I am coming to love Fall veggies. Butternut and pumpkin are becoming my new fave roasting veggies. Although I don’t necessarily love the flavor of squash on its own, I love adding it to a recipe to boost my veggie quotient and orangey squash gives me the vitamins that I don’t always get in the other foods I eat. I am also a lover of all things enchilada and since its Fall why not make a chili? Here is my vegan and gluten-free Butternut Enchilada Chili with Cumin Cornbread Mini-Muffins.

Mini-muffins! Yum, I love cornbread so much. I really enjoy it smothered in butter and honey. But I decided that this chili also needed some mini corn muffins, minus the excess butter and sweetener. What could be better than spiced muffins with chili? And a super thick chili that is packed full o’veggies? Yum. And this chili is the best way to hide an uncertain veggie from uncertain people. You won’t even know it’s there, and it adds super thickness to this chili and even though a whole carton of stock was used, this turned out super-duper thick. So good, especially with the thickness of the cornbread muffins crumbled into the chili. Gosh, yum.

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Start by roasting the butternut squash. Then make the muffins – mix everything and get portioned out while the squash is roasting; bake while the squash is cooling. Once the squash is cooled then start the rest. Saute the veggies in veg stock until softened then put into a separate bowl. Make enchilada sauce, adding in the bay leaf, garlic powder, paprika, red pepper flakes. Add a little extra stock and let heat through. Scrape out the softened squash into the sauce and gently break up the squash and mix until all combined. Add in the beans and veggies and add the rest of the stock. Turn heat to low, put lid on the pot a little skewed to let vent and let cook about an hour. Enjoy!

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Cumin Cornbread Mini Muffins, 31 mini-muffins

1 C Bob’s All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
1 C Cornmeal
3 Tbsp Splenda
2 Tsp Cumin
4 Tsp Baking Powder
1 C So Delicious Unsweetened Almond Plus Milk
1 Vegg w/warm water
3 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. Make a well in the middle.
3. Mix Vegg and warm water in a cup until dissolved.
4. Pour all wet ingredients into well of dry ingredients then mix everything.
5. Spoon into mini tins.
6. Bake for 9ish minutes.

Butternut Enchilada Chili, 6 servings

1 Whole Butternut Squash, roasted
3 C Black Beans
1 Red Onion, chopped
2 Pkg Mushrooms, chopped
1 Green Pepper, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
1 Bay Leaf
2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Paprika
1/2 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Box Vegetable Stock, used throughout cooking

1. Roast butternut squash at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Cut in half and scrape out innards, sprinkle with oil, black pepper, and garlic powder. When done let cool then scrape out flesh.
2. Chop veggies then dump in about a quarter cup veg stock. Saute veggies until softened and excess liquid is gone.
3. Spoon veggies into a bowl. In same pot make enchilada sauce and add bay leaf, garlic powder, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Add butternut squash and another cup stock and mix, stirring until butternut is combined.
4. Add veggies into into sauce with beans and mix. Add the rest of the stock, mix, then put lid and let vent. Cook about an hour.
5. Portion out and enjoy!