Since Daria was driving up to visit yesterday, and I had a return visit with my doctor in Philly, we decided to have an easy supper last night. While we both like chili and it is super quick to make, we decided to elevate its health potential by using lean ground turkey instead of the classic ground chuck. Also, we aren’t fans of red kidney beans which are traditionally used in chili recipes, and being Italian, our choice of bean was clear….Cannellini! Yes, we are “bean eaters” and in Italian we are “mangiafagioli!”

One thing that Daria has taught me in the kitchen is to “mise en place,” a French term that means “putting in place.” We need to gather all of our ingredients BEFORE we get started preparing our meal or dessert making. It actually is the best idea! I cooked for so many years in a dither….opening cupboards here and there to grab some spice, oil, or other ingredient that needed to land in my bowl. Once you put this concept into practice, you’ll wonder how you ever put a meal together in the past!

Anyway, start gathering your items. You will need olive oil, fresh lean ground turkey, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, one onion, Cannellini beans, garlic, and a myriad of spices!

Heat 1 ½ teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large pan (that has a lid.)

Doesn’t it look like this oil made a funny face in the pan?

Place one pound ground turkey in pot, spread out evenly, and brown.

Meanwhile, chop your onion into bite-size pieces.

When turkey is completely browned, toss in chopped onion and cook until the onion is tender.

Meanwhile, rinse a 16 oz. can of Cannellini beans in a colander or strainer.

When turkey and onion are tender, pour one 16 oz. can of tomato sauce into the mixture and stir.

Next, mix in a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, and the rinsed Cannellini beans. Mix thoroughly.

You’re almost there!

Finally, add your spices…

½ tsp salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper,  ½ tsp dried oregano,  ½ tsp (or less if you are sensitive) ground cayenne pepper, 2 T chili powder, ½ tsp paprika, and ½ tsp cumin. Bring the chili to a boil and then lower the temperature to Low and cook covered for at least 30 minutes.

Now, what goes better with turkey chili than cornbread, so since we were on a time crunch, we cheated! We love Pamela’s Baking Mix and we wondered if there was a cornbread recipe on the bag. There wasn’t! So we went online to the Pamela’s site and viola!

Here is the recipe:

1 ¼ cup of Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix

1 cup fine yellow cornmeal

1/3 cup sugar or honey

½ tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 T melted butter

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 8-inch square pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes @ 375°.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cooking together, baking together, and most of all, eating together!

Happy chili making!!

 

 

© 2014, Monica of glutenfreedoubletalk