Three Bean Turkey Chili

In the great canned goods shopping spree of October 2011, I picked up quite a few types of beans and other goodies that would work really well in chili.

I have been craving chili with the cold weather on its way. So, I grabbed some ground turkey and chicken sausage at SuperTarget on Friday and decided to throw some together. I am going to do my best to recreate it, but I did not measure any of my seasonings. For those of you who know me, if I am making up a recipe... I season by smell and taste - and I did not really measure anything. But, here we go...

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Katie's Three Bean Turkey Chili
Serves appx. 8 - 1.5 c. servings

1 onion, diced
Few cloves of garlic, minced
20 oz 99% fat free ground turkey
Package of chicken sausages (5 links), out of casings (optional)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet yellow corn, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
Seasonings I used: medium chili powder, worcestershire sauce, oregano, cumin, paprika,, brown sugar, garlic salt, onion powder

Heat up a large pot over medium heat. Add diced onions and garlic. Saute until onions have softened.

Add ground turkey and chicken sausages, breaking up and cooking until all meat is cooked through.

Add in beans, corn, and diced tomatoes. Stir until mixed. Add tomato paste. Stir until mixed through. Chili will not be very 'saucy' but more 'meaty' and thick.

This is where I started tasting and smelling, and seasoning. I started with the chili powder (probably 1 - 1.5 tbsps), cumin (few dashes), paprika (dash), and onion powder (few dashes). It needed a little sweetness to bring out the tomato flavor.. so I added in probably 1/4 c. of Splenda brown sugar. I love oregano, and it smelled like it could use some. So I added a few dashes of that. Next came the worcestershire sauce. I added probably 1 tbsp of this in to the mix and topped it off with some garlic salt (or regular salt would work just fine).

I let the mix simmer on the stove for about 30 - 45 minutes, to let all of the flavors marry together. This turned out so delicious! I sprinkled with some sharp cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. For a meal, I serve this over about 1/2 c. of brown rice. For a snack, it is perfect served with some multigrain Tostito's.

Let me know if you have any favorite chili recipes! Next on the agenda, the white bean turkey pumpkin chili. Winter is good for one thing and one thing only: soups, chilis, and stews.

Nutrition facts: 280 calories, 28 g carbs, 5 g fat, 33 g protein, 8 g fiber, 783 g sodium

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*without the sausages (and those were totally not necessary), this would have been basically a fat free chili*