White Bean and Ground Turkey Chili

With the advent of cold weather, I've been experimenting with warm comforting foods like chili, and was pleasantly surprised when I tried a recipe for White Bean and Chicken Chili by Giada de Laurentiis.  The fennel seed gives such a wonderful flavor to this chili, and when topped with a bit of Parmesan cheese, it's fabulous!  It's also a very healthy chili, lower in fat due to the ground turkey and higher in nutrition because of the spinach.

NOTE: If you omit the Parmesan cheese, this recipe is casein free.  I posted this first on my other blog: My Experiment in Gluten Free Living.

I modified it slightly to suit our taste and to make it gluten free; here is my version:

Ingredients

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds ground turkey or chicken
1 tsp salt, plus more for seasoning
2 T ground cumin
1 T fennel seeds
1 T dried oregano
1 T chili powder
1/2 T Old Bay Seasoning
3 T sweet rice flour, or other gluten free flour (even Pamela's Baking Mix should work)
2 (15-ounce cans) cannellini or other white beans, drained
1 bag pre-washed baby spinach, torn into bite-sized pieces
4 - 5 C low-sodium gluten free chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the ground turkey, 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, chili powder, and Old Bay. Cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Stir the sweet rice flour into the meat mixture. Add the beans, spinach, and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cover with lid tilted to allow steam to escape and simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chili has thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the chili into serving bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley (no cheese if you're casein free!). This is a great meal, especially served with gluten free corn bread on a cold winter's night!

Stovetop version of Obama's chili

This is based on the Crockpot version of the Obama family's chili that I first copied from Stephanie's blog. Here I have converted it back to something resembling the original recipe used by the Obama family, although I have definitely increased the spice level. It is still not hot by any sort of normal "chili-head" standards. But use your own judgment when adding spices; when in doubt, start with half of what I recommend and add more slowly until you find the right level for you. Or if you think it's too tasteless and wimpy, add MORE! :)

This makes a LOT of chili, because I'm using my 8-quart Dutch oven. If you are serving a normal-sized family and you don't want a lot of leftovers (we LOVE leftovers), you might want to cut this recipe in half.

Ingredients

2 can kidney beans
3 lbs lean ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey or a combination)
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
10 medium tomatoes or 8 large, chopped (include seeds and all)
6 chopped cloves of garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
2 tsp turmeric
2 T chili powder
2 1/2 T Old Bay Seasoning
2 tsp salt
5 T red wine vinegar
Cooked white rice, if desired

Directions

Again, you'll need a large Dutch oven, otherwise cut the recipe in half.

I've increased all of the spices from the original recipe, and also increased the amount of ground meat (we like more meat than beans).

First, brown the meat in the Dutch oven on the stove top, and drain well. Add the two cans of red beans, liquid and all; set the heat at medium low and allow to simmer while you chop and add the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and bell pepper.

Lastly stir in all of the spices and the red wine vinegar. Cover the Dutch oven and cook on medium-low for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. If the chili seems to have a bit too much liquid, tilt the lid so that some of the steam escapes while cooking, but keep an eye on it.

Serve over white rice, if desired.

Crockpot Chile Verde

This is a very flavorful dish from Stephanie, the Crockpot Lady. We've eaten the leftovers served over mashed potatoes, in burritos, over rice....it tastes wonderful any way you eat it.

Ingredients:

4 pound chuck roast, or pork shoulder/butt
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small onion, diced
1 (4 ounce) can diced chilis, mild
3 medium tomatoes, diced
10 tomatillos, diced (peel off the outer wrapper, if they have one)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons sage
1 Tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Directions:

Trim any visible fat from the meat, and place in the Crockpot. Add diced bell pepper and onion. If tomatillos have the leafy-outer skin left on them, take the skin and stem off, and dice finely. Pour in the diced chilis and diced tomatoes. Add spices. Stir a bit to get the spices down the sides of the meat. Add chopped cilantro to the top.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 6, or until meat shreds easily with a fork.

Serve with rice, corn tortillas, refried beans, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream. Yum!!

Creamy White Chicken Chili

This is another recipe from Sandra's blog; click on the recipe link and scroll down to Monday, September 15th....she has a lot more pictures of the chili. The only change I made was to double the amount of chicken from 1 pound to 2 pounds.

NOTE: the picture of the chili below is BEFORE adding any dairy products; it can be eaten this way, which is much lower in fat and calories. But the additions of the sour cream and heavy cream do make it a real comfort food! :)


Ingredients

1 T. oil
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 onion, chopped
14-oz can chicken broth
2 15-1/2 oz. cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 4 oz. cans chopped green chilies
1-1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano
8-oz container sour cream
1/2 pt. whipping cream
10-oz. pkg. corn chips
8-oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add chicken and onion. Saute until chicken is cooked through; set aside. Combine broth, beans, chiles and seasonings in a large soup pot over medium-high heat; bring to a boil.

Add chicken mixture; reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add sour cream and whipping cream; mix well. Top with corn chips and cheese. Serves 8.

Crockpot version of Obama's Chili

This is my variation on Stephanie's Crockpot version of the Obama family's chili. It's quite mild, which I like, because I can get my toddlers to eat it. It's very tasty as it is but if you want a traditional chili with a real kick you'll have to add a lot more hot stuff!

Here's a picture of the Crockpot loaded up ready to go...look at those colors (before cooking)!:



Ingredients

1 can kidney beans
2 lbs lean ground meat
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 medium tomatoes, chopped (include seeds and all)
4 chopped cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
2 - 3 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 T red wine vinegar
Cooked white rice, if desired

Directions

You'll need a 5-6 qt Crockpot for the chili.

I increased all of the spices from Stephanie's recipe, because I doubled the amount of ground meat (we like more meat than beans). As I mentioned before, if you like your chili hot and spicy, you'll need to add a lot more spices.

First, brown the meat on the stove top, and drain well. Stephanie says that if you use very lean meat like ground chicken you can just crumble it in raw.

Chop up the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Add to the crockpot. Open the can of beans, and pour them in undrained. Add the meat. Stir in all of the spices and the red wine vinegar. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. I cooked our chili on high for 3 hours and then on low for 3 more hours.

UPDATE: lately I've been adding 1/4 C cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 C water to the chili at the end of the cooking time. Be sure to stir well if you do this! It thickens the chili just a little but I think it really improves it.

I served it over white rice, as the Obamas apparently do. It was very tasty! Great meal for a cold winter's night.