Just realized I was ruining my chili with canned tomatoes

I used to always grab whatever diced tomatoes were on sale, but last month I tried fire-roasted ones for a 5-bean chili recipe I found here. The smoky flavor totally changed the whole dish, and now I can't go back to regular ones. Anyone else have a single swap that upgraded a staple meal?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_reed622d ago

Wait, you mean my chili wasn't supposed to taste like watery sadness my whole life? I tried the fire-roasted swap last year and now I literally avoid eating chili at potlucks unless I know who brought it. The regular ones just taste like someone dumped a can of pennies in there now.

eva_thompson2d agoTop Commenter

Oh man, get out of my kitchen! I did the exact same thing with my chili a few months back and now I'm a total snob about it. I used to just dump in whatever plain diced tomatoes were on the bottom shelf, but the fire-roasted ones made my vegetarian chili taste like it had been simmering all day with actual smoked meat. My family complained the first time because it was too "different," but now they get mad if I try to cheap out and use regular ones. It's basically ruined me for any chili that isn't made with those charred little tomato chunks.

lindal131d ago

Notice how once you upgrade one thing, it ruins everything else that used to be fine. It's like the coffee creamer thing where you get used to the good half and half and suddenly the powdered stuff tastes like sad chalk water. That fire roasted tomato magic just raises the bar for everything and you can't un-taste it.