No Nightshade Paleo Chili-less Chili (Paleo/AIP/Vegan Option)

Chili-less chili on a chair next to a vintage suitcase styled with a vintage bandana procured in Paris recently, an antique bread board from Fragments Identity and one of the many vintage denim shirts in our house? Why not? When in quarantine…Photo by me, Jenna Peffley, as per usual.

This recipe is VERY easy to modify depending on what you have around. It’s the perfect quarantine recipe (but also good for if we ever get out of quarantine too)! Don’t get stuck on not having enough ingredients or the right ingredients. The point of Chili/stew is to throw a bunch of things into a pot and make a tasty warm meal that reheats easily. Chili in general is pretty easy to modify, and contrary to popular belief, you can make it incredibly tasty without nightshades or beans. If you feed it to someone else who eats all the things but you don’t tell them that you left things out, they likely won’t know the difference - my husband (who eats everything) says it tastes just like chili and he doesn’t notice anything missing. Mission accomplished. Basic concept - if you’re using an instant pot, you want it to be about half full (if you want to make about 8 - 10 bowls) before you cook. However you get there is up to you - if you like a lot of squash and mushrooms, make that your base. If you love sweet potatoes and carrots, use that as your base. If you love all the things, then go for it. They go quite well together. 

Here’s more or less what I do every time, depending on what I have on hand:

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup cooking fat - I tend to like it a little more greasy (olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, ghee, tallow - you do you)

• 1 -2  big sweet potatoes or 2-3 small ones chopped into 1/2”-ish chunks (not rocket science)

• Optional squash cut up into chunks (no skin if it’s butternut) - not necessary if you don’t have it

• 3-5 carrots (depending on size) chopped into round chunks

• 1 onion, chopped into chunks

• 1 head of garlic, cloves chopped into big chunks

• Mushrooms (optional but essential to me because I love them) - I used 2 big portabellos - you guessed it, cut into chunks, and then miscellaneous fancy mushrooms too - sliced if big, whole if small

• Ground meat (omit if vegan or use extra mushrooms) Depending on how meaty I want it, I typically use around 1.5 lbs of ground beef or lamb. For this I used lamb. 

• Bone broth or veggie broth - about 2 cups (more if you like it soupier, which I don’t) 

SPICES

For chili, here’s my typical spice mixture, without nightshades (because autoimmune and nightshades don’t go together so well). Don’t hold back on this part. Spices make the meal. I like to have at least a ¼ cup total of spices, all said, with half being salt. After it’s done, you may need to add more salt. I love fancy salt, if you couldn’t tell.

-Cinnamon 

-fancy salt (this could be pink salt, sea salt, Maldon salt, just NOT basic crappy table salt)

-Herbs de Provence (fennel free for AIP) or Italian Herbs

-Fresh Ginger grated or powdered ginger

-Zest of Orange rind

-garlic powder

*Optional addition (if you’re fully off sugar, omit, otherwise do it - gives it that sweet savory kick)

-¼ cup coconut sugar/maple sugar/date sugar/honey/maple syrup (they all work)

INSTANT POT RECIPE

1. Turn on Sautee and melt cooking fat and throw in onions and garlic for a few minutes and stir around a bit. Add meat and spices and stir around some more. The last few minutes (I think it goes automatically for 10 minutes) throw in the rest of your cut up things and stir around some more. 

2. Add in broth/water and sweetener of choice (optional) after the sautee stops. Stir around again.

3. Put lid on and make sure valve is sealed. Set pressure cooker to soup/stew for 25 minutes.

4. Let it do it’s thing, and once it’s done, let the pressure naturally release. If you lack patience, at least wait about 15 minutes before you self release. 

One of the things I do (and I am no scientist/food safety specialist) is keep the Instant Pot on keep warm overnight and have it again all day the next day. I’ve never gotten sick this way, and since we don’t have a microwave/dishwasher, it saves from extra dishes. I can’t safely recommend anyone else do this, but it’s just what I do. I’ve been known to leave bone broth on keep warm for 3 - 4 days. Don’t forget to check your “Keep Warm” settings to make sure how long it’s set to keep warm for. I typically hit “cancel” and then “Keep Warm” again and set it for 25 hours at a time. 

CROCK POT RECIPE

1. In a pan, sautee up fat, onions, garlic. Add meat and continue to sautee. 

2. Add all ingredients to crock pot, turn it on, and let it do it’s thing for a minimum of 8-10 hours.  

TOPPINGS

One of my recent discoveries is topping with coconut yogurt instead of sour cream, maybe some chives or cilantro or parsley, and microgreens. I am in LOVE with Culina coconut yogurt which you can typically get at Whole Foods. If you don’t have this, it really doesn’t need it, just a nice addition. 

EAT and ENJOY!