Pancho Villa Stew

EXCELLENT stew but more like a soup. I used dark red kidney beans as that is what I had on hand and I also used a can of diced tomatoes with mild green chiles plus the extra can of chiles. I think next time I will omit the salt as I thought this had enough saltiness, otherwise, its a wonderful recipe!!

For ease and flavor, this is hard to beat. I think I made enough changes that a rating may not apply, but we enjoyed this very much. Probably the biggest change was that I just simmered this on the stovetop rather than using a crockpot. I browned the onions and garlic with the spices (except cocoa, which I added at the end), then added the rest of the stuff. Including the chopping and the simmering, this took 50 minutes (would have been shorter except that I was preparing other things). I served this with warmed tortillas and cheddar cheese for sort of a fajita-like DIY thing--so I omitted the broth entirely to keep the liquid down. I also used 5 garlic cloves rather than powder, just 1 can of beans (and drained the liquid), a whole bag of frozen corn, and since I wanted meat as a flavoring rather than the main event, I omitted the ham and used ~8 oz smoked sausage. Obviously this cuts down on the number of servings. However, I used the same amount of spices and it was not overpowering. I think the addition of the cocoa powder is great for deepening the flavor and, in a less liquid situation like I had, for making a slightly thickened sauce. Thanks for a great meal!

Very satisfying, reminds me of jambalaya but the pinto beans set it apart. DH can't wait to have more. The cumin and cocoa added the Mexican touch that separated this from other stews. This completely filled my 4-quart crockpot. The cooking time is somewhat short for a work day, but I was able to prepare it in leisure on a sleep-late Saturday and then take care of my chores while it cooked. I'm freezing the leftovers; I expect it to be even better when I reheat it. Thanks for posting, weekend cooker! Made for "KateL's Soups and Stews Party" in Potluck Tag.