Wednesday Group 1
Autumn Harvest Chili
Description
Everyone loves this no-bean Autumn Harvest Chili. It’s a smoky/sweet combo of ground turkey, spices, and fall veggies like pumpkin and sweet potato.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add 1 tbsp of oil to a large soup pot or saucepan (2 qt or 3 qt) and heat over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook until no longer pink, breaking up large chunks as you go. Add the diced onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes, until onions are translucent.
- Add the carrots, sweet potato, corn, pumpkin, and diced tomatoes and mix well. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, salt, and cayenne (if using).
- Continue cooking on medium-high until mixture starts to bubble. Lower heat to low-medium, cover, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
- Serve hot topped with any combination of plain yogurt, sour cream, ripe avocado, lime juice, hot sauce, and/or sharp cheddar.
Video
School is back again and that means it’s the start of fall semester. School can cause a lot of added stress to college students’ everyday lives. From expensive textbooks to tuition and rent, it can be an added stress to go to the grocery store, wandering the aisles trying to stay within budget and make meals that you know will keep you satisfied. You shouldn’t have to break the bank to be able to make nutritious and delicious meals. This Autumn Harvest Chili recipe by Juggling with Julia will help you prevent that. No more breaking the bank or worrying about finding the time in between classes and homework to cook. This recipe uses ingredients that are in season for the fall and easy to find, but most importantly the ingredients are inexpensive. Most ingredients are basic household ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
When you think of college your mind probably goes directly to studying, taking notes, and spending long hours finishing homework and writing papers. Our brains are constantly using energy throughout the day to keep us going, even more so when so much information is being thrown at you from all different directions. Our bodies can use many things for energy but our main sources are protein and carbs. This recipe is packed with protein and good carbs to keep you going throughout your busy day. It is veggie dense, to help boost your daily intake of those necessary vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. You can even meal prep this recipe at the beginning of the week and take it on the go. It tastes just as good heated up, as it does straight out of the pot.
We hope you love this recipe as we have. We hope it takes stress off your budget, and we hope that it gets you into the cozy fall mood!
Putting it Together
If you are new to cooking or experienced, this is a fun recipe to try. Because of it’s seasonal veggies, it could be a new recipe to try. Have you ever cooked with pumpkins? The first thing to do when beginning to make this recipe is to gather everything together and measure ingredients. This is a process often called mise en place. As many of the experienced cooks and chefs know, mise en place can help in preparation to ensure you have everything you need while also setting you up to create a higher quality dish by having everything ready to add at the moment it’s needed.
After you gather everything, you will saute the meat and onions together. Sauteing is a form of cooking where you add a little oil and use high heats to cook things. To achieve the best results, make sure to cut the onion to uniform sized pieces as shown in the video below. After ensuring all the meat is no longer pink and the onions have reached that opaque (almost clear) look, you can proceed. Refer to the picture below for a good representation!
Now that the meat is up to the right temperature (155 degrees F for beef or 165 degrees for poultry) and the onions are soft, we will add the carrots, sweet potato, corn, pumpkin, and diced tomatoes and seasonings. Part of food literacy is the ability to understand how cooking process can influence your final product. We added the onions first to ensure they become soft and release flavor to interact with all the other ingredients. Consider adding the ingredients in reverse order that you want firmness. In other words, add the ingredients that you want to softest first, while the firmer ingredients later.
Allow everything to boil and become soft. During this time pectin, a polysaccharide that provides an excellent source of soluble fiber, will break down in heat. To ensure everything has weakened to your desired texture, occasionally pull out little samples of the soup and bite into the contents to check for a soft, but firm texture. We found that the time this takes slightly differs each time, so make sure to check occasionally as you cook. When all the ingredients are combined, it may appear that additional liquid is needed; however, note that the tomatoes will release their juices during simmering.
Serve in a bowl and garnish with plain yogurt, sour cream, ripe avocado, lime juice, hot sauce, and/or sharp cheddar according to your preference. We would also recommend this dish to be prepared with bread or rolls at your preference. Once put together this dish is unique and healthy!
Recipe Tips
- Substitute vegan crumbles, ground beef, or ground pork for the turkey, or try a combination of these!
- Try raw, cubed winter squash (like butternut or acorn) in place of the sweet potato. Also, cooked winter squash is a nice substitute for canned pumpkins.
- For more intense heat from the spice, add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne. In my family, anything over 1/8 or so is too much! You do you.
Toppings
Don’t forget the toppings! There are endless ways to dress up this recipe, its customizable and completely up to you. We recommend sliced avocado, for extra healthy fats. Cilantro, for extra flavor and antioxidants. Sour cream, to add more probiotics into your diet. Fritos or your favorite chips, because not everything has to be healthy. Anything you love, its your bowl of soup!
Budget Friendly Tips!
Making this recipe “in season” with its ingredients will lower the overall ingredient cost. This is an important skill in food literacy. It’s using your knowledge of nutrition and food production when cooking for yourself and others. When you eat seasonal vegetables, you can eat a more diverse diet while saving money. So not only does it allow opportunities for you to stretch your cooking experience, but can also lead to health benefits. These are important aspects of developing food literacy. Our chili is called “Autumn Harvest Chili” because tis the season for the autumn vegetable harvest!
Cost Breakdown
| Ingredient | Amount Needed for Recipe | Unit Cost of Ingredient | Recipe Ingredient Cost |
| Vegetable (canola) oil | 1 tbsp | $3.97/48 fl oz (~2 Tbsp = 1 oz) | $0.04 |
| Lean Ground Turkey | 1 lb. | $11.44/3 lbs. | $3.81 |
| Diced Onion | 1 small, about 1/2 cup | $0.59/each | $0.59 |
| Grated carrot | 1 large, about 3/4 cup | $1.96/12 oz (16.3 ¢/oz) | $0.99 |
| Sweet Potato | 1 large | $1.06/each | $1.06 |
| Corn | 1 15 oz can | $0.50/15 oz | $0.50 |
| Canned Pumpkin Puree | 1 cup | $1.17/1 can (15 oz) (7.8 ¢/oz) | $0.62 |
| Canned Petite Diced Tomatoes | 2 14.5 oz cans | $0.96/1 can (14.5 oz) | $1.92 |
| Chili Powder | 1 tbsp | $1.00/3 oz (1 oz = 4 tbsp) (33.3 ¢/oz) | $0.08 |
| Ground Cumin | 2 tsp | $1.28/2.5 oz (1 oz = 14.2 tsp) (51.2 ¢/oz) | $0.04 |
| Cayenne Pepper | 1/4 tsp | $3.77/2.25 oz (1 oz = 12 tsp) ($1.68/oz) | $0.14 |
| Salt/Pepper | To taste! | — | — |
| TOTAL RECIPE COST | $9.79 | ||
| Cost per Serving (4 servings) | $2.45 |
