Green Tomato, Pork, and White Bean Chili in a Slow Cooker

Hello, my name is Kirsten and I have a problem.

(Hello, Kirsten.)

I like to make chili using not-the-usual vegetable suspects.  It all started with this Green Tomato Garlic chili recipe a year ago.  I liked it so much I put up a couple of quarts of chopped green tomatoes in the freezer for winter chili.  Instead of making more green tomato chili, however, I veered off in a squash and beet direction with Acorn Squash, Beet, and Sweet Potato chili.  Then I used a quart of the green tomatoes for Green Tomato Bacon Jam.

This chili has cubes of pork, Great Northern beans, and my put up salsa verde.  I wanted a thick chili, so I added some grits and wow--that did it for me.  We liked this chili with a swirl of sour cream stirred into each bowl.  I bet my corn cheddar bacon muffins would be great with it.  If you're having a chili cook off, this would be a little something different.  It's easy to fix (the slow cooker does most of the work) and the flavor is wonderful.  This is also great for a work day meal--brown the pork the night before while the kitchen is still active with dinner, chill it overnight, and dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker the next morning.

Note to self--this fall, put up more quarts of chopped green tomatoes!  In fact, I think I'll put the word out with my neighbors that if they don't want their tomatoes still on the vine when the first frost is predicted, I'll be happy to come harvest.  The cool thing about green tomatoes is that they can hang out on your counter for a few days until you can process them.  What's the worst that can happen--they start to ripen?  Oh, the horrors.

Green Tomato, Pork, and White Bean Chili in a Slow Cooker (serves 6)

1 pound cubed pork
2 onions, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups chopped green tomatoes (if frozen, thaw first)
1 1/2 cups salsa verde
1 15 oz can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup quick cooking grits (optional)
sour cream, cilantro, shredded cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips are potential garnishes

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat, add a turn of cooking oil.  Brown the pork cubes on all sides, stirring every few minutes to flip them over, until evenly browned (about 8-10 minutes).  Transfer to a slow cooker.  Dump the rest of the rest of the ingredients--except the optional grits--on top, stir to combine.  Cover, PLUG IN, and TURN ON SLOW COOKER to Low.

Yes, I am shouting!  I constantly forget one of those key steps, and it's really important to both connect the slow cooker to a power source and turn the knob/press the button to start it.  If I plan to have the slow cooker doing its thing while I am away for the day, I will set my car keys next to it when I set it up, then as I am running out the door I'll fetch my keys and double check that the slow cooker is in fact working.

Cook on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 3-4 hours.  About 30 minutes before you're ready to serve, give it a stir and see if you like the thickness.  If so, you're all good--get the sour cream and other garnishes ready.  If you'd like it to be thicker, stir in 1/3 cup of quick cooking grits and re-cover the slow cooker to let the grits work their magic on your creation.

This post is shared on the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up and What's Cookin' Wednesday, What's In The Box, From The Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, Food on Friday, Foodie Friends Friday.