By September and the official shift in the quality of light that I look forward to all year. The angle changes and everything the sun touches turns slightly amber, and the mornings are cool in a way that requires, finally, a light jacket, and the trees haven't turned yet but they're building toward it, you can feel it coming. I am thirteen weeks pregnant and feel the best I have felt in six weeks and I am standing in the middle of the best season in the best city in the world and I am enormously, specifically happy.
The fall cooking season has begun. This is a real thing for me — summer cooking and fall cooking are genuinely different activities, different rhythms and different ingredients and different smells. Summer cooking is about restraint and freshness: you do as little to the ingredient as possible and let the season do the work. Fall cooking is about transformation: you take things and apply heat and time and turn them into something that couldn't exist without the process. I love both. I love fall cooking more.
First beef stew of the fall on Saturday. Chuck roast, potatoes, carrots, celery, a splash of Worcestershire sauce — Maureen's method, three hours on the lowest possible heat. Sean D. came home from working on a Saturday lesson plan to a kitchen that smelled like autumn and said, "I love this apartment." He meant the stew, which is the same thing.
We're telling Sean D.'s parents about the pregnancy this week. Linda already suspects — I think the politely circumspect way she's been asking about my health for two weeks is a clue — but we're going to tell them properly. Sean D. has planned a dinner at their house and I'm bringing the dessert, which is a pie. An apple pie, because September apple pie is the correct dessert for announcing good news and also just for September in general.
The beef stew was Saturday’s project, but this chili has become my other early-fall anchor — the kind of recipe that asks you to stand at the stove and stir and wait while everything in the pot goes soft and smoky and becomes more than what it started as. That’s what I meant about fall cooking being transformation. This one fills the apartment the same way the stew did, that deep, warm, something-good-is-happening smell, and it’s the kind of meal I want to eat three nights in a row while the light outside turns amber and everything ahead feels enormous and good.
Vegetarian Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili with Avocado
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 can (28 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 avocados, sliced, for serving
- Fresh cilantro, for serving
- Sour cream, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Build the spice base. Stir in the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the squash and liquids. Add the butternut squash cubes, fire-roasted tomatoes with their juices, black beans, kidney beans, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
- Simmer low and slow. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the butternut squash is tender and the chili has thickened. Some of the squash will break down and thicken the chili naturally — this is what you want.
- Finish and season. Stir in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. If the chili is too thick, add a splash more broth; if too thin, simmer uncovered for a few more minutes.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, and a dollop of sour cream if you like.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 340 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 50g | Fiber: 14g | Sodium: 580mg