Thursday, February 14, 2013

Last Minute Chili

The scenario:

A friend was coming over for lunch. I felt like making chili and baked potatoes. Toa of Boy is allergic to raw tomatoes and to chunks or pieces of tomatoes....so that rules out most traditional chili recipes. I slept in that morning, and then would up throwing together some pantry staples to make this chili.

The result:

Easy and tasty. Just the way I like it.

Ingredients:

1 jar LaRosa's spaghetti sauce (it's smooth and so safe for Toa and it does not give the chili too much Italian flavoring.)
1/2 jar of water
2-4 tablespoons chili powder
1/8-1/4 tsp ground cumin
dash red pepper flakes
dash black pepper
dash cinnamon
1 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1/2  orange bell pepper, chopped
2 cans light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

  1. Mix the spaghetti sauce, water, and spices in a large pot.  Bring to a very low simmer. (I didn't measure the spices. I just sprinkled and dumped and tasted. The chili bas was a tad too spicy so I sprinkled a bit of sugar into the mix to bring down the heat.)
  2. Drain and rinse kidney beans. Add to the pot. (While I have been trying to avoid canned beans because of their high sodium content, this week I was feeling lazy. I thought if I rinsed them well, that should help.)
  3. Brown ground turkey in a skillet with the onion and pepper. When meat is browned and onion is translucent, add to the pot.
  4. That's pretty much it. I let the chili simmer while I scrubbed, pricked, and microwaved a few potatoes. I served it with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. The chili can be served over the baked potatoes or the potatoes can be a simple side dish for a bowl of chili.


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