Paleo Chili

Since I've gone all super-low-carb, I thought I'd share my Paleo chili technique (since y'all know I'm not big on measured recipes... I tend to improvise as I go along).

What You'll Need:

- meat (preferably grass fed.. I used 1 lb ground beef from Skagit River Ranch, but stew chunks work, too)
- vegetables that you would cook in a stew
- large can of tomatoes (any style... I like the whole, fire roasted ones from Muir Glen Organics)
- aromatics like onions, garlic, shallots, etc. (I used 1 large whole garlic head and 1/2 a large red onion)
- salt
- chili spices (I used Penzey's Chili 9000)
- Dutch Oven or large pot

What You Do:

Heat up your dutch oven to medium-high heat, and drizzle in some olive oil.

Brown your onions, garlic, and whatever other aromatic vegetables you like. If the other vegetables you want to use could use some browning, throw them in. I usually wait.

Add your meat to the pot, and brown it. Season it liberally with salt and chili spices.

Add the other vegetables, and the can of tomatoes, including the juice. I like to take my mixing spoon and break up the whole tomatoes a little bit. (The reason I buy whole tomatoes is I feel they are potentially higher quality fruit than the cans of broken-down tomatoes. That may or may not be the case, but that is my opinion, and I'm sticking to it).

I suppose if you wanted, now would also be the time to add some wine or beer to the party. I added more chili spice.

Bring the pot to a simmer and cook it slowly till the mixture thickens up to the point that you like it. The vegetables should be cooked thoroughly by now....

How To Serve:

In a bowl. I add chopped avocado, maybe some chopped fresh onion and/or tomato .... and more chili spice.


Note: For those of you going super-low-carb, be aware that, despite their awesome fat content, a medium avocado contains ~15 g of carbohydrates. (ARGH!)


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I just received a vegetable box from my CSA yesterday, so the next time I make this (very soon), I'll be adding zucchini and some other fun stuff. Stay tuned.