I was really excited when the Week 41 theme came up with pumpkin. I had been hoping for a pumpkin-themed challenge around Halloween, because I was planning to make a pumpkin chili, but this challenge week let me try the recipe earlier. I mostly based the pumpkin chili on this Whole Foods recipe that got rave reviews, but added more spices.
For the pumpkin chili, I used:
- 2 tbsp olive oil ($0.40)
- 1 large onion ($0.75)
- 2 small green peppers ($0.72)
- 2 jalapeño peppers ($0.23)
- 5 cloves of garlic ($0.08)
- 1 lb of ground turkey ($4.60)
- 1 can of diced tomatoes ($0.75)
- 1 can of pumpkin puree ($1.29)
- chili powder ($0.10)
- cinnamon ($0.10)
- garlic powder ($0.05)
- paprika ($0.05)
- cumin ($0.10)
- cayenne ($0.05)
- salt ($0.05)
- ground black pepper ($0.05)
- 1 can of kidney beans ($0.75)
The spices are pretty much to taste, and for reasons that will become evident when I talk about the flavor of the chili, we used a fair amount and added them in 3 times. The chili cost approximately $10.12, which is not bad for that amount of food, as we also had leftovers.
- 2 tbsp olive oil ($0.40)
- 1 large onion ($0.75)
- 2 small green peppers ($0.72)
- 2 jalapeño peppers ($0.23)
- 5 cloves of garlic ($0.08)
- 1 lb of ground turkey ($4.60)
- 1 can of diced tomatoes ($0.75)
- 1 can of pumpkin puree ($1.29)
- chili powder ($0.10)
- cinnamon ($0.10)
- garlic powder ($0.05)
- paprika ($0.05)
- cumin ($0.10)
- cayenne ($0.05)
- salt ($0.05)
- ground black pepper ($0.05)
- 1 can of kidney beans ($0.75)
The spices are pretty much to taste, and for reasons that will become evident when I talk about the flavor of the chili, we used a fair amount and added them in 3 times. The chili cost approximately $10.12, which is not bad for that amount of food, as we also had leftovers.
The steps for making the pumpkin chili were:
1. Prep the vegetables - chop onions, chop green peppers and jalapeño peppers (without seeds or ribs), mince garlic.
2. Heat olive oil in large pot on medium heat and then add the prepped vegetables. Saute until tender.
3. Add ground turkey and cook until browned/done.
1. Prep the vegetables - chop onions, chop green peppers and jalapeño peppers (without seeds or ribs), mince garlic.
2. Heat olive oil in large pot on medium heat and then add the prepped vegetables. Saute until tender.
3. Add ground turkey and cook until browned/done.
4. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, 1 cup of water, and all the spices (including salt and pepper). Stir everything together until well mixed. Bring it to a boil.
5. Add beans and lower heat to medium low/low heat. Cover and simmer (stirring every so often) for about 30 minutes. Add spices to taste as needed.
6. Serve with dollops of sour cream and cilantro leaves.
5. Add beans and lower heat to medium low/low heat. Cover and simmer (stirring every so often) for about 30 minutes. Add spices to taste as needed.
6. Serve with dollops of sour cream and cilantro leaves.
I was so excited for this pumpkin chili and it looked really good coming out of the pot, although not as thick as I thought it would be with the pumpkin puree in it, but it was really, really bland. We both thought it would have so much more flavor, considering all the vegetables and spices that went into it, but it was so disappointing. We tasted no pumpkin, no spices whatsoever, none of the vegetables, no heat from the jalapeños. It was just sort of a non-descript soup. You could taste the turkey when there were spoonfuls with turkey in it, but otherwise it was so unexpectedly bland.
What was really weird about the blandness of this chili was that it hadn't been that bland when I tasted it earlier. I tried the chili at various points in the cooking process. When I tried it a couple minutes into simmering, I thought it wasn't as flavorful as I thought it should be, but I could still taste some flavors, mostly pumpkin and cinnamon. I added an entire set of the seasonings again at that point, and thought surely it would be flavorful when it was done. I don't know what happened but at some point in those 20 minutes all the flavoring and seasoning somehow evaporated from the dish (instead of intensifying, as we thought it would).
How is that even possible? By the time we had the finished product, there was zero pumpkin flavor and it was like there were no spices at all. What I really don't get is that I added way more spices than the original recipe from the Whole Foods site, so what would it have tasted like if I stuck to just what they originally prescribed? (As a side note, I re-read some comments after making the recipe and noticed a few of the happy reviewers were glad because the pumpkin thickened the soup but left no pumpkin flavor. That's not a good thing in my book for a pumpkin chili, but it's what happened to us too.)
We were pretty disappointed with the final product here and found ourselves adding even more seasoning to our later servings in order to give it flavor. The leftovers weren't as bland because we added a third set of seasonings before it sat overnight to meld. People who reviewed this original recipe said it was incredible, amazing, and the best chili ever, so maybe there's something fundamentally wrong that I did but I don't see it if there is. Although I'm glad I made it because it satisfied my curiosity, I don't think I'll be making this pumpkin chili recipe again.
How is that even possible? By the time we had the finished product, there was zero pumpkin flavor and it was like there were no spices at all. What I really don't get is that I added way more spices than the original recipe from the Whole Foods site, so what would it have tasted like if I stuck to just what they originally prescribed? (As a side note, I re-read some comments after making the recipe and noticed a few of the happy reviewers were glad because the pumpkin thickened the soup but left no pumpkin flavor. That's not a good thing in my book for a pumpkin chili, but it's what happened to us too.)
We were pretty disappointed with the final product here and found ourselves adding even more seasoning to our later servings in order to give it flavor. The leftovers weren't as bland because we added a third set of seasonings before it sat overnight to meld. People who reviewed this original recipe said it was incredible, amazing, and the best chili ever, so maybe there's something fundamentally wrong that I did but I don't see it if there is. Although I'm glad I made it because it satisfied my curiosity, I don't think I'll be making this pumpkin chili recipe again.
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