There is nothing better than coming home and eating chili on a cold and wet day.  I verified this tonight by making a pot of Chipotle Pumpkin Turkey Chili when I got home from work.

One of the cooking blogs I read, Bake Me Away, has been running through a lot of pumpkin recipes this month and recently posted a recipe for Spicy Pumpkin Black Bean Chili as a way to get rid of extra pureed pumpkin you may have leftover from baking pies or muffins or whatever it is you’ve been making recently with pumpkin in it.  I’d never heard of pumpkin in chili before, so I made it a point to try it out on my own.

I had actually planned on copying her recipe exactly except for adding ground turkey, but as it turns out I didn’t quite have the ingredients I thought I did.  I only had about third of a can of pumpkin left, so I wasn’t able to add the full cup required, and while I thought I had dried adobo chilis in a jar, I actually had chipotle.  Oh well – IMO, smokey flavor is a fine substitute for spicy.  Anyway, here’s how it turned out:

Absolutely delicious!  The chipotle’s gave it a nice mild smokey flavor and just as Jessica points out in Bake Me Away, the pumpkin adds a creaminess that you’d usually get by adding sour cream or cheese (though I did top mine with a little cheddar :)).  This is a perfect meal for a cold day and will be great for reheating, I have no doubt.

As a side note, I still don’t have a can opener.  But remember kids – it’s better to ruin a sharp knife than not have Chipotle Pumpkin Turkey Chili.  Right?  >.>

I’d like to slap in a final thanks to my brother for the awesome dried chilis he gave me for Christmas last year.  They make cooking that much more fun.

Chipotle Pumpkin Turkey Chili

Adapted from Bake Me Away’s Spicy Pumpkin Black Bean Chili

Makes about 3 servings.  For me, anyway.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground turkey
• 14 oz can black beans
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin (if you have that much)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium green pepper
• 1-2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs cumin
• 1 tbs red pepper
• 1-2 dried chipotle peppers

Instructions:

1. Chop the onion and green pepper, then saute in a pan with olive oil until the onions just start to become translucent
2. Dump the sauteed vegetables, black beans and tomatoes (both with water), and pumpkin into a large pot and set the heat to medium
3. While the pot begins to warm, cook the ground turkey in your sauteing pan until brown, then add to the pot
4. Add all spices and dried peppers to the pot and stir.
5. When chili begins to boil, turn it down to a simmer and cover for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to be sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom.
6. Remove the dried chipotles and CONSUME!

If you prefer your chili less soupy, just leave the lid off for a few minutes to let some of the liquids evaporate.  I probably ended up doing that without realizing it.  Regardless, it will likely end up delicious.

For anyone using Weight Watchers, this is worth about 5 points per serving.