Every Halloween growing up I could bank on a three things. 1) I would try and get as many Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as possible. 2) My sister and I would come home from trick-or-treating and sprawl out all of our loot on the living room floor. 
We would separate our candy into piles by type and barter for our favorite kinds. Then we would count to see how many total pieces we got. 3) We would have my mom’s homemade chili for dinner. It was always perfectly warm and comforting after a freezing Ohio night of trick-or-treating…. which, by the way, has been forever changed in my mind after this hilarious bit from my favorite comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
This year as Halloween rolled around in Seattle, I decided to keep the chili tradition alive, but with a different spin. When thinking of hearty, wintery vegetables and flavors I decided to pair woody herbs like sage and rosemary with meaty mushrooms. So I went with a white chili and used one of my husband’s favorite ingredients: shitake mushrooms. Enjoy!
- 1 T coconut oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ lb. shitake mushrooms, sliced
- ½ lb. cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth, low sodium
- 1 small eggplant, diced into rectangles (similar to the size of kidney beans)
- 2 T arrowroot powder (or tapioca starch)
- Heat coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add turkey and brown for about 5 minutes breaking up into smaller pieces. Continue to stir occasionally until turkey is cooked through.
- Stir in the onion, shitake, and cremini and cook about 5 more minutes.
- Add garlic, sage, thyme, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Cook for about 1 minute.
- Reserve 3 T chicken broth in a small bowl. Add the rest of the chicken broth and eggplant. When the chili comes to a boil, turn heat down to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Whisk tapioca starch to the reserved chicken broth. Add mixture to chili. Stir and simmer for 1 minute to thicken before serving.
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