Caribbean Black Chili with Corn Bread Topping

Chili Ingredients:
Non-stick cooking spray
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1 onion, chopped (Yellow or Spanish)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 cans (10 ounce each) Rotel diced tomatoes with chopped chilies
2 cans (15 ounce each) black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Corn Bread Topping Ingredients:
1 cup yellow corn meal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup low fat (1%) milk
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2cups frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 425°. Spray 9x9x2 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Prepare Chili:

Warm oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, red pepper, jalapeno and chili powder. Saute 3 minutes or until onion softens. Stir in tomatoes, beans, water and vinegar. Cook until heated through. Add salt and pepper.

Prepare Topping:

Stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together milk, egg whites, oil, corn and green onion. Stir milk mixture into cornmeal mixture just until evenly moistened.

Assemble:

Spoon chili into prepared baking dish, spreading evenly. Spread cornmeal mixture evenly over chili with a rubber spatula. Bake until topping is golden brown and firm to the touch (about 25 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

You can make the chili portion of this recipe a day ahead of time which, in fact, will improve the flavor. To serve, reheat chili, add the topping, and bake. This recipe makes a pretty thick cornbread topping. You may want to spread only 1/2 of the cornmeal mixture over the chili and use the remainder for corn muffins.