This is an old family favorite, and it used to be on my original website years ago on floracaputo.com, until I started this blog. Then I thought I moved all those favorites over here. But my husband alerted me to the fact that I am missing some old family standbys from my old site. So I plan on rectifying that, starting with this family favorite adapted from a Butterball calendar-from I think 1997.
Yeah, I know. I’m old. Shhh. We don’t speak of this. I’m fighting it with every biotin supplement I swallow.
So we just had this yummy last night for Halloween. It’s a perfect warm dish to thaw the toes of your chilly ghosts and goblins after they come home from terrorizing the neighborhood. It allows everyone to have a meal on their own time as people are coordinating door duty, costume duty, and policing the candy loot. Halloween nights are busy, no doubt. And if it lands on a school night, say good night!
We have this every year, and sometimes when we are being ambitious, we have an open house or casual party on Halloween with this dish as the main attraction. This is perfect for that occasion. Just have a pile of bowls next to the crockpot or stovetop with various chili toppings, and have everyone serve themselves as they mill in and out of the house. My guests always ask what the subtly sweet and nutty flavor is in the chili. They are usually surprised to hear it’s pumpkin. You can’t really tell it’s in there, yet there is just something that makes it special. Sometimes we vary the beans and mix it up, depending on what’s in the pantry. You can do the same. I also like serving it with mini cornbreads or corn chip “scoops”. Yummo.
Turkey Pumpkin Black Bean Chili
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 med yellow bell pepper, diced and 1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
3 cups chicken stock
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 16 oz. can solid pack pumpkin
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 cup cream sherry
1/4 tsp. salt and dash ground pepper
Shredded cheese & Sour cream for garnish
Directions:
Heat oil in a Dutch oven, and cook oil and garlic. Add the ground turkey and brown. Add the bell peppers and jalapeno, and sauté until soft. Stir in oregano, cumin, and chili powder, and cook one minute more. Add broth, beans, tomatoes with the juices, sherry, pumpkin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook 45 minutes. Serve chili sprinkled with cheese and topped with sour cream.
Slow cooker version: To make this work in the slow cooker, you need more solids and less liquid. To that end-Reduce the chicken stock amount to 2 cups. Up the bean amount by adding 1 15 oz. can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed, with the black bean amount above. Up your tomato and pumpkin ingredients as well. You will use 3/4 of a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, undrained. Also 3/4 of a 28 oz. can of solid pumpkin. You will use 2 lb. of ground turkey instead of 1 lb.
Cook the onion, garlic in the oil until soft, then add the turkey. Cook until no longer pink. Add this to the crockpot and add everything else. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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