comfort food the whole week because the nation needed comfort and my household is a nation of seven: chili Monday, mac and cheese Tuesday, chicken pot pie Wednesday, beef stew Thursday, fried fish Friday. The kitchen was a bunker of carbohydrates and warmth. Curtis ate everything I put in front of him without comment, which means he was worried too, because Curtis Jackson only eats without comment when the world is too heavy for words. The food held us. The food always holds us.
Monday’s chili was always going to be the anchor — it had to be, because chili is the thing I make when I need the house to smell like everything is going to be okay before I actually believe it. I’ve been mixing my own seasoning for years because the packets from the store never go deep enough, never have enough heat or enough smoke to do the job that chili is supposed to do, which is warm you from the inside out and remind you that someone in this house loves you enough to stand over a pot. If you’re going to let food hold your people, you start with the seasoning.
Spicy Chili Seasoning Mix
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: Makes about 3 tablespoons (enough for one pot of chili, serving 8)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more for serious heat)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Combine. Add all spices to a small bowl and whisk together until fully blended and no clumps remain.
- Taste and adjust. Dip a clean finger and taste the dry blend — if you want more smoke, add a pinch more smoked paprika; if you want more heat, add cayenne in 1/8 teaspoon increments.
- Store or use immediately. Use the full batch to season one pot of chili (about 2 lbs of meat and 2 cans of beans). To store, transfer to a small airtight jar and keep in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.
- To use in chili. Brown your meat or sauté your vegetables first, then sprinkle the entire seasoning mix over the top, stir to coat, and cook for one minute before adding tomatoes, broth, and beans. This blooms the spices and builds a deeper base flavor.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 10 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 2g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 148mg