Very QG White Bean Cumin Chili

I've been wanting to try out this recipe for a few months. Some of the smallish people in my home don't enjoy culinary experiments. Hence the use of a new recipe for my weekly lunch with the amazing Miss Abigail, otherwise known as Abby if you're not Paige. Here's the original recipe, courtesy of Better Home and Gardens

White Bean and Cumin Chili

Makes: 4 servings
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 9 to 10 hours (low) or 4-1/2 to 5 hours (high)
Ingredients
1. 1  cup chopped onion (1 large)
2. 3  cloves garlic, minced
3. 2  tablespoons cooking oil
4. 2  14.5-ounce cans tomatoes, cut up
5. 1  12-ounce can beer or nonalcoholic beer
6. 1  chipotle chili pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
7. 1  tablespoon cumin seed, toasted*
8. 1  teaspoon sugar
9. 1/2  teaspoon salt
10. 2  19-ounce cans cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed and drained
11. 1-1/2  cups coarsely chopped, seeded, and peeled Golden Nugget or acorn squash (about 12 ounces)
12. 1/2  cup dairy sour cream
13. 2  tablespoons lime juice
14. 1  tablespoon snipped fresh chives
15.   Lime wedges (optional) 
Directions
1. In a 3-1/2 or 4-quart slow cooker, combine onion, garlic, undrained tomatoes, beer, chipotle pepper, cumin, sugar, and salt. Stir in beans and squash.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 9 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4-1/2 to 5 hours. Meanwhile, combine sour cream, lime juice, and chives; cover and chill until ready to serve.
3. To serve, ladle chili into bowls. Top with sour cream mixture. If desired, garnish with lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.
* To toast cumin seed, place seeds in a dry skillet over low heat. Cook about 8 minutes or until fragrant, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; allow to cool before grinding in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.

Sooooo, I didn't have most of the required ingredients. Abby who insisted I not spend any extra money on lunch inspired me. Here's my recipe... not easy to duplicate, due to my homemade ingredients. Although I can give you those recipes too!

Very QG White Bean and Cumin Chili

• 1 cup chopped onion (Fresh in from wading out to the garden.)
• 3 cloves garlic smashed
• 2 Tbs. cooking oil
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 1 jar of Roasted Red Pepper Spread (How I pack summer into a jar.)
• 1 jar of Homemade Salsa
• 2 tsp cumin powder (Paige has dumped the seeds out in the spice drawer.)
• 2 Tbs Honey (From the Gehring's. Love local honey.)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 bag white beans soaked overnight and drained
• 3 cups coarsely chopped butternut squash(squash isn't easy to handle, peel and then chop.)

The instructions are fabulous! Combine onion, garlic, oil, tomato sauce, roasted red pepper spread, salsa, cumin, honey and salt. Stir in the beans and squash and let it cook on high for 4 hours. 

Serve with crumbled cheddar cheese(freeze a block, it will then be crumbly. I promise.), sour cream, and your favorite crusty bread. 

Since Tuesday was a rainy day we shared our lunch with our garden friends. Who all looked cold, wet and a lot soily. Much happiness in the kitchen Tuesday. The bonus, my friends all looked a lot less cold when they went back out into the gardens for a drizzly afternoon of flower bed planting.