Pumpkin Baked Black Bean Chili with Chocolate

Ingredients

• 2 tb olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 3 or 4 jalepeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 poblano peppers, seeded and finely chopped (I used chipotle peppers which are usually found in cans in the ‘mexican section’).
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 lb ground beef, turkey or meat substitute
• 2 tb chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 medium sized pumpkin or several small pumpkins (Acorn, Sweet Dumpling, Butternut, etc)
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 bottle of your favorite dark beer
• 1 ½ cup cooked black beans (I used a large can by Goya)
• 1 to 2 cups broth (veggie, beef or chicken)
• 1 oz baking chocolate
• dash of cinnamon
• chopped cilantro for garnish
• chopped green onions for garnish
• diced avocado for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375

In large soup pot heat olive oil. Add onions, peppers, and garlic. Lower heat and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef or turkey and brown. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon and cook for one minute. Remove from heat. Add tomatoes, beer, black beans and chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted and is well mixed. Add broth until chili is desired consistancy.

Cut the ‘lid’ off of the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and pulp. Fill it with chili. Replace lid and bake in oven 30-45 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Laddle pumkin into bowls and top with a scoop of delicious pumpkin. Top with cilantro, green onions and avacodo.

*I used three ‘small’ pumpkins which still make very large servings, so once cooked, we cut it in half and put into two bowls.