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If you’re in a hurry, you can serve this spicy Tex-Mex chili in a prepared pie crust, without the crust, or in taco shells. For an extra flourish, top it with sliced avocado and a generous spoonful of sour cream.

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 cup pie crust mix
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium-size green pepper, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped
4 scallions, white part thinly sliced; green tops thinly sliced (optional garnish)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp each ground cinnamon, coriander, and cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup black olives
1 can (10 oz) red kidney or black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (optional topping)

Directions
For the crust: In a medium-size bowl, combine the pie crust mix, cornmeal, sugar, and red pepper. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water and stir just until mixture comes together.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll out the dough to make a pastry shell. Press the dough into the pie pan and flute the edges. Poke the pastry with a fork in several places to prevent it from bubbling up when cooking. Bake, uncovered, until lightly crisped around the edges – about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
For the filling: Heat the oil in a skillet over moderate heat for 1 minute. Saute the scallions and garlic for a minute or so.. Stir in cocoa, chili powder, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, and salt, and saute 1 minute longer. Add the beef and saute until browned – about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and saute, stirring occasionally, until soft – about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and corn and black olives.
Spoon the filling into the baked pie shell and bake, uncovered, until bubbling – 12 to 15 minutes. Spoon dollops of sour cream on top of the pie and sprinkle with sliced scallion tops if desired. (Instead of sour cream, we used yogurt and also added cilantro as a garnish)
Recipe from Reader’s Digest One Dish Meals, The Easy Way

You’ll have your guests saying “Yummm” on Thanksgiving with this delicious and healthy dip. By the way, tell the kids (and big kids) it’s called “Sunshine Dip”, and you’ll be amazed at how much squash they eat :-)

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 Tbs butter
4-6 garlic cloves
2 Tbs freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3-5 Tbs heavy whipping cream (My wife, Heather, used low-fat milk)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Using a sharp knife, slice squash in half. Remove seeds and discard or try roasting them later. Dot squash with butter (optional). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in shallow roasting pan, seed sides down, with about 1/8 inch water in bottom of pan. Roast for approx. 30-40 minutes or until you can easily insert a fork right into the rind of the squash. NOTE: About halfway through cooking the squash tuck unpeeled garlic cloves around squash in roasting pan. Alternative method – if there is still a lot of water in the bottom of the squash pan place garlic gloves in their own vessel or use a toaster oven – about 10 minutes at 400°F. Garlic is done roasting if you prod the clove and find it soft.

Removed squash from oven and, using a spoon, scoop out flesh from shells and place in food processor or blender. (If cooked nice and soft, you can also blend in a bowl with a spoon.) Discard (compost) squash shells.

Slip garlic cloves out of their skins and add to squash. Process until smooth, adding all but 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese and then the cream (milk). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and reserved cheese. Best if served warm with pita chips, Melba toasts or cheese straw. Serves four.

—Recipe from February issue of Traverse Magazine