• Wash and dry produce. • Halve, core, and dice green pepper into ½-inch pieces. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Place scallion greens in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until ready to serve.

• Set a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker to the sauté/brown setting and add a large drizzle of oil. Once oil is hot, add beef*, green pepper, garlic, scallion whites, Southwest Spice Blend, Mexican Spice Blend, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, breaking meat up into pieces, until browned and mostly cooked through, 3-5 minutes. • Stir in tomato paste and cook until slightly darkened, 1-2 minutes. TIP: No sauté setting on your slow cooker? No problem! Follow the same instructions using a large pan over medium-high heat, then transfer contents to slow cooker at the end of this step.

• If there’s excess grease in your slow cooker, carefully pour or spoon it out. Stir in stock concentrates, beans and their liquid, and crushed tomatoes. Cover and increase heat to high; cook until tomatoes break down, beef is cooked through, and flavors meld, 4-6 hours. • Taste and season with salt and pepper.

• Once chili is ready to serve, dice tomato into ½-inch pieces. Lightly crush tortilla chips in bag. • Serve chili, scallion greens, tomato, tortilla chips, red pepper crema, and cheddar family style and let everyone build their own chili bowl! ***Ground beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.***