Warm Up With Turkey Chili

There's nothing better on a cold winter evening than a hot bowl of chili. I use ground turkey in this recipe instead of beef. This is one of those times that a swap out of turkey for for beef really makes sense.

I made this particular batch of chili pretty spicy but you can make it as mild or spicy as you like.

My daughter is someone who runs in the opposite direction when it comes to spice. So I planned in my mind that I wouldn't even attempt to make this chili for her. She takes picky eater to a whole new level. So no problem, I'll whip up something more suitable for her. So as this wonderful pot of chili was slowly simmering on the stove...guess who asked for chili. My heart was crushed at a great opportunity to expend her palette dashed by my thinking I know her so well. Go figure.

This recipe below is a pretty spicy version, if you have little ones at home you can tone it way down...like I will do next time I make my turkey chili.

Lets make some chili. Chop onions, mince your garlic, chop bell peppers, and mince you jalapeño      (leaving as many seeds as you are willing to brave). I usually try to exclude the seeds.

Gather up you spices, cumin, chili powder, salt, oregano, crushed chili pepper ( once again here is where you hold all the power to make this chili mild or spicy).

Heat up a large pot over medium heat and add 1 TBLS of olive oil, sauté onions bell peppers, jalapeño for about 4 minutes, add garlic for 30 seconds then add ground turkey. Brown the turkey.

Add stewed tomato, tomato sauce, all the spices over medium heat once it starts to bubble lower heat cover pot and simmer for an hour.

After an hour you chili should look like this. Drain and rinse your kidney beans. Add to the chili, cover the pot and let simmer another hour.

Season to taste. If the chili is too spicy try adding a spoonful of honey or molasses to help temper the heat.

Recipe
Adapted from a Recipe by Trudy Hale
Serves 4-6

1 lbs ground turkey
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves if garlic minced
1/3 bell pepper chopped
1 jalapeño seeded and minced
2 cans of stewed tomatoes
1/3 cup of tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of oregano
1 TBLS of chili powder
1/2 tsp of crushed red peppers
3/4 tsp of salt
1 can of kidney beans drained and rinsed

In a large pot on medium heat add olive oil and sauté onions bell peppers and japalenos. Sauté for about 4 minutes and then add the garlic sauté for about an additional 30 seconds. Add the ground turkey to the pot of onions etc and brown the meat. At this point if you are sowing the recipe with beef drain the fat but I don't do that with the turkey. Once the turkey is browned add all seasonings, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce. Give it a good stir and when it starts to bubble lower the heat to low cover the pot and let simmer for 1 hour.

Drain and rinse the kidney bean and add them to the pot of chili. Cover the pot and let it simmer for another hour. Season to taste.