hungry poodle

A new acquaintance, Lisa, gave me this recipe for turkey chili that she got from a Weight Watcher friend in San Diego. It’s chock full of vegetables, but don’t let that stop you from trying it, even if you’re veggie-shy. The vegetables almost disappear into the mix of turkey, tomatoes, beans and spice. I looked at all of the chili spice seasonings at the supermarket, and Williams seemed to be the most “real”. It has no MSG, no salt, no sugar, no additives, just chili seasonings. I’m using it from now on.

Champ, my husband, declared tonight that it was some of the best chili I’ve ever made. (Perhaps it was due to his not eating all day, I can never be sure.) It is, to be sure, a keeper. Low fat, yet high in flavor and savoriness. You won’t be disappointed.

This makes a big pot of chili. Here are my three 3-cup containers ready for the freezer.

12 ounces 90% lean ground turkey (or leaner)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (28-oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium yellow squash, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 green and/or red bell peppers, chopped
1 (15-oz.) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-oz.) can low-sodium chicken broth
1 (2 oz.) package chili seasoning (I used Williams Original)
Salt and pepper to taste

Spray a large Dutch oven with nonstick spray and saute turkey and onion until browned, about 10 min.

Add tomatoes, squash, celery, bell peppers, beans, broth and chili seasoning. Bring to a boil and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning, adding salt or pepper to taste. If you use a chili seasoning that contains no added salt, which I did, you’ll have to add at least 1 1/2 t. of salt.

Makes approximately: 15 cups

Serve this with plain (home made) yogurt on top, and add a few pickled jalapeno peppers for extra punch.

The original recipe called for two (15-oz.) cans of broth, but I found that the chili was watery with that much liquid, and I boiled it down to make it thicker. I also tried this first in a slow cooker, which, with that much liquid, didn’t work very well. If you want to cook this in a slow cooker, I’d only add one or two cups of broth. Remember, at a slow cooker’s low temperatures, vegetables give off lots of their own liquid, thus you need to add less.

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