It might sound odd to serve a warm bowl of chili in these hot temperatures, but to me, a chili filled with the season’s best veggies is always a good idea! For this chili recipe I start by sauteing a healthy mixture of onion, garlic, carrots, celery, sweet bell peppers, a hot pepper and ripe summer squash. This mixture is then flavored with a lovely combo of ground cumin, coriander, chili powder and dried oregano. Next comes the stock, diced tomatoes, the cooked beans, and the cooked ground meat. (I like to use a spicy ground Italian sausage in this particular chili, but even grass-fed beef, ground turkey, or even Italian pork sausage would be grand.)
And by all means, feel free to make this a vegetarian chili as well, it is hearty enough on its own even without adding meat! Serve this chili over brown rice along with a touch of shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream flavored with lime juice and lime zest.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Summer Squash & Chicken Sausage Chili with Lime Crema
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, cut into rounds
- 1 hot pepper, sliced
- 1 sweet bell pepper, diced
- 1 celery stalk, sliced
- 2 summer squash (yellow squash or zucchini work fine), sliced into half-moons
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups no-sodium added chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 large tomatoes, diced OR 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
- ¾ lb. ground meat of your choice, cooked fully
- 1 cup beans of your choice, fully cooked (canned or dried and cooked)
- Juice of 1 lime
- For serving: hot sauce, sour cream flavored with lime zest and juice, shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
- Heat the oil and the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the crushed red pepper flakes, onion, garlic, carrot, hot pepper, celery, squash and bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper and all of the dried spices; sauté for 5-7 min or until the onions are translucent. Next, add in the stock and tomatoes; bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer the mixture for 10-12 minutes, or until the veggies are all tender. Reduce the heat to low.
- Add the cooked meat and cooked beans into the pot; along with the juice of 1 lime. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
- Serve warm with rice, topped with hot sauce (if desired), shredded cheese and some of the lime crema.
Tagged: beans, bell peppers, carrots, celery, cheddar cheese, chicken sausage, chicken stock, chili, garlic, Italian sausage, lime crema, lime juice, onion, sour cream, squash, squash and chicken sausage chili, summer chili, summer squash
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