This is one of our favorite recipes that we keep coming back to.  I don’t repeat a lot of recipes- I like to make new things all the time.  But I make this at least once a month.

I want to kiss whoever thought of putting chocolate in chili.  It’s not really chocolate, but cocoa powder does the trick.

I love to put this chili over some frozen spinach or zucchini noodles.  We didn’t have either of those and I wanted to get rid of this carrot/pea frozen blend we’ve had for awhile.  I was a little skeptical, as we’ve never done this combo before, but it actually turned out really good.  I put some extra garlic powder over the veggies too and it was pretty outstanding.

I got the recipe from one of my paleo books- “Well Fed” by Melissa Joulwan.  It was one of the first paleo cookbooks we ever got, so we’ve gone through most of the recipes.

No dinner is complete without a glass of red, in my opinion.

Chocolate Chili

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) fire-roasted, chopped tomatoes
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) beef broth
• 1 cup water

Directions:

• Heat a large, deep pot over medium-high heat, then add the coconut oil (or oil of your choice.).  Add onions and cook until translucent.  Add the garlic and as soon as you start to smell it, add the ground meat and mix.  Cook the meat until it’s all browned, or until it’s no longer pink.
• Combine all spices in a small bowl and mix with a fork.  (I sometimes skip this step and simply throw all the spices into the meat and onion mixture and mix as I go- I’m all about less clean-up).  Add the tomato paste and stir until combined.
• Add the tomatoes with their juice, beef broth, and water.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Keep it there for at least 2 hours (I also sometimes skimp on the simmering, which you really shouldn’t do- the longer it simmers, the better the taste!  But sometimes for time’s sake, we all need to make sacrifices.).
• Once it’s done, top it off with extra onions, scallions- you can spice it up with whatever you like.