Turkey Chili
On a rainy day such as this, I always
crave something rustic and mouth-watering to pamper my heart and soul. Chili is one of those dishes, however many people stay away from this dish as some experts call it junk food. No idea why as most of us don't put anything into a good pot of chili that would make it so called junk. I use the best peppers, cilantro, spices and lean ground meats and yes, I even remove the fat after I brown the meat.
On rare occasions I also add a bit of bacon, that I brown before it goes into the pot and yes, I dispose of the bacon fat as well. I cook my chili with olive oil which a healthy fat.
Today I wanted to make my Chili even healthier by using ground turkey instead of beef. Not because I'm a health nut but because I wanted to use the beautiful ground turkey that I bought yesterday. It was for something else, but I changed my mind and decided to use it for the Chili instead. Don't worry this so called healthy Chili is just as yummy as the beef version. So without further ado lets start the dish. Just another note, I believe that Chili is one of the easiest dishes around.
INGREDIENTS
500 grams ground turkey 2 large onions, peeled, sliced 1 green bell pepper, cored, sliced 1 red bell pepper, cored, sliced 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, sliced 1 orange bell pepper, cored, sliced 1 jalapeño, sliced 4 cloves of garlic, peeled, sliced 1 stick of celery, sliced
10 Campari tomatoes, cut in four 10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half 1 large can of diced tomatoes
(I used Italian spiced tomatoes) 1 tsp chipotle pepper flakes
(use chili flakes if you don't have chipotle flakes) 1 tsp cumin 1 large table spoon of chili powder (use your favorite) 1 tbsp of good red paprika powder
1 can of corn, rinsed 2 cans of kidney beans, rinsed 1 small can of tomato paste 1 small can of tomato juice 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (or chipotle oil) 1 tsp garlic Mrs. Dash (salt free seasoning mix) about 3 tbsp of chopped cilantro
Place oil and ground turkey in a non-stick pot, brown for about 15-20 minutes. Add Everything "except" the chili
powder, red paprika powder, tomato paste, tomato juice, canned diced tomatoes, beans and corn. Stir well and sauté for about 15-20 minutes, then add the chili powder, red paprika powder, rinsed beans, rinsed corn, diced tomato (with liquid), tomato juice and tomato paste. Cook until almost all the liquid is gone.
Add a bit of freshly chopped cilantro before serving.
Bon appetite!
