Chili – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

While pumpkin is predominantly used in dessert dishes, it can also be used to make some delicious savory dishes. Pumpkin is actually really good for you, so, by using it in dishes that aren’t overloaded with sugar you can get some great health benefits from it. It can boost your immune system, protect your eyesight, lower your risk of certain cancers and promote heart and skin health. So, while the past couple of weeks I have brought you pumpkin desserts this week I am bringing you a pumpkin dish that is perfect for the cold days ahead… a Turkey Pumpkin Chili.

As with most chili’s this one is cooked in just one pot and takes minutes to prepare. I started out by sautéing onions and then adding in the ground turkey and spices. Once the meat was browned, I added in the beans, pumpkin, water and chicken broth and continued to cook it until it was thickened.

And enjoyed it with a dollop of sour cream and hot sauce on top.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1 15oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 15oz. can pumpkin

1 14.5oz. can chicken broth

1 3/4 cups water

Hot sauce, sour cream and scallions for topping

Directions:

In a heavy-bottomed pot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are tender. Stir in the turkey, coriander, smoked paprika and salt, cook, stirring occasionally to break up the ground turkey, until the meat is browned.

Add in the beans, pumpkin, water and chicken broth to the turkey mixture. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring often until everything is heated through and the chili begins to thicken, about 15 minutes.

Top with hot sauce, sour cream and/or scallions.

Recipe from Real Simple Turkey Pumpkin Chili

Slow Cooker Sunday: Chicken Enchilada Chili

When it comes to chili the possibilities are endless. I’ve posted quite a few on this blog, traditional, vegetarian, beef and today I am bringing you a chicken one. A Chicken Enchilada Chili that is easily made in a slow cooker. And not surprisingly it’s one of my favorites, set it in the slow cooker and forget it. Lately with these types of recipes I’ve been cooking the recipes overnight in my slow cooker. I am apprehensive to leave my slow cooker on if I’m not home but somehow I am okay with sleeping while it’s on. It’s the best though, I place all of the ingredients in around 12m and by 8am it’s done. I’m an early riser so this actually works out best for me. My food is done in the morning and I can attend to other things during the day. Since I usually do this on a Saturday night my Sunday then consists of cleaning, laundry and all those other fun Sunday things to do.

One of the great things about this chili is that it gets better each day. I would suggest heating your leftovers on the stove as opposed to the microwave. Because of the cream cheese, which makes this chili super creamy, you may find that your chilled leftovers become quite thick and I personally think heating the chilled leftovers on the stove re-melts the cream cheese perfectly as opposed to the microwave. Either way, make sure to add some toppings before enjoying. I enjoyed mine with avocado and shredded cheddar and it was perfect! Squeeze some fresh lime juice to really bring out the flavors.

Oh, one more thing. Per the directions it says to cook the chili on low for 6 to 8 hours until the chicken shreds easily, don’t worry about overcooking. As I said, I cooked this overnight and left it for the full 8 eight hours without checking it prior and my chicken was perfect for shredding by then and the rest of my ingredients hadn’t suffered because of the extra time in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Chili

Servings: 6
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Ingredients:

1 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce

1 14.5 oz. can of petite dice tomatoes with green chilies*

1 16 oz. can of chili beans in mild chili sauce**

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can of corn, drained

1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts

2 cups chicken broth or stock

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon ground paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, at room temperature

Toppings: sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, avocado, lime, cilantro

*I used a can of Rotel

**Available from Bush’s beans

Directions:

In the insert of your slow cooker add the enchilada sauce, tomatoes, chili beans, black beans, corn and chicken. Add in the chicken broth (or stock) and the seasonings and give everything a good stir.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until the chicken will shred easily.

Remove the chicken and shred using two forks. Set aside.

Cube the softened cream cheese and add to the slow cooker. Stir well and cover. Switch the temperature setting to high and let the chili sit for five minutes. Use a whisk to whisk the cream cheese to melt into the chili.

Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and cover. Continue cooking on high until the cream cheese has completely melted and then stir again.

Serve with your desired toppings.

Recipe from Chelsea’s Messy Apron

Slow Cooker Sunday: Vegetarian Chili with Sweet Potatoes

I’ve posted a fair amount of chili recipes and today I am bringing you one more… A Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili with Sweet Potatoes. This chili is loaded with kidney beans, black beans and chunks of sweet potato. And if you are not keen on spicy chili then this is the chili for you.

While I normally do most of my slow cooking on Sunday’s I ended up making this chili in my slow cooker overnight Saturday to Sunday since I had plans to go apple picking on this particular Sunday. I like to be home when my slow cooker is on, I know it’s completely safe and all, but, I just don’t like leaving it unattended. Also, if there happens to be a power outage I can always switch the dish to cook in the oven or on the stove as opposed to my entire meal being ruined because it didn’t cook properly, especially with a meat dish. I once read that if you do leave your slow cooker unattended and there happens to be a power outage and you’re cooking meat the best bet is to toss the food since you can never be sure of bacteria growing. And yes, I know it’s not any safer to have it on while I am sleeping, we can all recall how Jack died on “This Is Us” (even though the slow cooker wasn’t on but had a switch malfunction), in the back of my mind it’s safer thanks to my smoke detector and my keen nose. Speaking of my keen nose, the delicious aromas of this chili woke me prior to the 7-hour cooking mark and I couldn’t go back to sleep, so, I decided to check on it and happily discovered that the sweet potatoes were fork tender so I was able to turn it off and go back to sleep. If it had been on any longer the sweet potatoes would have turned to mush, but, as you can see from the picture below the sweet potato was intact.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili with Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Kosher salt and black pepper

2 14.5 ounce cans of diced fire roasted peppers

1 15.5 ounce can of black beans, rinsed

1 15.5 ounce can of red kidney beans, rinsed

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Options for serving: sour cream, sliced scallions, shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips

Directions:

In the insert of your slow cooker combine the onion, pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add the tomatoes (and their juices), beans, sweet potato and 1 cup of water.

