Here's the thing: Andy's chili recipe is a damn good one, and it involves (a) some excellent variations (I haven't tried the barbecue sauce yet, but anything spicy and comfort-foody benefits from chocolate) and (b) proper, slow-and-low, cooked-with-love-on-a-long-cold-day cooking. Nothin' better than that, which includes the following recipe.

In fact, the only reason to really bother with this one is that sometimes, you get home from work at 6pm, and you want a bowl of chili at ... 7pm. And you forgot to load the crock-pot in the morning. Or buy ingredients. Or do anything that good chili actually needs.

But all hope is not lost, fellow procrastinator. If you've got a few minutes and a few cans at the ready, you can whip up something that is not exactly chili, but gets the comfort-food job done.

The requirements:
1 can of yellow hominy
1 can of diced tomatoes (I actually like the fire-roasted version, but this is a decidedly 'whatever' sort of concoction)
1 (small) can of good old ro-tel tomatoes and jalapeños
1 can of black beans
7 dashes of your favorite hot sauce (as long as it's not Tabasco, 'cause the vinegar fights with everything else)
A little bit of beer, a few tortilla chips, a handful of shredded cheese, and whatever the hell spices come to mind*.

Optionally, also:
1/2 pound hamburger
1/2 small onion, diced if you please

(*I tend to use any or all of: red pepper flakes, cardamom, cinnamon, garlic salt, cilantro. I like a little sweet, and generally also drop in a bit of liquid smoke, because, frankly, that improves everything.)

So what, pray tell, do you do with these ingredients?

Put 'em in a pot. Heat it, medium-low. That's seriously it.

Okay, it's a little more complex, but not very. You should open the cans first. Don't do much draining, just dump the entire contents of those four cans into your pot; you'll want the canning liquid for, well, liquid. Add your preferred seasoning and a little more salt than you'd think while you heat the whole mess on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, and taste all you want to see how it's coming together. If you want more broth, a half a bottle of brown ale is pretty much perfect; if you want that flavor but also some thickening, crumble yourself some tortilla chips and throw 'em in.

If you're a meat fan, now would be the time to sweat some onion in a separate pan and brown your hamburger with a bit of whatever seasoning blend you choose; I like doing this in a modular way 'cause i'm usually making half-vegetarian and half-not Fake Chili, but you can also toss the meat, once browned, right into the pot.

However you play it, once it's warmed through, you're good to go. Slap some tortilla chips and shredded cheese on top, a dollop of sour cream if that's your thing, and ... well, you don't have chili, exactly. But you have something that cost about 8 cents a serving and happened in 20 minutes, and then you can go play a rousing game of bridge with the rest of your night.