A staple in our home growing up was my mother's chili beans, which she still makes several times a month with either ground beef or turkey. Many chilis I've encountered seem almost designed to give you heartburn. This one isn't. These chili beans are more mild and less fatty than most, especially if you use ground turkey. Yet they are very flavorful, hearty, and filling. My mom learned this method of preparing chili beans years ago, when she was still teaching school, from a fellow teacher from Louisiana.

Mom's Chili Beans Recipe
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Can be prepared in 1 hour or less.

Ingredients
2 cups Pinto beans (uncooked, can also used canned)
1 lb ground beef (ground round) or ground turkey
2 cups uncooked white rice
1 yellow onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 to 2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 can of tomatoes (14 oz)
1 Jalapeno pepper (cooked, canned) -sliced (Note concerning the tomatoes and Jalapeno pepper: mom will substitute these on occasion with a cup of Pace brand salsa - works fine)
Salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro leaves
Method
1 Start with the pinto beans. (If using canned beans, rinse them and skip to step 2.) Put the beans in a pressure cooker, cover in enough water so there will be water to drain once they are cooked. Cook for 35 minutes on high pressure and low heat. After 35 minutes, allow the pressure cooker to cool. Open the pressure cooker and test the beans. If they are not done (if the beans are still a little hard) put them back in the pressure cooker for another 5-10 minutes. Note: if you soak the beans for several hours ahead of time, they will require less cooking. Make sure if you do this to drain the soaking water and replace with fresh water before cooking them. If you do not have a pressure cooker, follow the directions on the package for cooking the beans.

2 While the beans are cooking cook the rice according to the instructions on the rice package. Add a Tbsp of butter to the rice while it is cooking for flavor.

3 In a large skillet, sauté onions and garlic in 2 Tbsp of olive oil until translucent on medium high heat. Move the onions over to one side of the pan, turn up the heat to high, and brown the meat away from the onions in the same pan. (If you do not have a large enough skillet, use two separate smaller skillets for the onions and beef.) Add chili powder to meat as it is cooking. Start with one tablespoon, and add more as needed to taste. Stir in the onions and garlic. Add chopped parsley. Add one can of tomatoes. Add sliced Jalapeno pepper. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes.

4 Once the beans are cooked, drain them. Add the beans to the meat and onions, adding another teaspoon of salt to the beans as they go in. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, tasting and adding more salt if needed to taste. Stir in cilantro leaves right before serving, or sprinkle on top.

Serve over rice or with warm corn tortillas.