On Sunday, my family and I got together at my parents’ place to watch the 100th Grey Cup game. (Grey Cup is Canada’s version of the Superbowl). The Grey Cup took place in Toronto this year. Calgary Stampeders went into Toronto in hopes of winning against the home team (the Toronto Argonauts), but the Argos had others plans. In the end, the Toronto Argos won in front of their hometown crowd. As much as I love celebrating Grey Cup and watching the big championship game, I’m always sad that football season is over.
As we do every year, we had WAY too much food for our Grey Cup festivities on Sunday. But it was all so, so, so delicious! Mom made taco dip (a family staple), spinach dip and mini pitas stuffed with a delicious spread of mayo, cheddar, roasted peppers and toasted almonds. Yum! My sister brought homemade jalapeño poppers. They were awesome! I’ll have to share her recipe soon. They were baked and felt much less greasy then the fried ones, but they had just as much flavour (if not more!). I brought along a huge bowl of green goddess guacamole dip. Mmmm!
After our appetizer overload during the game, we sat down for some homemade chili. I made a vegan chili for everyone to try – one perfect to share for this week’s edition of Vegan Tuesdays! I’ve actually never used my slow-cooker, so I thought I’d finally try it out. I picked a slow-cooker chili, so dinner could slowly cook during the football game.
The chili turned out great! I welcomed a huge dose of veggies after I had polished off so many appetizers. The coconut milk adds a really nice element to the chili. I’ve never had coconut milk in chili before, but it added something special. The spices were well balanced with the sweetness of the butternut squash and apples. We served the chili over a small scoop of rice and it was perfect. A wonderful, heart-warming meal – just right to celebrate the end of another football season.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was great. We went to see the movie Lincoln on Friday and really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it :) We also went out to a karaoke party on Saturday. It’s official – I cannot carry a tune to save my life. *hehe* But I can dance to the Spice Girls like nobody’s business!
Enjoy your week! xo
Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Coconut Chili
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 medium apples, peeled and diced
- 2 cups of peeled + diced butternut squash
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced (or 1 tsp of garlic powder)
- 1 medium can of black beans, drained + rinsed
- 1 medium can of chickpeas, drained + rinsed
- 1 can (400ml) of low-fat coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons of chili powder
- 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 2 cups of vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooked basmati rice (optional)
- chopped fresh cilantro, parsley or chives (for garnish)
- shredded unsweetened coconut (for garnish)
Method
- Place all ingredients except the garnishes/rice in a slow cooker. Cook on high heat for 4 to 6 hours (or on low for 8 hours). During the last hour, taste the chili and season with salt and pepper. Add more chili powder as desired. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper if you like chill on the spicy side. In the last 45 minutes of cooking, open the lid to allow the chili to thicken. If the chili looks a bit dry, add a bit more vegetable broth.
- Serve over basmati rice. Garnish with fresh herbs and shredded coconut.
Source: Winnipeg Free Press originally from Crock-Pot Cookbook
this looks totally delicious! My grandfather and father always get together for the grey cup and we always have a meal together & it’s always ordinary. My nice little grandma always makes me pasta with tomato sauce while complaining about my complicated diet…
I will bring something next year. Like this delicious looking chili!
this looks awesome! I have been trying to think of another crockpot meal we could make over these winter months, and I think this has hit the jackpot! Thank you for the recipe!
this looks perfect! i am making this for myself this weekend. butternut squash and chickpeas are my best friends and i love eating them together. also, i have been craving warm and comforting food like crazy lately.
Looks really good,sounds like gre cup fun!!!!!
Oh, I totally wish I could have a bowl of this for dinner! It’s a cold, gray, rainy day here and this chili would be totally perfect. And I love that it’s made in the slow cooker too!
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Your Grey Cup gathering sounds exactly like our family’s superbowl festivities .. it’s funny I’ve never paid attention to Grey Cup and didn’t know Toronto won even though I live so close to it! This chili sounds great – so many delicious things in one bowl!
YUM! Looks delicious. Aren’t black beans the best? I love that you mixed the chickpeas as well. Great colours :)
Here’s my Vegan Tuesday http://sharelovealways.blogspot.ca/2012/11/vegan-tuesday-on-wednesday.html
Squash in chili sounds absolutely heavenly! Yum!
Mmmm this sounds and looks so good! I have never had coconut milk in Chili before but I bet it balances out the acid and heat nicely!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of apples in chili, but it sounds interesting – especially with the coconut! I watched the Grey Cup for the first time this year, it was exciting, although we didn’t have as much yummy food to go with it as you did! And Spice Girls is the best for karaoke :)
This looks great! Yummy! I’m going to have to try it. I even featured it in a post today http://www.agoodmanymiracles.com/2013/10/october-recipe-round-up.html
Yummy! Can’t wait to try it, thanks for the recipe!
Enjoy! This is a delicious, hearty chili. Love the coconut! It gives it a nice special something.
I love this recipe. It’s delicious, healthy and easy to make. Thank you for sharing it.
Just made this tonight and it’s DELICIOUS. Next time I’m going to cut down a bit on the liquid because it was a bit soupy, but the flavors were spot on. Thank you so much for sharing!!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! :) I agree – it can get a bit soupy in the slow cooker. Lately, I’ve found if you take the lid off for the last hour of cooking, it is less soupy.
Delicious looking recipe. Can’t wait to try it out this week. Do you think I could could freeze the leftovers for a quick dinner if I’m in a hurry? Thanks!
Hey Sarah! Yep…you bet! You can freeze this chili. When you heat it up, it may be a tad more “watery” than before, but you could just eat as is or add some more beans or veggies when you re-heat. Enjoy! :)
Do you think it would still turn out okay of I omit the tomato paste/tomatoes – I can’t have them as they’re too acidic for my system
I have trouble with tomatoes too. I feel your pain! The flavouring is mainly in the spices and coconut milk, so I think omitting the tomatoes and paste would be just fine. :) Enjoy!!! Let me know how it turns out.
Have you tried to cook this on the stove rather than slow cook for hours?
I haven’t tried to cook it on the stove, but I have a similar recipe that I don’t use a slow-cooker for. The key is to simmer everything in a pot on the stove for at least 45 minutes to an hour. I think you could do the same with this recipe :) Hope you enjoy it!
Made it today, added corn, it was delish! Wondering if maybe I should add a lil more tomato paste…. But otherwise, this is a new staple recipe at home this winter. Keep posting great tasty n healthy recioes :)
Hey Lynn! So glad to hear that you enjoyed the chili :) That’s a family fav for the winter! Thanks for your lovely comment!
This is my first week as a vegan and I’ve been trawling the internet for recipes to try. I couldn’t resist this one – it has some of my very favourite foods in! It’s currently in my slow cooker and I really can’t wait to eat it :)
Awe, I am so glad you stumbled across my blog and this particular recipe! I hope you enjoyed it and I also hope that you are enjoying the vegan lifestyle. It’s always tough to make a change – especially a big lifestyle change! But I love being vegan and hope you will too! :)
I made this recipe and it was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t expect the apples to fully dissolve and give such a wonderful flavor.
Instead of chili powder I used mexican chili polin which has a pinch of lemon to it.
And for garnish, besides the cilantro I used the coconut flakes from trader Joe’s and my guest were very impressed!