After prepping the food for a cooking video last week, I came home with extra prep from a chicken ranch salad.

At first I thought I’d make soup, so I sautéed the vegetables.

There was extra chopped red onion and chopped parsley from another dish (we shot five ), so I added those.

Chopped the remaining half of a jalapeno that had topped the cheese on another dish from the shoot,  deconstructed stuffed cabbage, otherwise known as cabbage-beef casserole.

Crumbled bacon was the finishing touch on the Ranch chicken salad. Tossed into the pan, along with an extra slice of cooked back-up bacon, rough chopped.  I was reveling in not having to be precise.  I decided to make chili rather than soup.

Added a can of whole tomatoes and their sauce. In the freezer, I found chicken stock, and added about a cup and a half.  Chili powder, from the cabbage-beef casserole, and a teaspoon of homemade habanero sauce from the fridge. Used my favorite little spatula to cut the tomatoes into quarters.  Look at all those vegetables! Makes me feel healthy just looking at it.

Two poached skinless chicken breasts were added at the very end, after the sauce had simmered for 40 minutes, and the vegetables were tender. Along with the chicken, I added two cups of pinto beans. These just happened to be in a pot on back burner. I’m lucky to live with another cook.

You can tell how good this was, right?  Thick with vegetables, bright, spicy, and hearty. We served it straight up in bowls, not wanting rice or even bread. The big pot of Video Prep Chili disappeared in a day.