February 7, 2010

Healthy Turkey and Black Bean Chili


So I made this today, for Superbowl Sunday, and I lost count of how many bowls I have had. It is very healthy and very tasty, so a good combo.

Healthy Turkey and Black Bean Chili

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 - 1.5 lb ground turkey, cooked
3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained
1 large (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Cook the turkey on the stove. While you are doing that, add all of the other ingredients to the crockpot and stir. Add in the turkey when it is cooked through and cook on low for 4-8 hours.

Garnish with cheese, sour cream, chives, fresh diced onions, whatever.

We dug in after about 4 hours, it smelled so good! I am sure that it would just keep tasting better, the longer you let it go- but we couldn't wait. I am sure that it would freeze well too.

I have heard some people say that you can put uncooked ground meat into the slow cooker, like in this recipe, and it will cook up just fine. I don't have the guts to try this! I like my meat pretty well done and just afraid that it might be mushy if I didn't pre-cook it.

Also, this picture shows corn in the chili. I didn't add it, since corn just adds calories and doesn't even count as a vegetable. I am sure it would taste great in it, though.

I served this with corn bread muffins, using the Jiffy Mix. I like to make "corny corn bread" by adding some frozen corn in with the batter before cooking it. Jason doesn't like it like this, so muffins are a great compromise- some of them have it, some of them don't. Just remember to reduce your cooking time from what it says on the back of the box! 10 minutes is probably enough.