Yesterday was my firm’s annual chili competition. And who doesn’t love a food competition?! I tell you, I’ve got a serious competitive streak when it comes to this stuff {explains my addiction to Top Chef, which is hours away}. After submitting my name, I knew the place to go for inspiration. Pinterest. My fountain of youth for all things, really. Knowing that I work with conservative, Type A’s, I knew I wanted to do something a little different. When I stumbled upon a buckwheat and chocolate chili, courtesy of heavenlynnhealthy.com, I knew I had found my winner. And while it wasn’t the prettiest dish I’ve ever made, it certainly was delicious. I followed the recipe to a T but have made notes below on a few modifications I will make next time. And the good news… I took home the prize for Most Creative!

Bean and Buckwheat Chili with Dark Chocolate 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 teaspoons of cumin
• 1 fresh chili (next time I will use two… needed a little more heat)
• 2 teaspoons of paprika powder
• 2 teaspoons of ground oregano
• ½ teaspoon of dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon of raw honey
• 2 tablespoons of tomato purée
• 2 red peppers
• 1 cup of buckwheat groans
• 2 carrots
• 3 celery sticks
• 1 cup  of walnuts
• 1 15 oz. can of kidney beans
• 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas
• 3 15 oz cans of chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup of water
• 2 teaspoons of sea salt
• ½ cup of apple cider vinegar (next time I will do 1/4 cup… very strong vinegar taste)
• ¼ cup of red wine
• ½ regular bar of 70 – 80% dark chocolate

Directions

Start by chopping the onion, crushing the garlic and chopping the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Remove the seeds from the chili and roughly cut it into strings. Finely chop the walnuts.

Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven. Add the onion, garlic, chili, cumin, paprika, oregano, and marjoram and sauté for a minute or two until fragrant. Be careful not to let it burn.

Add the chopped carrots, bell pepper, celery and sauté for another 3 to 4 minutes. Now add the buckwheat, beans, walnuts, canned tomatoes, tomato purée, water and salt and let it cook for about 30 minutes on medium heat.

After 30 minutes, add apple cider vinegar and chocolate and stir for another 5 minutes. Add more salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

All in all, the recipe comes together in about an hour. I made it Monday night and served it on Wednesday and I think it really allowed it some time for the flavors to develop. I served it with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, fresh cilantro, and fresh squeezed lime juice. With the left overs last night, I made a burrito with it and added in avocado. Yummy!