Butternut Squash & Chicken Sausage Chili
In honor of Tom Brady’s practically annual trip to the Super Bowl, I have tweaked my favorite chili recipe to be TB12 diet compliant. A lot has been said, and written, about Tom Brady’s diet but in reality it’s actually not as crazy as most people think. He is not vegan or vegetarian although he does get about 80% of his nutrition from plant based sources. When Tom does eat animal protein he chooses grass fed beef, organic chicken and wild salmon, all things I agree with and love. The part of his diet that I could never stick to is avoiding plants in the nightshade family such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplant as well as dairy. I actually limit my dairy but life without any cheese at all would be miserable and I feel the same way about tomatoes! Other things #12 strictly avoids are gluten and sugar which is actually pretty common now.
The Good News
The good news is that it’s totally possible to make delicious food that fits his protocol even if you just want to eat like a champ for a day! In this chili recipe I replaced the tomato sauce with squash puree (canned pumpkin works just as well) and used organic chicken sausage. This is a delicious Super Bowl snack that you can feel good about eating, even if you don’t go full Brady and instead choose to top it with sour cream and eat it with chips. For the full TB12 experience serve it with quinoa and top it with avocado.
This quick video gives a great explanation of what TB12 Nutrition is.
Butternut Squash & Chicken Sausage Chili
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 3 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup water
- 4 links fully cooked organic chicken sausage such as Aidelles
- 2 cups butternut squash or pumpkin peeled and cubed*
- 1 28oz can pink beans
- 1 cup squash or pumpkin puree canned or fresh
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ - ½ tsp chipotle chili powder optional
- ½ cup cilantro leaves plus extra for serving
Instructions
- 1.Using a deep stock pot, heat the oil and the onion. Stir frequently to avoid burning. The onions will become translucent and it will begin to smell good, this process should take 5 minutes. Add the garlic, water, and squash puree and continue to cook for a few minutes longer, stirring to combine everything well.
- Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble into chunks with your hands, add to pot.
- Add the remaining ingredients, stir to mix. Let it simmer at medium heat for 5 minutes. If, there is not enough liquid, add water little by little until there is enough to just cover everything. The squash will give off some water as it cooks so don't add to much at the beginning, you can always add more.
- 4.Lower the heat to Low (do not cover), and let it simmer until the squash /pumpkin is tender and the sauce thickens (about 45 minutes). If the sauce does not thicken enough, simmer longer.
- Taste and adjust the salt and heat to taste.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and avocado.
Notes
- cut the squash into small cubes, about twice the size of the beans