Drain 2 cans black beans into colander and rinse well, until no more foam appears.

Let beans drain while you use a food processor (affiliate link) to puree the third can of undrained beans and the can of diced tomatoes and liquid, (plus another pinch of Chipotle chile if you really like it hot). Process the beans and tomatoes about 2 minutes, until they are fairly smooth.

In bottom of heavy soup pot, heat 1-2 tsp. olive oil and brown beef, using the back of the turner to break it into small pieces.

Remove beef to bowl, then add a bit more olive oil and 1 cup red onion. Lower heat a little and cook onions until they are softened but not starting to brown. Add all the chile powders and cumin (affiliate link) and saute about 30 seconds.

Add beef stock, browned ground beef, pureed bean mixture, drained beans from colander and tomato paste and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes or longer. (I actually simmered my Chili at very low heat for nearly two hours. Halfway through the cooking time, taste to see if you want additional chile powder. I think chile powder is something you need quite a bit of in a dish like this.)

While Chili simmers, dice avocados and place in plastic bowl with ¼ cup fresh lime juice. (I used Elise’s method to chop the avocado inside the skin, which was easy and not messy.)

Rinse and finely chop the cilantro. Mix 1 cup red onion and half the chopped cilantro (about ¾ cup) into the avocado-lime juice mixture. (This can be kept in the refrigerator while the Chili cooks, but be sure to mix the lime juice with the avocado as soon as you cut it to keep the avocado from turning brown.)

Just before serving Chili, stir in the other ¾ cup chopped cilantro and ¼ cup lime juice and cook about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and black pepper if desired.

Serve Chili hot, with a generous scoop of avocado salsa on top of each serving.

Reduce the beef stock to 1 or 1 ½ cups (depending on how thick you want the chili.)

Use an extra tsp. of regular and ancho chile powder. (I wouldn’t increase the chipotle chile powder; you can add hot sauce at the table if you want more heat.)

Cook 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low (depending on how hot your Crockpot cooks.) Turn to low when you add the lime juice and cilantro.