Excuse me.

Haaayyyy

Pumpkin chilaaaayyyy

So it's getting colder around here (finally), and I wanted to make more soup this Sunday. It's been nice having it feel like fall (though I'm sure it'll be back in the 80F range by Wednesday) and I've been doing all that I can to celebrate my favorite season. I put up some tiny orange pumpkin lights on the balcony and made hot cocoa on the stove (almond milk, cocoa, stevia, cinnamon, and cardamom) to drink under my lights while I read a new book. I've been watching horror movies for each day of the month with Caleb (which means sometimes we watch two or three in a day). I've been eating as seasonally as possible, including making this chili.

It's vegetarian, but it wouldn't be hard to add meat. Just add it after the peppers and onions have been in the pot for a while and wait for the meat to brown before adding the rest of the ingredients.

I thought about making this with fresh pumpkin, but there are so many other ingredients that I figured... **** it, I'm tired, I'm using canned.

Well, here it is.

First, open a beer. I was drinking Abita pecan harvest ale while I prepped everything. I'll highlight all the ingredients for your shopping list convenience. Chop up:
1 small yellow onion
1 bell pepper (I used green)
2 jalapenos
2 cloves garlic

Once chopped, heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil on medium high heat in a soup pot and throw in the peppers and things. At this point, I poured some of my beer into the pot. Just a splash or two. I like the way onions and peppers smell when you sauté them in some oil and beer haha.

Let that go for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, you can prep:
2 ears of sweet corn
1 can of chickpeas (29oz)
1 can diced tomatoes (with liquid) (15oz)
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
1 can kidney beans (15oz)

Of course, you can just use a bag of frozen corn, but ears of sweet corn are really cheap around here, so I opted for that. Cut the kernels off the cob and set aside. Strain and rinse the chickpeas and kidney beans.

Once your onions and peppers are tender, add the rest of your prepped ingredients along with 2-3 cups of water.

NOW FOR SPICES!

I often season to taste and do a lot of improvising. I will try to remember what I did as best as I can.

1 tsp cumin (I think I added a bit more later)
1 tbsp chili powder (same)
1/2 tsp sea salt (saame)
black pepper (however you like it)
1 tbsp cinnamon (I think... it seemed like a tbsp)
1/2 tbsp ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

That seems about right lol.

Stir that around til you get it tasting like you want, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Just so you know... it didn't turn out very spicy. If that's okay with you, carry on. When I reheat my leftovers on the stove (I don't have a microwave and don't much care for them), I plan to add some cayenne and/or chipotle pepper to spice it up.

It turned out pretty tasty, imo, and I've been devouring it as a salsa as well (when I'm lazy and don't want to reheat anything).

It's very good for you and easy to make.

And there you have it!

In other news, I Conquered the Gauntlet and it was hard haha. Four miles and 25 obstacles, if you don't remember. I finished it, and my time was somewhere in the middle for my age group. There were people who finished it in 34 minutes (oh my GOD) and others who took over 2 hours. I was an hour and nine minutes. Lauren and Alex finished in an hour and three minutes, and they're fast as hell. There were fun obstacles (run across giant bales of hay! climb through a maze of bungee cord and barbed wire! waist-deep mud, go! use this rope to climb up this huge incline wall!) and less fun obstacles (12 foot wall with no rope and nothing to hold onto! Five of them in a row, **** you! Monkey bars you don't have the arm-span for! haha! 15 foot wall with nothing but inch wide boards to climb on every five feet, which is how tall you are, hahaha!) I didn't do the 15 foot wall haha. It looked terrifying, I'd already run about 3.5 miles by then (and several 5-12 foot walls), and I was watching this dude who was military or ex-military, still super buff, grunting and struggling up this wall and then climbing back DOWN the goddamn thing (which seemed scarier than going up), and I was like.... No. I will take the shame. Walking around this bullshit.

It was fun though!

I hope to do it again next year when I've had even more time to be in good shape. I am hooked on races.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying your season, and I hope you enjoy this chili if you make it.