Beanless Superfood Chili With Bacon

Served with avocado, cilantro & a few chili flakes. One big, delicious bowl of nutrition!

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!

Big pot of chili simmering

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.

Lunches and/or dinners set for 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.