By: Brooke Breyfogle
Servings: 6-8
Ingredients:
2 tbsp cooking fat of your choice (I use equal parts coconut oil and ghee)
1 cup each of diced onion, celery and carrots (or use Trader Joe’s Mirepoix mix!)
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
10 oz white mushrooms, diced
2 med sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1/2 inch square)
2 14oz cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 lbs grass-fed ground beef
4 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
1-2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Instructions: Heat the cooking fat in a saute pan on medium heat, then add the mirepoix (onions, celery and carrots), jalapeno and garlic, season lightly with some salt and pepper and sauté until soft.
Add the cooked mirepoix to a slow cooker (or large stovetop pot) along with the sweet potatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers and cans of tomatoes and simmer on high (or medium-low on the stovetop) for 4 hours.
Heat a pan over medium heat, then brown and crumble the ground beef with some salt and pepper.
While the beef is browning, add tomato paste, salt, oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander and cocoa powder to the slow cooker veggies and combine.
When the ground beef is browned, add to the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
Notes: The sweet potatoes and cocoa powder add a perfect blend of sweetness and depth of flavor to the traditional smoky and spicy chili. I have found that grass-fed beef does tend to get mealy when cooking too long, but the veggies need a good, slow simmer to mellow, soften and blend. The solution? Add the ground beef at the end for the best texture and flavor!
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