Sunday Morning Market's Chili Contest is On!

I love chili.

Let me repeat that with my right hand over my heart:  I, Mike Wells, ... LOVE ... chili!

My love for chili isn't limited to the standard red beans and ground beef smothered in sauce and surrounded by saltines — a winter staple I grew up with back in rural Missouri. (Thanks, Mom!)

I have since matured into something of a chili connoisseur who appreciates the varieties in which good chili takes form.

Who can resist: White chicken chili, 15-bean chili with rice, black bean chili, vegetarian chili, fire roasted tomato chili, three-alarm fire pork chili with Thai hot sauce, or even an artery-clogging all-steak and no-bean chili.

Each bowl I consume feels like a visit to a delicious country. A country where a dollop of sour cream, a pinch of grated cheddar or a small handful of onions is always welcome — but almost never necessary when the chili has been made right.

And so, when the organizers of the Seminole Heights Sunday Morning Market called me up and asked me to be one of the three guest judges for this Sunday's , I didn't hesitate to say yes.

I implore all of Central Tampa's best cooks to enter this contest.

Bring me your best chili on this Sunday. Set my chili-loving soul on fire with your delicious sauces, flavorful beans and savory meats. Make it difficult for me to choose a winner.

And if my love for chili isn't enough to convince you to enter — then consider this: there's a hundred bucks at stake here for the first place winner.

That's a lot of beans!