Heather's Chunky Chili

I have been trying to perfect my chili recipe over the past few months and I think I have done it.  This is a chunky chili, and I made it on Monday night.  I made so much and thought that we would never eat it all.  Between two people we had finished it by Wednesday.  It was so much better the next day.  Enjoy this chili before it starts to get too warm out!

The ingredients:

• 1 package of spicy turkey sausages
• 1 pound ground turkey

You'll have to go with me on the next two

• 1 package of baby carrots
• 4 or 5 stalks of celery

I can't taste them too much, but they make the chili healthier and chunkier.

• 1 or 2 red peppers (I used the ancient sweets again for this recipe)
• 1 small onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 small cans of diced tomatoes (there's tons of flavors, so I pick two different ones)
• 2 cans of white beans (never been a fan of the kidney beans)

Start by chopping up your veggies.  I do a rough chop cause it's easier and we like it that way.  If you have any veggie haters in your house, you can always use the food processor and shred up the veggies. They'll never know!

Chop up your celery, too!

Go ahead and chop that onion, too!  I love that knife!

Mince some garlic, too.

Heat a large pot to medium heat.  Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Then add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.  Add a little salt and pepper, too.

While your veggies are sauteeing, chop up your red peppers.  Don't cut them up too small.  You really want to be able to get a good bite.

In another pan, brown the turkey sausages.

Once the veggies have started to soften, add the ground turkey.  Break up the turkey.  You can also do this in another pan and break up the turkey even more.  I did not want to wash more dishes, though, so I just did it all in the same pan.

Once the sausages are done cooking, remove from pan and let cool some.

I use tongs and a knife to cut the still hot sausage.  Slice at a diagonal.  Once you've sliced them all, cut each piece in half.

Once the ground turkey is all broken up, your mixture should look something like this.

This is what the sausage should look like after it's all cut up.

Add the sausage to the pot and stir.

Here's the tomatoes I used in this recipe.  The diced tomatoes I used this time were Zesty Mild Green Chillies and Zesty Jalapenos.  I have also used Fire Roasted Tomatoes, before, but I didn't see them at the store this time.

Add all of the tomatoes to the pot and stir.  Add about 2 tablespoons of chili powder.  Taste and add more if you like.  Turn heat down, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes.  You can simmer longer than this if you have time, but this night I did not and I was hungry!

Add red pepper and simmer for another 5-7 minutes.

And here's the final product!

I'm pretty sure it's necessary to add shredded cheddar cheese.

And if you really want, also add a dollop of sour cream (low-fat, of course).

Enjoy with some multi-grain Tostitos!  Have you had these yet??? They're so good!


Full-recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 package spicy turkey sausage
• 1 package of baby carrots or 4 whole carrots
• 4-5 stalks of celery
• 2 red peppers
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes (whatever flavor)
• 2 cans of white beans
• 3 tbsp. chili powder

Dice up onion, carrots, celery, and garlic.  Add olive oil to heated pan.  The pan should be large enough to hold all of your chili.  I use my biggest pot.  Add all chopped veggies to heated pot and let cook on medium until they begin to soften.  Add ground turkey.  While you are cooking the turkey, cook the sausages in separate pan in the casings.  When the sausages are cooked all the way through chop into bite sized pieces. As the ground turkey cooks, break up in pan.  You can also do this in a separate pan, if you want.  After the ground turkey is done add the chopped turkey sausage to pan.  Add crushed and dice tomatoes and stir.  Add chili powder.  Taste and add more if you want.  Add beans and stir.  Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.  The longer you simmer the better.  While the chili is simmering, chop red pepper into about 1/2 inch cubes.  Add to chili and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.  Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream.