Superbowl Turkey Chili

I love football. I love the strategy of it, I love the energy of it, I love how every play is like art. Don’t tell me they’re just guys hitting each other- there’s so much more science to it than that! This isn’t a blog about football though, so you’ll have to check out CBS’s superbowl coverage for sports news.

Even though the Patriots aren’t in the big game, I still need to celebrate a little- especially since this is the first year I’m cheering for an NFC team! So I decided to make my famous turkey chili. I’ve never written the recipe down in full, and I believe that a person’s chili is a deeply personal thing, so that the recipe is done completely to taste. Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it doesn’t. This one was a definite hit! I’d been surfing the CookingLight website, and I came  across a chili recipe that used beer as the liquid component in order to cut back on sodium. I thought it was an interesting concept, and decided to integrate it in my recipe.  The other thing I tried this time was an Indian technique that I saw on Sara’s Weeknight Meals (Airs on PBS), which was blooming spices in oil. I think the combination was a welcome one, and although I omitted two of my usual ingredients in this batch (barbecue sauce and garlic powder), I’ve added them here, because I don’t think that the chili was the same without them.

Turkey Chili

93% Lean Ground Turkey Meat

1 Bottle/ Can of light beer

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Barbecue Sauce

1 Large Onion, Diced

4 Cloves Garlic, Diced or Pressed through a Garlic Press

1 Teaspoon Salt

3- 14.5 Ounce Cans of Diced Tomatoes (Preferably No Salt Added), undrained

1 14.5 Ounce Can Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes, No Salt Added (I Prefer Muir Glen), undrained

2- 14.5 Ounce Cans Pinto Beans, Drained and Rinsed (Preferably No Salt Added)

1 14.5 Ounce Can Cannelini Beans, Drained and Rinsed (Preferably No Salt Added)

1 14.5 Ounce Can Kidney Beans, Drained and Rinsed (Preferably No Salt Added)

Spice Mixture:

2 Tablespoons Cumin

Generous Amount Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

2 Teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

Garlic Powder to Taste

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about five minutes, add the garlic and cook for thirty seconds more
2. Add the spice mixture to the onions and garlic, sauté for a minute longer, then add the turkey meat to the pot, breaking apart the meat with the back of a spoon. Cook completely. Then add salt.
3. Once the turkey is cooked, add the beer and cook for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices, along with the beans and barbecue sauce.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 35-40 minutes. Top with cilantro-lime crema (recipe follows) and serve with tortilla chips

Cilantro- Lime Crema

8 ounce container light sour cream

1 Bunch Cilantro, chopped finely (approximately 2/3 cup)

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of 1 lime

Instructions

1. Place sour cream, cilantro, zest, and juice in a blender. Blend until uniformly colored. Let rest 20 minutes for the flavor to set

Serve on top of chili.