So, if you take this recipe and change everything, you will get the chili I made yesterday. And really, isn’t that how chili is supposed to work?

Ours ended up with the last of the summer squash and the first of the autumn squash, which seemed fitting, and used up some rapidly aging red wine to boot. It ended up being something like this:

• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (this was me just sort of eyeballing proportions of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves)
• 2 teaspoons dry oregano
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; olive oil
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 zucchini, chunked into bites
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste, because that is all we had
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce (TEXAS PETE)
• 1 pound ground chuck (80-percent lean)
• 2 tablespoons fine cornmeal
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 3-4 cups diced tomatoes (to make up for the liquid I skipped in beef broth and more wine)
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1. Saute what needs sauteing with the spices and Texas Pete until the onions are nice and the meat is done. 
2. Throw in slow cooker and cook until it looks edible and squash is soft. (I did about 4 hours on high, but that actually cooked off more liquid than I’d prefer.)