Whole30 Chili Recipes ~ Pork and Beef, for all your meaty needs!

My Grannie's Famous Pork Green Chili

What you'll need:

• 2 lbs. of pork loin or butt cut into cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 T oil of your choice (I used grape seed)
• 1 cup hatch green chilies
• 1 T. minced garlic
• 6 cups stock (or water if you don't have any)
• 2 14 oz. cans of tomatoes
• 1 T chili powder
• salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Heat your tablespoon of oil over medium heat and brown your pork, add the onions and saute until translucent.  Add all other ingredients, bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for at least 60 minutes on low (up to 2 hours).  When pork is tender and flavors have melded, it's ready.  It's even better the next day after a night in the fridge!  Or freeze some for a "heck no, I'm not cooking dinner" kind of night.

My own made up Chili Con Carne with Beef Chorizo

What you'll need:

• 1 1/2 lbs. Beef Chorizo 
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 14 oz. can of tomatoes
• 4 cups stock (or water if you don't have any)
• 2 cups cauliflower diced into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups garnet yam, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 t cayenne
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried oregano
• avocado and cilantro for garnish

Brown your onion and chorizo over medium heat and then drain (my chorizo was SUPER fatty).  add your other ingredients (other than garnish) and simmer for about an hour.  This was really filling and lasted for a bunch of meals.  It would also freeze nicely.  I wasn't sure about the cauliflower and yam, but it ended up adding bulk and texture to the chili (like beans usually do) and I liked it.

Whole30 Turkey burgers with BUNS!

 

I love a good burger, and when you get excellent, locally sourced ground turkey, all the better.  Now these cauliflower buns were a great addition to my repertoire as well, gluten and grain free, they really held up pretty well.  One of the drawbacks of most gluten-free buns is that they disintegrate before you've finished your burger, but these were not too shabby, especially slathered with my homemade ketchup and mayo!

Exact ingredients for the ketchup I made can be found here.  I did the quick and easy version listed, and though it is delicious, it wasn't quite right.  I've continued to tweak this recipe, starting with thinning it out with an additional tablespoon of vinegar and even some water to make it more consistent with store-bought ketchup.  It's a work in progress. 

All I did was throw everything in a bowl and whisk it together.

And voila!

Now the mayonnaise was like magic!  All you do is put an egg yolk, 1T of vinegar, 1T of water, 1t of mustard and 1 cup of oil into a narrow vessel.  I think it being like a glass, rather than a bowl is important to the emulsification process.  Let the ingredients settle, then place your hand blender all the way down to the bottom, start with it flat against the bottom, and it will begin to emulsify the oil and other ingredients together to create the creamy, white mayonnaise we all know and love.  Once your process is going, tilt the head of the blender to the side and slowly raise it to incorporate the oil at the top. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end.

I felt a little like a sorcerer.

Put both into containers and into the fridge

Now onto your burgers!  I had a pound of turkey, about half a cup of chopped onion, 1t each of chili powder, cumin and paprika.  Then salt and pepper to taste. Form into patties.

I did two patties, but in hindsight, probably should have done 3, these were a little big.

Making the buns was actually pretty fun.  I couldn't find the attachment for my food processor, so I just grated the cauliflower on the small side of my box grater and had about 2-3 cups, so I decided to halve the recipe. I added about 6T of almond flour, garlic powder, salt and 2 eggs.  I found the mixture to be really wet, but what do I know?  I decided to go for it.  I formed them into buns and stuck them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes and then under the broiler for a minute or two until brown.  I made one mistake...

You should really grease your pan before you put these bad boys in the oven, don't be like me!

I fried up my turkey patties in a bit of ghee, and then served them all together with roasted garnet yam.

Now, there is a Whole30 concept called SWYPO (it stands for Sex With Your Pants On) that states you should avoid "paleo-izing" junk foods that are off the plan, for example a Whole30 pancake is frowned upon.  Now, I agree that we should not be trying to fit our old eating habits into a new format, but I also think it's great to find creative ways to use the foods you do have.  So, because I'm the boss of me, I'll allow it.  I know that white potatoes, though newly added to the Whole30 plan, are a bad idea for me.  So I'll continue to stay away while the 30 days last. It's about knowing yourself and examining your motivations.
Things like Whole30 buns are a fun and creative way for me to use up the cauliflower in my fridge!  But if you are really trying to break out of old, unhealthy habits, and this will trigger cravings, or make you unhappy about the food choices you're making, skip the bun (or the potato, as the case may be)!

See, the burgers were a little too big, but I'm not complaining!