Bonnie: In the ‘80s when I was the food editor of the New Haven Register, I penned a “What’s Cooking” column where I answered readers’ interesting queries from “Why did the price of cloves rise so dramatically?” (Because of cigarette smoking in Indonesia; I learned that from Marshall Neale who had represented the Spice Trade Association at the time.) to “I moved here from Texas, can you tell me where I can find my favorite can of Ro*tel tomatoes? I love making cheese dip with it.”

That latter query introduced me to Ro*tel. Unfortunately for the Connecticut resident, Ro*tel’s canned tomatoes with green chilies were not available locally. Graciously though, the manufacturer sent the reader (and me) some samples, and mentioned that cases could be purchased direct from the company.

That was then. Ro*tel is now owned by Con Agra, and the tomatoes are more widely available.

I first tried Ro*tel in my family’s quick and easy chili con carne. It adds quite an unexpected kick. Here’s that Chili recipe, adapted using Ro*tel. It makes about 6 servings. It’s not award-winning chili, but it’s certainly the easiest — and it’s good! Cook 1 diced green pepper, 1/2 diced large onion and 1 minced clove garlic in 1 T oil in a 4-quart saucepan until softened. Add 1 pound lean ground beef and cook until the meat loses its pink color. Add a rinsed and drained 15-oz. can kidney beans, two 10-oz. cans Ro*tel tomatoes and 1 T chili powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve over rice.

Yes, served over rice.

Growing up, my family always served our chili over rice; it was our tradition. In fact, one time our friends, the Galloways, invited the six of us for a chili dinner. We each arrived separately, greeted our hosts, walked into the heart of the home, lifted the lid off the chili pot, looked at the otherwise empty stovetop and remarked, “What, no rice?!”

Polite hostess Georgie laughed and started cooking a pot of rice.

For those of you who’d like to try that Famous Ro*tel Cheese Dip the reader had written me about, here it is. It’s not something I make, but you might like to try it, as it’s a classic. In a saucepan, combine 1 pound processed cheese spread (Velveeta) cut into 1-inch cubes and a 10-oz. can Ro*tel; stir over low heat until cheese is melted. Or, place ingredients in a covered casserole. Microwave on HIGH about five minutes until cheese is melted, stirring once. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, or vegetables.

Bryan If you aren’t aware of Ro*tel don’t fret; it can be easy to lose track of brand names for every canned tomato (Prego and Ragu marketing budgets aside). Now that you are aware of Ro*tel, enjoy … it will be easy to make quick dishes with a nice spice. Bonnie has given you some ideas, but let me mention that Tomatoes & Green Chilies also makes a great salsa when pureed quickly with cilantro and an extra dash of Tabasco — that is, if you can stand the heat. Grill up some chicken for a quick burrito and use the leftover tortillas and sauce the next morning for huevos rancheros. Canned tomatoes are not the flashiest of Bites, but Ro*tel does a very basic staple very well.

Eric I was recently home for the launch party of our site and was “attacked” by my mother to try the myriad products that needed to be tested for her variety of columns, and particularly the website. One of my first nights back, we threw together a simple pasta dish that ranks up there as one of my favorites. Boil pasta. Cut (or roughly chop) tomatoes, shallots, garlic and basil and toss with a bit of olive oil in a bowl. Tear into small pieces a Camembert or Brie and add to the mix. Once the pasta is done, strain and combine into the bowl. Voila! To my chagrin, my mother decided to use Ro*tel Tomatoes & Green Chilies in the recipe. These tomatoes have an added, unexpected kick that has a tendency to arouse your palate, which is what happened to the pasta that night. This is not to say that Ro*tel doesn’t offer a BiteoftheBest product. As my brother stated, they make a basic staple very well. If you’re one that enjoys the “spice of life”, then I would recommend making your next salsa, chili or fajitas with this product.