Beanless Superfood Chili With Bacon
This beanless chili has become a staple item in my cooking repertoire: for the powerful nutritional punch it packs, its incredible flavour and for its convenience.
I usually make a big batch at once, then portion it out for future dinners, lunches and/or to freeze. After all, having food prepared in advance makes it easier to eat real food more often! Perhaps the best part of this particular dish, though, is that I use it to disguise one of nature’s most potent superfoods: grass-fed beef liver. If you’re looking for more ways to incorporate liver (and if you aren’t, you should be!) but aren’t a huge fan of the taste, this recipe is for you.
Ingredients
- 1 lb bacon (preferably natural, pastured/grass-fed)
- 2-3 lbs. ground beef (preferably grass-fed)
- 1-2 lbs. beef liver (preferably grass-fed, experiment with quantity; more if you don’t mind the taste, less if you want to disguise it)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 heads fresh garlic, minced*
- 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2-3 bell peppers, chopped
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 2-3 jalapeño peppers, chopped finely
- 3 cups spinach or kale, chopped
- 3 28 oz. cans organic whole tomatoes
- 2 cans organic tomato paste
- 1/4 cup (or generous shake) chili powder cumin*
- 1/4 cup (or generous shake) cumin*
- 1/3 cup (or shake) oregano*
- squirt of Sriracha (if you like some extra heat)*
*Play with seasonings depending on your tastes; I personally like a lot of flavour in my foods and usually don’t measure things out, so I encourage you to experiment!
Instructions
- Chop bacon into chunks and brown in a large pot over medium heat, stirring frequently
- Meanwhile, blend the liver in a food processor or blender until liquified (ask the butcher to cut it up into small pieces first so that it’s easier on your equipment)
- Once your bacon is browned, add onion and garlic, letting them cook in the bacon grease to bring out the flavour
- Add ground beef and your blended liver to the pot, stirring well to combine
- Continue to stir frequently over medium heat until the meat is browned and cooked through
- Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste and seasoning and stir to combine
- Bring the contents of the pot to a very light boil (should be steamy, a few bubbles) and stir in the chopped vegetables
- Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for ~45 minutes
Once it’s done, it’s ready to serve and enjoy right away! Allow the rest to cool before ladling it into whatever freezer-safe, individual serving size containers you like for freezing or keeping in a big container to enjoy throughout the week.
Serving Suggestions
- Topped with sliced avocado and cilantro
- Spooned over spaghetti squash and topped with (preferably grass-fed) cheese
- Served over mashed regular potato or sweet potato (if you’re an athlete, trying to put on mass or get more clean carbs, this is a great option – better than shepherd’s pie!)
This recipe is inspired by the Offally Fantastic Paleo Liver Chili recipe at Wildness and Wonder.