It is that time of year! In our neck of the woods, it has already dipped down into the 30’s several times and frost is no stranger,so it is time for me to bust out the yummy soups and stews again! a big favorite of my husband’s is chili, especially if it is spicy and hot, hot, hot! This one not a favorite for the kids, but they do like it as a pizza sauce when I make mini flat brad pizzas, so I guess the spice is welcome. I should mention that I usually add about three times more crushed red pepper flakes though.
3 pounds ground turkey
1 head of celery, diced or thinly sliced
1 large vidalia onion diced
4 cloves crushed garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
28 ounces (2 regular cans) black beans
14 ounces (1 can) garbanzo beans
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon crushed hot red peppers
1/4 cup hot chili powder
1/8 cup cumin
Place garlic, onion, celery, and Olive oil in a large stock pot. Sautee on medium heat until fragrant and slightly softened. Add your ground turkey and brown until it is mostly cooked (about 20 minutes). Add chili, crushed red peppers, cumin, and salt. Thoroughly mix your spices into your meat and veggie pot.
Add your tomatoes. Don’t drain the liquid, add that juice! Drain and rinse your beans and set them aside.
Add a couple glasses of water (about 20 ounces) to the pot. Turn it down to medium low heat, give it a good stir, and let it go for two hours. Occasionally stir the pot and lower the heat if if reaches too aggressive of a simmer.
After the two hours are up your liquid should have reduced quite a bit. Add your beans and a bit more water if the stew has become too thick.
Let it cook on low another hour or so.
Serve up with your garnish of choice!
This chili is awesome on a cold day. And super awesome dribbled on corn chips to make nachos!