Cover and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened, 7-8 hours on low and 4 to 5 hours on high.

Serve with your favorite toppings or eat on its own.

Recipe from Real Simple

Slow Cooker Sunday: Smoky Beef Chili

So, I have made chili before but, this was the first time I’ve made chili using beef chuck as opposed to ground beef and I must say it was a much heartier chili and definitely one I’ll make again.

This is my favorite type of slow cooker meal… Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker, give it a good stir and set it to cook…

And a few hours later my meal was ready! You can’t beat that.

When I packed some for lunch I topped it with shredded cheddar cheese so when I heated it up it was all melted and gooey… YUM!

Slow Cooker Smoky Beef Chili

Servings: 6 to 8
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Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

3 15.5oz. cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 28oz. can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup tomato puree

3 teaspoons chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, plus 1 teaspoon sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

For topping: grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and cilantro

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in a slow cooker and give everything a good stir to combine all of them.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, until the beef and vegetables are tender. Taste for seasoning and serve topped with your favorite topping.

Recipe from Slow Cooker Family Favorites

Slow Cooker Sunday: Vegetarian Chili

For today’s Slow Cooker Sunday dish I bring you one that is great for all you vegetarians who like a little kick to your dishes and also for you meat lovers who want the heartiness of your typical beef chili but want to take a break from the meat… A Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili that has butternut squash, beans and corn as its main ingredients.

To begin I diced a red bell pepper and yellow onion. I opted to go the easy route and bought the butternut squash already chopped. You really don’t want your butternut squash to be chopped too small as it will break apart while in the slow cooker.

Next, I added the diced vegetables along with kidney beans, vegetable broth, corn, fire roasted diced tomatoes, garlic and the following spices; cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, oregano, salt and pepper. I also added in two minced chipotle peppers in adobo. If you want to turn down the heat on this dish you can omit the chipotle peppers.

I set my slow cooker to low for 8 hours. Truthfully this chili was probably done closer to 7 hours, but, I didn’t mind the texture of the veggies due to the extra cooking time.

Can I just say I love butternut squash and how sweet it gets once cooked. In this dish the sweetness was a perfect balance to the heat!

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili

Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

14 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes

14 oz. kidney beans, drain and rinsed

4 cups (2 lbs.) butternut squash, peel and diced

2 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup corn, fresh or frozen

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced (remove the seeds to lower the heat)

2 tablespoons cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a 5 -to- 6 quart slow cooker and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Recipe from The Lemon Bowl

Slow Cooker Sunday: Chili

There are so many types of chili’s… Southwestern, White Bean, Three Bean, Vegetarian, Turkey, Chicken…. etc, etc, etc. Either way you make it the end result is pretty much the same… It’s delicious! For today’s Slow Cooker Sunday series I’m bringing you a classic chili, well, classic in my book. You know, ground beef, red kidney beans, some onions, cumin, garlic and so forth.

To begin, I sautéed 2 chopped onions and 1 chopped pepper in oil until they were softened.

Once they were softened I added in chopped garlic, chili powder and cumin.

And finally I added in ground beef along with salt. I broke the meat up with a wooden spoon and cooked it until it was no longer pink.

Next, I added the meat into the slow cooker along with diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and kidney beans. After stirring everything to combine it I covered it and cooked it on low for 8 hours.

And after those 8 hours once the chili thickened and all the flavors blended together I stirred in some chopped green chilies.

To serve it, I topped it with shredded cheddar cheese and a piece of cornbread that I made with a quick and easy mix from Jiffy.

What’s best about this chili is the leftovers… It tasted even better the following day!

Easy Slow Cooker Chili

Servings: 6
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Ingredients:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium yellow onions, medium dice

1 red bell pepper, medium dice

6 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 cup chili powder*

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 pounds lean ground beef**

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes***

1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce***

2 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chilies

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions and bell pepper, season with salt and cook until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Stirring to coat the vegetables and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ground beef and the measured salt, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook until the meat is no longer pink.

Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker, add the diced tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce and beans, stir well to combine. Cover and cook about 8 hours on low or 6 hours on high.

Stir in the chopped green chilies. Season with addition salt if needed and serve with your favorite toppings.

*Yes, it sounds like a lot but don’t worry the meat absorbs it and it will not be overpowering

** I used 80% lean / 20% fat

*** For the diced tomatoes I used two 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes and for the tomato sauce I used two 8-ounce cans of no-salt added tomato sauce.

****Please note I use a 5 1/2 quart slow-cooker.

Recipe from Chowhound