Autumn Foodies: Pumpkin Turkey Chili with White Beans
By Aaris A. Schroeder
Editor-In-Chief
What to do with those uncarved pumpkins leftover from Halloween? The solutions are vast since the Autumn season is spelled out with food like pumpkins. So after our family tattooed our pumpkin with silly faces and Halloween images, a few days later we decided to butcher, skin, gut and slice our pumpkin up to make an array of fun holiday foods.
I came across a recipe on SkinnyTaste called “Turkey Pumpkin White Bean Chili (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot),” created by website author and recipe developer Gina Homolka (October 11, 2018) and decided to give it whirl with my own rendition. I used the basic preeminence of the recipe but gave it my own creative spin. The website itself is meant for those who want to have a healthy lifestyle when it comes to their meals and I really like finding and creating healthy, tasteful recipes. Here is my version of Pumpkin Turkey White Bean Chili.
Ingredients
1 pound of ground turkey
¼ pound of ground turkey sausage
1 tbsp of avocado oil
½ large red onion
5 garlic cloves
1 tbsp organic chili powder
2 tbsp cumin
1 ½ tsp oregano
2 tsp sage
3 bay leaves
2 cans of white beans
4 cups of chopped bite-sized pumpkin
2 medium-sized green chilis
3 cups of water
1 ½ tsp dried chicken stock (*Or use 3 cups of veggie or chicken broth & nix water above)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
Garnish With
Cilantro
Red Onion
Greek Yogurt
Goat Cheese
Start by chopping up 3-cups of raw, bite-sized pumpkin and add to an ample-sized pot of boiling water. The pumpkin should be pulled off once it is al dente (not soft but not too hard).
While boiling, get another large pot on medium-low heat and add a 1-1/2 tsp of avocado oil. While the oil is heating up, dice ½ large red onion and 5 finely chopped cloves of garlic and add to pot; begin cooking on medium-low. Add salt to taste and oregano to the mix. All of this will help to cook down the onions and add extra flavor.
Once onions are translucent, add in the rest of your avocado oil to one pound of fresh ground turkey and a package of ground turkey sausage for extra flavor. Get everything mixed and cooking. Once you can smell the goodness, add in your other spices: black pepper, chili powder and cumin.
Once ground turkey is cooked well, toss in the bay leaves, sage herbs, 2 cans of white beans and 2 medium-sized chopped green chilies from your garden or produce aisle. Mix everything together and then add to your stock. There are three ways to add stock: either 2 cups of chicken or veggie broth or 2 cups of water and 2 tbsp of powdered chicken stock.
Now, add in your 4 cups of al dente pumpkin chunks and cook on medium-low for about 45 minutes. Right before it finishes, throw in a small handful of cilantro for a fresh taste. Another way to make this pumpkin chili is to throw it all in the crockpot. The only difference is to saute onions and garlic in a pot, add meat and spices, then put all of this and other ingredients into your crockpot.
Once your Pumpkin Turkey Chili is cooked, fill a bowl and garnish with a dollop of Greek or probiotic plain-yogurt, goat cheese, cilantro, chili powder sprinkles and chopped red onion. Enjoy and share with friends and family! This is a delicious way to eat healthy during the holidays and as I found out, an awesome way to put your unused pumpkins to use. Feel free to share any of your results by replying to the feed below and comments about how your experience was making Pumpkin Turkey White Bean Chili.
