This recipe came about as a result of a terrible cold, an excessive amount of sweet potatoes that had to go, a bunch of meat, and almost nothing else in my fridge. I’ve been working a lot lately, putting in over 55 combined hours at Vitality, Body Fat Test, and El Gaucho for the past three weeks. As a result, I woke up yesterday feeling… tired. And run down. And kind of sick. The sniffles wouldn’t stop, I spontaneously started crying twice, and I fell asleep standing at work.
Determined to get better, I put myself to bed at 9:00 last night with no alarm set for today. I woke up later than usual (but still at the dismally early hour of 8:00) and hopped out of bed to whip up something that would banish this stupid cold from my existence. I came up with an extremely spicy breakfast chili that absolutely did the trick. Be warned: this stuff is HOT. I used half of an avocado and a poached egg to temper the heat, but they barely compensated for the hot sauce, cajun spice, and paprika that I laced into the pot of goodness. I have a strong palate for hot food – if you don’t (or if your senses aren’t deadened by a terrible cold), you should scale back the seasoning considerably.
Best Breakfast Chili
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground bulk breakfast sausage (or spicy italian sausage. Or ground beef. Or ground lamb. Or whatever you have lying around)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 c. beef stock
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
2.5 Tbsp. Cajun spice mix
1 Tbsp. granulated garlic
Juice from one lime (about 2 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. hot sauce of your choice (I used Paleo Sriracha)
2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb. bacon, diced
One egg per serving, cooked to your liking
1/2 avocado per serving
Lime wedge for each serving
Method:
1. In a large soup pot, brown the meat and onions until both are cooked through. Add in the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beef stock, and all the spices. Let simmer until the sweet potatoes are cooked through, about 30 minutes.
2. While chili simmers, saute bacon over medium heat until crispy. Blot oil from bacon using paper towels and reserve until ready to serve (I refrigerated most of mine for later use). Prepare an egg for each serving of chili.
3. To serve, scoop 1 cup of chili into a bowl and top with bacon, egg and half of an avocado, sliced. Squeeze a lime wedge over each bowl. Enjoy!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves: 8 hungry people
