YIELDS:
6 servings
PREP TIME:
0 hours 10 mins
COOK TIME:
0 hours 30 mins
TOTAL TIME:
0 hours 40 mins
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ingredients
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Lb. 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey
1 Chopped onion
3 Chopped cloves of garlic
2 Chopped red bell peppers (any color works)
½ – 1 chopped jalapeno (you know your own spice levels)
1 Cup of frozen corn
2 15 oz. cans of kidney beans (rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can petite diced canned tomatoes
½ Small can of tomato paste (about 3 oz.)
1 package of Chili Seasoning (I’ll grab a mild Kroger Chili package of seasoning but use spicy if that is your gig)
Fat-free Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, chopped green onions & Tortilla chips (all optional toppings)
DIRECTIONS
- Spray a pot with Pam and add olive oil.
2. Add onion and peppers and sauté until soft. Add chopped garlic and sauté for one minute.
3. Add turkey to the dutch oven and brown. Then add a whole packet of chili seasoning and cook for 2 minutes until seasoning is incorporated into meat and veggies.
4. Add tomatoes, kidney beans and corn. Then add ½ can of tomato paste and half can of water. Heat the chili until bubbling. Let it cook until you are hungry!!! (I let it simmer at least 20 minutes.) Serve it in bowls or mini cocottes with the toppings on the side.
NOTES: “I make modifications on this all the time and often make double batches. It lasts for days and days and freezes great. Feel free to substitute any type of ground meat… chicken, turkey and beef all work. I wanted a very lean and healthy version when I wrote this recipe so I go with the 99% fat-free turkey meat.
This is one of my “go to” meals that I change up all the time! If I want to go vegetarian, I just use an assortment of beans (kidney, cannellini, black beans & lentils are some of my favorites). If I’m particularly hungry, I can add a side of chips on the side. If I want to add a little indulgence, I’ll use sour cream instead of the yogurt. I let my mood and the snugness of my jeans dictate how I’ll whip up a pot of chili.”
This dish is in regular rotation and first came to be when I was just starting to cook and entertain. I had a very limited budget and hadn’t been cooking very long. I lived in NYC and was having friends over for Superbowl. This was easy enough to pull together and I served it with big bowls of tortilla chips, and assortment of dips and homemade cornbread. Ice cold beers and pitchers of margaritas rounded out the whole event and it was a huge success. At the time, I know I used beef and I know I was serving sour cream. The first few years I made this dish, I wans’t into “healthy”. LOL I’m also pretty sure I didn’t add corn back then. (That came along years later and I loved the addition so kept it.)
But the fact is this was and is a simple, filling meal with no pretense. Guys ate bowls of it and devoured the cornbread and chips, drank beer and laughed and raved about my cooking. I was so young but I think that was the beginning of enjoying to entertain and feed people.
Flash forward to today and I’ve swapped out the beef for lean turkey, I substitute fat-free yogurt for sour cream and usually skip the cheese (althought I always offer it to my guests). Some things have changed but this is the same, easy and basic recipe I’ve been making for years. I find it filling and comforting in the winter months and it still shows up on football weekends and still gets raves.
For other football worthy food, be sure to try my Baked Maple-Bacon Chicken Wings and Drumsticks or my Easy Baked Mozarella Sticks. A big tray of Ravioli and Squash Lasagna is always a hit and is also so easy to pull together. Whatever you make, do it because you love it and you want to share with your guests. Enjoy.
