I love chili. Probably not the TRADITIONAL kind, whatever that means, but I love it. I love turkey chili and veggie chili and even chicken chili. If you go easy on the cheese and sour cream, it can be a wonderfully hearty, healthy meal. It’s perfect for a fall or winter day, even a summer day if you feel like it. You can make a big batch and eat it for lunch all week. It’s chock full o veggies, has tons of fiber if you add beans (which I invariably do) and it satisfies my undying need for a little spice in life. In short, it’s the perfect food.

For me, a bowl of chili is just fine on it’s own, but sometimes its nice to add a little accompaniment. An accoutrement if you will. So last time I made chili, I also tried these Corn Muffins with Jalapenos and Lime Butter.

I started, as I always do, by assembling all of the ingredients.

Next, chop the onion, and sautee it with garlic, adding the canned corn and jalapenos after about two minutes. The recipe called for butter, but I used olive oil to sautee. Once the onions are soft, remove from heat and toss with two tablespoons of butter (you could probably omit this step if you are looking to cut fat/calories).

Next, mix the dry ingredients together. Corn meal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and chili powder (I would probably double the chili powder and use a full teaspoon next time, but I like things spicy).

Next, combine buttermilk, eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Once you’ve combined them, add the onion mixture. Finally, combine onion mixture to dry mixture.

Spoon batter into well-greased muffin cups and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. While baking, combine lime juice and honey with softened butter.

Enjoy!