RECIPES I LOVE - BEEF CHILI WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Someone at CFSB recently shared this recipe and it is just as delicious as it looks.  Make it. Today.

Beef Chili with Butternut Squash

Beef Chili with Butternut Squash

Prep:

10 mins

Cook:

40 mins

Total:

50 mins

4 Points Plus Per Serving — Individual Serving Size is 1 Cup — Recipe Makes 11 Heaping Cups

By: Everyday Maven

Serves: 11

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil or Beef Tallow (I like Fatworks)
• 4 to 5 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 medium stalks celery, chopped
• 1 small jalapeno, chopped (see NOTES regarding spice level)
• 1½ pounds ground beef
• 3½ Tablespoon Mexican chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 cup broth (chicken, beef or vegetable)
• 1 red or green bell pepper, ribs removed and cut into ¼” pieces
• 1 pound cubed butternut squash

Instructions

PREP:

1. If you have a food processor, use it to save time. Place peeled garlic cloves and quartered onion in bowl of food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Pulse until chopped.
2. Remove from processor bowl and add roughly chopped celery and jalapeno. Process until chopped.
3. Clean bell pepper and cut in half. Remove ribs and seeds and cut into ¼” pieces.
4. Measure and combine spices in a small bowl (chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes and bay leaves).
5. If not using frozen, cubed squash, peel squash and cube until you have 1 lb.

COOK:

1. Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add oil or tallow. Add in chopped garlic, onion, celery and jalapeno. Saute until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add in ground beef and use a wooden spoon or spatula to break up into pieces. Saute until meat is browned and cooked through (If you are using extremely fatty meat, you may want to drain the meat and veg mixture to remove some of the grease and return to pot).

3. Next add in spices and stir to coat meat. Continue cooking for approximately one minute, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant.

4. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and broth. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil.

5. Once boiling, add chopped bell pepper and cubed squash. Partially cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 30 minutes. If you are using fresh butternut squash, you may need to cook a touch longer until it’s tender.

6. Remove bay leaves and discard. Remove from heat and adjust salt if necessary. Serve warm with your favorite toppings (shredded cheese, sour cream or plain yogurt, red onion, scallions, avocado, cilantro, etc.) and Enjoy!