This recipe was inspired by Tasty Yummies! I made her delicious Spicy Southwest Chili-Loaded Yams and ended up having almost a full bag of organic sweet corn leftover in my freezer.

I don’t eat corn very often. I’ve never been a corn-on-the-cob person. I always felt like it was too high maintenance of an eating experience. The mess, the stuff in the teeth, the relatively little amount of food for all the effort… Is that weird? Am I the only one that feels that way?

Corn-eating is a rare occurrence in or outside of my home. Before I started eating paleo, I ate corn fairly regularly as it was a great gluten-free alternative. I loved fish tacos, chips and salsa, polenta… all things corn. When I started eating paleo, I would include a corn-related item here or there if I were out at a restaurant or at a party where there were limited options, but over time, I began to notice that I was having reactions after those times. So, I put on my investigative cap and after some trial and error pinpointed corn as the offender. I would retain water like crazy… my fingers would get puffy, my pants would fit tighter, only to go back to normal a couple of days later. So there went my occasional corn eating habit. Fortunately for this recipe (and the one from Tasty Yummies) I don’t seem to react to corn in its unprocessed form. So a little here or there is no big deal. Yay for me 🙂

If you’re on a strict paleo journey, you can certainly leave out the corn and possible add some diced sweet potato (the white kind) or some yellow bell peppers for that beautiful sunshiney color.

Southwest Chili

1 lb. ground beef
1/4 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 yam, peeled and diced
2 tsp. chopped cilantro (i used the frozen cubes from trader joes)
1/2 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (make sure GF or use 1 tsp. chipotle powder)
2 c. frozen organic sweet corn, defrosted and drained
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 can organic fire roasted potatoes
1 can organic tomato sauce
1 Tbsp. chili powder
salt to taste

avocado and fresh cilantro to garnish

1. In a soup pot, over medium high heat, add a bit of oil and toast corn until a little brown and fragrant. Remove from pot and set aside till the end.
2. Brown meat and add onion and garlic and sauté until fragrant.
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until yams are soft.
4. Add corn before serving.
5. Garnish with avocado.