One of the many wonderful things about chili is how easily you can change out ingredients. I set out to make a turkey chili and decided to jazz it up by using a variety of beans as well. This version is the fire-alarm version but you can easily switch out all or part of the salsa with diced tomatoes. I use my own chili powder blend – which is pretty hot – but commercially there are a variety of blends suitable to every taste.
Sorry for the blurry photo!
three bean turkey chili
1 pound lean ground turkey, extra lean*
1 small onion, chopped
1 whole bell pepper, chopped, (red, orange and yellow look nice)
1 tablespoon jalapeno, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can kidney beans, canned, rinsed and drained
1 cans pinto beans, canned, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, canned, rinsed and drained
24 ounces salsa (hot to taste)
2-3 tablespoons chili powder
6 ounces tomato juice
Brown ground turkey with onions, peppers and jalapeno, stirring occasionally. Add 2-3 tablespoons of chili powder. Add garlic when turkey is almost done. Add beans and stir in 1 24-ounce jar of the salsa of your preference. If the mixture seems a little dry, add tomato juice. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, other spices.
*Be careful when buying ground turkey. Some it has added fat making it just as fatty as ground beef.
Makes: about 10 1-cup servings
Per Serving: 194 Calories; 4g Fat; 17g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fat.