Quick Turkey Chili

A couple of weeks ago, I was really in the mood for chili.  Since I had some chopped chicken in the freezer and a partially used bag of sausage crumbles, this recipe was very easy to throw together.

Quick Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs. Olive Oil 
• 1 celery rib, diced 
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 poblano pepper, diced 
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tsp. garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chipotle salsa
• 1 cup homemade chicken stock 
• 1 cup Jimmy Dean Crumbles, Turkey
• 1 cup cooked chicken or turkey breast, diced 
• 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 can black beans, drained/rinsed 
• 1 can kidney beans, drained/rinsed
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder 
• cooked rice

Directions: 

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.  
• Add the celery, onions and peppers and cook until they start to get tender.  
• Stir in the garlic, cook for just a minute or until fragrant.  Careful not to burn the garlic.  
• Add the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine.
• Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat.    
• Allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes.  
• Serve over rice.  

Notes:  

• Loved how easy this recipe was to prepare.  Using the fully cooked sausage crumbles really helped this meal come together quickly and easily.  
• If you like your chili more saucy, add additional liquid (stock and/or salsa) and adjust the seasonings to your taste.  
• We combined the leftover chili with the leftover rice and froze it for another meal.  I'll probably use it as a filling for stuffed peppers.  

Vegetarian Lentil Chili ~ A Crock Pot Recipe

Since lentils are cheap and healthy, I've been looking for new ways to prepare them.  I've made lentil soup a few times and the recipe I use makes a lot.  Normally, that's not a problem.  Except in this case, Joe doesn't care for the lentil soup and that's a lot of soup for just me.  Even if I freeze it, it still seems to last forever. 

I was happy to find this recipe for Vegetarian Chili.  Since I'm always looking to try new chili recipes, this seemed to be right up my alley! 

I started off by following the recipe as written, substituting the liquid for organic tomato soup used in the original recipe.  After letting it cook for a few hours, I adjusted the recipe slightly, to make it a better fit for our tastes. 

Vegetarian Lentil Chili

Ingredients: 

• 16 oz. bag of lentils
• 1 cup dry pinto beans, soaked overnight
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes with mild chilis
• 2 chipotle peppers in 2 tsp. adobo sauce
• 32 oz. vegetable broth
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup mild salsa
• 2 Tbs. Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 Tbs. cumin
• 2 Tbs. molasses
• 2 Tbs. cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. 
• Cook on high for one hour.
• Reduce heat to low and cook for 10-12 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Notes: 

• We both enjoyed the way this chili turned out.  Good thing, since it made A LOT! 
• This took longer to cook than I anticipated.  Even with soaking the beans ahead of time, it took a while for them to start to soften up, then even longer to get them to the texture I desired.  Next time, I will let this cook over night as stated in the original recipe.  Or, I will cook my beans and lentils ahead of time, then combine in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients.
• We've been trying to incorporate more meatless meals into our weekly menu plans.  Not only is it healthy, it also helps keep food costs down. 
• Serving this over rice or a baked potato or even cornbread really stretches this pot of chili into several meals, depending on the size of your family. 
• This recipe is a definite keeper.  I love that it's frugal and contains ingredients that I almost always have on hand.  It's also very filling and healthy. 

Chipotle Turkey Chili

Last week, Joe and I finally cooked the FREE turkey that was at the bottom of our chest freezer.  We don't usually make turkey too often.  Like a lot of people, we only eat a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving.  We've decided that we're going to try to eat more turkey during the winter months. 

I made homemade broth with the turkey carcass and also diced the leftover meat and separated in 2 cup portions for future meals. 

I made a big pot of Turkey Noodle Soup on Tuesday and that turned out to be dinner for two nights in a row.  Perfect for a snowy Tuesday night dinner.  I'm pretty sure Joe enjoyed having a hot bowl of soup on Wednesday too since he worked outside most of the day on Wednesday. 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a recipe for Chipotle Turkey Chili online.  I knew right away that I wanted to make it, since it would be different than any of the other meals I made with leftover turkey after Thanksgiving.

You can view the original recipe here.  As with most recipes I try, I adapted this either to simplify or to fit our tastes.

Chipotle Turkey Chili

Ingredients: 

• 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil
• 14.5 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbs. chipotle chilies in Adobo, diced
• 1 1/2 Tbs. Oregano
• 1 tsp.  cumin
• 3 tsp. chili powder
• Oil
• 2 small onions, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 heaping tsp. minced garlic
• 1 15 oz. can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 oz. cooked ground turkey
• 1 1/2 cups diced, cooked turkey

Directions: 

• cook celery, bell peppers and onions in hot oil for a few minutes over medium heat.
• add the cooked ground turkey (mine was still frozen)
• once the turkey is heated through, add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes along with chipotle chilis in adobo and the spices
• stir until combined and allow to cook for a few minutes
• add diced turkey and beans
• bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover
• cook until vegetables are tender

The original recipe called for just the diced turkey.  When I make chili using beef, I like to use a combination of ground beef and diced london broil.  I decided that I wanted a similar texture with the turkey.  Having the pre-cooked ground turkey in the freezer made this super-easy! 

I also think that this would be a perfect recipe for the crock-pot, just throw in all the ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. 

This recipe made a lot of chili and I'm really glad it did!  We LOVED it so much that we didn't mind eating it 3 days in a row!!!  It was soooo good, I couldn't bring myself to put the leftovers in the freezer (even if they would have fit in the freezer) so we just ate it until it was gone!  There is one small container left, perfect for lunch.  We really could have gotten a 4th night's dinner out of this pot of chili, but we ate some pretty hearty portions on the last night since we were trying to finish it up! 

I still have some diced and ground turkey in the freezer, so I have a feeling I'll be making another pot of this yummy chili before the winter is over.....maybe for Super Bowl! 


You can find this recipe linked to the following blog carnivals: 

• Chili Cook Off
• Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Hearth and Soul Hop
• Tuesday Night Supper Club
• Delicious Dishes
• Tasty Tuesdays Bloghop
• Crock Pot Wednesday
• What's Cooking Wednesday 
• Works For Me Wednesday
• Show and Tell
• Whatever Goes Wednesday
• What's Cooking Wednesday
• Whatcha Makin' Wednesdays
• Look What I Made
• Make it Yours Day
• Penny Pinching Party
• Whassup Wednesday
• Recipes I Can't Wait to Try!
• Frugal Food Thursday
• Life in a Shoe