I’ve been spending a lot of time browsing Paleo food blogs lately. Despite the fact that I’ve been doing really well cooking meals consisting of meat and vegetables to fit into my new diet, I still need to branch out and give myself more options. Fortunately, it’s easy to make chili both grain free and Paleo, so preparing for the chili cook-off at work next week has been a snap. Not only am I perfecting the recipe I’m going to feed my hungry co-workers on Halloween, but I can eat the practice batches with zero guilt.
To build on the success of my yummy bacon chili, I found a recipe on a Paleo food blog that included both bacon and pineapple. I definitely had to try it. Besides the pineapple, this chili wasn’t all that different from my previous batch, so I was basically just seeing whether the fruit would add anything to the dish. Unfortunately it really didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, the chili wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t remarkably good either. The good news is that I got quite a few healthy lunches out of this pineapple chili, but the bad news is that it didn’t help me improve my bacon chili recipe. I’m planning to make one more test batch this weekend so hopefully it won’t be long before I perfect what I’m making for the chili cook-off next week!
INGREDIENTS:
12 oz bacon
1 lb ground beef (preferably grass-fed)
1 c diced sweet onion (about 1/2 large onion)
1 c diced red bell pepper (about 1 large pepper)
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cans (14 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14 oz) diced pineapple (I used tidbits) in juice, drained
DIRECTIONS:
Cut the bacon slices into 1/2 in pieces. In a large nonstick skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat. Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside for later. Add the ground beef to the pan with the leftover bacon grease and cook until no pink remains. Add the diced onions and peppers near the end to cook them slightly before they go into the Crockpot. Add the ground beef to the pan and cook until no longer pink. Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and black pepper to the pan. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Dump the beef mixture into the bottom of your slow cooker, preferably with a liner to make clean up a breeze. Pour the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and diced pineapple (make sure you drain off most of the juice or the chili will be runny) into the slow cooker as well. Throw the reserved bacon on top and stir gently to combine all of the ingredients. Put the lid on the Crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for about 4 hours. Enjoy!
Note: You can make this on the stovetop as well. Check out the recipe link below for details!
