Thursday, August 8, 2013

Smoky Butternut Chili

I am getting ready to go to my hometown of Fort Kent, Maine for an end of summer vacation, so I thought I'd do my best to use up some of the food in the fridge. My hubby can cook, but he is not one to experiment with creating new recipes, so I had better use up the unusual stuff while I can before it goes bad while I'm gone! I also promised my buddy, Lewis Carlan, that I'd come up with some new recipes for his plant based radio show, seeing as I'm the recipe expert and all...

My garden embraced the idea of producing butternut squash. Somehow, the plants grew like crazy and produced and abundance of this beautiful vegetable.

I knew that I wanted to make something with butternut and the lovely little bunch of baby collard greens that I had in the fridge. Since I love to have a range of flavors in the dishes I cook, I thought the delicate sweetness of the squash would pair well with smoky chipotle. The rest, my friends, is history. Here is the recipe:

Smoky Butternut Chili

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 large onion (or a small one), chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
12 c water or vegetable stock
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 bunch hearty greens, such as collards or kale, stems removed and torn or cut into bite sized pieces
1 t olive oil (omit if oil free and replace w water or stock)
1 T chipotle in adobo sauce, minced (more or less to taste)
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
sliced avocado for garnish

In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat up olive oil or water, sauté onions, peppers, and garlic. Add butternut squash, water or stock, chipotle, chili powder and cumin. Add greens. Simmer over medium till butternut is tender. Add fire roasted diced tomatoes and black beans. Heat through.

Serve with avocado slices as garnish. Ladle over rice or straight into the bowl!

The sweetness of the butternut squash with the smoky chipotle, the nourishing greens, and the earthy beans is a perfect combination that you won't soon forget. Enjoy!!

No comments:

Post a Comment

01 09 10