Fall cooking Class

Dorothy Feltner reporting in from Lotts Creek.

Pumpkin chili ingredients in the crock.

In the spirit of Fall,  I chose to do a cooking demo of pumpkin chili in a crock pot for our heart healthy cooking class requirement. I had a batch already prepared and served with rice for everyone to try. It had pretty good reviews from my participants, although I did leave the pepper flakes out. It was actually a vegan recipe, so I was surprised people liked it.

Demolished pumpkin chili.

SWEET AND SPICY PUMPKIN CHILI

INGREDIENTS

For Chili:

• 1 can each (3 cans total) of black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans drained
• 2-3 cups chopped pumpkin
• 4-5 tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock, as needed
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4-6 cloves of garlic
• 3 T tomato paste
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T chili powder
• 2 T cinnamon
• 2 t  cumin
• 1/2 t allspice and ground cloves
• 1/2 – 1 t chili flakes or cayenne (optional)
• sea salt & pepper to taste

For Sour Cream:

• 1 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 t apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 t sea salt

PREPARATION

For Chili: 

1. Soak your cashews while the chili cooks.
2. In the bottom of the crock pot add the oil, chopped garlic, chopped onion, chopped celery and allow it to sauté in your crock pot on the low setting.
3. Once the vegetables have softened, add all the seasonings and mix well. Allow it to continue to cook this way for about 10 minutes.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil, then add the chopped pumpkin. Boil for 5-10 minutes until the color pops but it is not too soft. Drain & toss into the crock.
5. Stir remaining chili ingredients into crock. Cover & cook for 4-6 hours on low.

Pumpkin chili beginning its 6 hour journey to awesomeness.

For Sour Cream:

1. Drain the soaked cashews and add all sour cream ingredients to a blender.
2. Blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Refrigerate to thicken

I did not make the sour cream to go with it because I could not find raw cashews, which would also be expensive. I served it with rice to demonstrate a cheap way to complete proteins without meat. I also emphasized the idea that you can use any type of squash or sweet potato in the recipe. Pumpkin is often overlooked as a meal item. It’s usually a flavor in a drink, used in pie or carved as a decoration, but pumpkin is just another type of squash that can be served in a healthy way. I wanted to show a new way to use pumpkin that incorporated something familiar elements like the use of a crock pot or a chili recipe. I think I it worked out pretty well.