With Fall here now, I find myself in the mood for heartier dinners like soups and chili’s. The other night I was in the mood for chili and decided to go out on a whim and make my own! I have a favorite recipe for butternut squash chili, which is unbelievable, but I wanted something quick, healthy, and easy to make. So I started throwing things together, and came out with a masterpiece.
This recipe can be tweaked and twisted, but this version worked well for me, and was awesome with the toppings.
I think this chili is about as simple as it gets. Basically I cooked down some onions and green peppers in a pot while I browned some lean ground turkey in another pot. Once the turkey was finished I added it to the peppers and onions along with 2 cans of Organic diced tomatoes, 1 can of kidney beans, and lots of spices.
Added some fun toppings and there you have it…healthy, VERY easy, hearty chili.
Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful Healthy Chili
Serves 6Ingredients:
- 1 package lean ground turkey
- 1 large green pepper-diced
- 1 medium white onion-diced
- 2 14.5oz cans diced tomoatoes
- 1 15.5oz can kidney beans
- 3/4 C marinara sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- Plain Greek yogurt, diced jalapeños, and blue tortilla chips for garnish
Directions:
In a large pot start cooking diced green peppers and onions. In another pot start browning the ground turkey over medium heat. Add cooked ground turkey to the pot with green peppers and onions. Then add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes, marinara, kidney beans, and spices. Cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes. Feel free to add more spices if needed.
Serve chili on a bed of quinoa or brown rice and top with plain Greek yogurt, diced jalapeños, and crushed blue tortilla chips, or any other toppings of your choice.
Copyright © 2011 Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful All Rights Reserved
I drank a Malbec with my dinner, which was extremely big and rich, and probably a little too much to pair with this chili, but I would definitely drink it with some sort of red meat in the future.
The Malbec was Tikal Amorio Malbec 2007. It definitely portrayed lots of dark fruit like dark cherry, blackberry, cassis, and even had a bit of chocolate on the finish. Even though it was a very expressive, rich, full bodied wine, it opened up with air, and would be unbelievable with the right food. However, my chili was just not that food. I enjoyed trying the wine non the less.
For dessert I decided to make these cute little Dean Jacobs mug cakes that were sent to me by Xcell. I’ve seen mug cakes on so many websites, and have made them from scratch before, but this was so much easier, and definitely more fun! The Cake ‘n Cup Kit comes with the mix, marshmallows, and 2 porcelain mugs. There are many different kit flavors including gingerbread, red velvet, and cinnamon streusel, but I chose the hot chocolate cake.
You basically just add a few wet ingredients to the mix and pour into the mugs.
Then stick them into the oven to bake.
The whole process was too easy for words, but then it came to the broiler. Once the cakes are finished baking you are supposed to add the marshmallows and stick the cakes under the broiler to get nice and brown on top. I NEVER use my broiler because I have a gas oven, the broiler is at the bottom, and it kind of scares me when I open it and see the gas flames. But I really wanted ooey gooey marshmallows on top so I decided to stick the cakes under the broiler.
That is when it all happened. That gas and fire I was always scared of? Well it definitely lit one of the cakes on fire. Oops!
At least one was still edible! I was a little scared there for a second when the whole thing was in flames. Luckily it died down and there were no major problems.
At least the dinner was delicious and made up for my mess up on dessert.
Have you ever made a huge mess in the kitchen or lit anything on fire?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I once tried to fry rosemary in a pot. Big pot of flames is what it ended up being.
I am always looking for ways I can sneak in tumeric, cumin, and cayenne and this recipe is perfect! Also love the abundant veggies and very creative twist serving it on quinoa. I can’t wait to make this and perfect fall weather for it! thanks
Mug cakes!?!?? Didn’t know those existed. Yum!! Hmmmmm, never had flames in the kitchen, but definitely a few failed meals that’s for sure
Had so much fun tonight chica! Can’t wait to get together again soon
And I need to come over for some of that chili!