Saturday, February 23, 2013

From Karen's Kitchen- Turkey Chili (I think it's the best I've made to date)

February 23, 2013
Turkey Chili


It's been a damp, chilly day here in Connecticut and it's days like these that I want comfort food.  Several meals come to mind.  Shepards Pie, Beef Stew, Chicken Tetrazzini and more. The one that I know will get cheers from "the guys" in my life, (husband and 15 yr old son) is when I announce we are having Chili with Corn muffins.  It's as if I'm an instant rock star.  We love Chili, plain and simple.  I have been trying to eat healthier so one of the ingredients that I swapped was ground beef for ground turkey.  Now, here's the thing, my husband is fine with this swap but I was not about to tell my son just yet.  I wanted to wait until he was done to tell him. I was curious if he could tell or not.
After we ate tonight, I asked him as he was loading the dishwasher if he noticed anything different about the Chili.  He said that he thought and I quote "it's the best Chili you've made in a while".   I figured it was safe to tell him and so I did.   His reaction was a good one.  He actually wants me to make it with turkey from now on.  After he was finished, He grabbed his bowl that was left on the counter and made himself a second bowl.  I guess he does like it!

Ingredients
1 lb of fresh ground turkey
1 packet of reduced sodium chili seasoning
1 large can of Hunts all natural crushed tomatoes
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can of light red kidney beans( rinsed and drained)
1 small jar of mild salsa
1 large red pepper diced
1/2 cup of sweet onion diced
1 Tbsp of Cumin
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
a sprinkle of salt
a good sprinkle of black pepper
grated Monterrey Jack cheese to garnish

*I found this cool trick somewhere on the internet.  A  way to cook ground meat and keep it crumbly is to stir the meat with a wire whisk while it's browning.  I have always used a wooden spoon in the past.  I found it took time to chop up the meat while it cooked.  This made it much easier.
To make:
I cooked the ground turkey and added the packet of seasoning into a large pot. Then I added the rest of the ingredients.  I let it simmer for a half an hour, stirring every so often.


For a little sweetness to go with the Chili, I made a simple box of "Jiffy" corn bread which my husband adores. We had a great meal that was lower in fat and calories but big on taste.

A few post back I posted my "famous" chili.  Well, after tonight, I think it has met it's match!

Recipe based on a recipe my brother told me about.

2 comments:

  1. Tried your recipe this evening...very tasty...thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete